Nationals Designate Adrian Sanchez For Assignment
The Nationals announced they’ve activated infielder Jordy Mercer from the 10-day injured list. Minor league righty Steven Fuentes has also been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Rochester. To create space on the roster, Washington designated infielder Adrián Sánchez for assignment.
Sánchez, who has been part of the Nationals’ organization since signing as an amateur free agent back in 2007, has been on and off the big league roster over the past few years. Over parts of four MLB seasons, the utilityman has tallied 204 plate appearances of .262/.287/.328 hitting. While Sánchez makes a decent amount of contact, he’s neither walked nor hit for enough power to command a regular role. Because he’s out of minor league option years, Sánchez had to either stick on the active roster or be removed from the 40-man entirely.
The Nationals will place Sánchez on outright or release waivers over the coming days. The 31-year-old has already been outrighted in his career, so he’d have the right to elect free agency if he passes through unclaimed. Even if he accepts an outright assignment, he’d qualify for minor league free agency this winter if Washington doesn’t reselect him to the 40-man roster before the end of the season.
Mercer served in a utility capacity with Trea Turner entrenched at shortstop for much of the year. He landed on the IL with a left calf strain in late July, shortly before Turner was traded to the Dodgers as part of the Nats’ broad sell-off. Now firmly in evaluation mode, Washington figures to give regular opportunities to young players Carter Kieboom and Luis García at third and second base, respectively, over the season’s final few weeks. Mercer could share time at shortstop with veteran Alcides Escobar, who has been fine but unspectacular while holding down shortstop. Both Mercer and Escobar will reach free agency this offseason.
Pirates Claim Enyel De Los Santos
The Pirates have claimed right-hander Enyel De Los Santos off waivers from the Phillies, per a team announcement. Lefty Steven Brault was placed on the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Brault left his most recent appearance with tightness in his arm and was placed on the 10-day IL with a lat strain. The Pirates did not provide any update beyond the 60-day IL transfer, which will formally end Brault’s season.
De Los Santos, 25, was once a well-regarded prospect in both the Padres’ and the Phillies’ farm systems. San Diego sent him to Philadelphia in the Dec. 2017 trade that brought Freddy Galvis to the Padres. He appeared in the Futures Game for the Phillies the following season and made his big league debut that summer. Santos appeared in seven games that year, starting two of them, and pitched well outside of one poor outing. Overall, he notched a 4.74 ERA that season through his first 19 MLB frames — plenty respectable for a 22-year-old rookie.
Things haven’t gone as hoped for De Los Santos since that time, however, He’s pitched to a 6.92 ERA in 39 subsequent MLB frames, and while he’d been borderline dominant with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2018,he served up a 4.40 ERA at that same level the following year. De Los Santos has previously been designated for assignment and gone unclaimed on waivers, but the Pirates scooped him up with the No. 3 waiver priority this time around. The Orioles and D-backs passed on claiming De Los Santos.
Part of the reason for the newfound interest could simply be one of having a straightforward path to making room for De Los Santos, but his work on the field this season is also somewhat intriguing. Granted, a 6.75 ERA in 28 frames isn’t much to look at, but De Los Santos’ 95 mph average heater is a career-best mark in the Majors. He’s also punched out 30.7 percent of his opponents, logged a very strong 14.9 percent swinging-strike rate and induced chases on pitches outside the strike zone at a 33.9 percent clip — all career-highs. Opponents have swung at De Los Santos’ pitches a career-high 54.2 percent of the time and made contact a career-low 72.2 percent of the time.
If he survives the offseason and Spring Training on the Pirates’ roster, De Los Santos will need to break camp with the club or else once again be designated for assignment (or traded). He’ll be out of minor league options in 2022, so he won’t be able to be sent down without first clearing waivers. And at that point, even if he were to go unclaimed, he’d have the option of electing free agency by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted once in the past.
As for Brault, he’ll look to get back to good health and put behind him what has been a largely nightmarish season. Brault missed most of the season with a strained lat and made just seven appearances before going back on the injured list with a recurrence. He posted a 5.86 ERA in 27 2/3 innings while battling that pair of injuries.
That said, Brault has been a largely serviceable long reliever/fifth starter for the Buccos over the past several seasons, including a strong showing in 2020 when he posted 42 2/3 innings of 3.38 ERA ball. The 29-year-old carries a 4.68 ERA in 315 2/3 innings and will be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter. Brault’s strong 2020 resulted in a $2.05MM salary on his first trip through the arbitration process, and he’s unlikely to see much of a raise this winter thanks to the limited workload he compiled. Pittsburgh controls him through the 2023 season.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/13/21
Some minor moves from around the league that were announced Monday…
- The Royals announced this morning that they’ve reinstated right-hander Ronald Bolanos from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. Kansas City had a pair of open spots on the 40-man roster already, so a corresponding transaction was not required. A forearm strain has limited Bolanos, who turned 25 last month, to just 40 1/3 innings between the big leagues and the minors combined in 2021. He came to the Royals alongside Franchy Cordero in the 2020 trade that sent left-hander Tim Hill to the Padres but hasn’t yet gotten much of a look. Bolanos served up 17 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings on a minor league rehab assignment, so it’s not too surprising that the Royals want him to get some more work in the minors. Bolanos still has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season.
- Right-hander Sal Romano went unclaimed on waivers after he was designated for assignment, the Yankees announced Monday. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is no longer on the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Yanks back in May and has been added to the big league roster and removed thrice now. He’s pitched in three games and totaled three innings with one run allowed on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Romano has logged a 3.56 ERA in 30 1/3 innings with the team’s Triple-A affiliate as well. He hasn’t had much big league success since his rookie season back in 2017 (4.45 ERA in 87 innings/16 starts with Cincinnati), but he’s been a solid depth add for the Yankees thus far.
Reds Designate Brad Brach For Assignment
The Reds announced Monday that they’ve designated veteran right-handed reliever Brad Brach for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for infielder Kyle Farmer, who has been reinstated from the paternity list.
Brach, 35, joined the Reds earlier this year on a minor league pact and got out to a brilliant start with his new club. Through his first 20 innings in Cincinnati, Brach pitched to a 2.25 ERA with a strong 28.6 percent strikeout rate and a hefty 54.9 percent ground-ball rate. His 10.7 percent walk rate was a bit worse than league average but far from egregious.
It’s been a swift decline for Brach since that time, however. Over his past 15 appearances he’s managed only 10 innings and yielded 16 earned runs on 17 hits and nine walks with nine strikeouts (16.4 percent strikeout and walk rate alike). Brach missed nearly a month with a shoulder impingement along the way, which surely played no small part in his downfall after that hot start.
Brach was one of the game’s steadier setup men during his 2012-18 peak with the Padres and the Orioles. In 449 innings during that time, he logged a 3.05 ERA, fanned more than a quarter of the batters he faced (at a time when the league-wide strikeout rate was lower than it presently is) and averaged fewer than a homer allowed per nine innings pitched (0.92 HR/9) — no small feat given that five of those seasons were spent calling Oriole Park at Camden Yards his home stadium.
Brach has since spent time with the Cubs, Mets and Reds — in addition to a minor league deal with the Royals this past spring. He pitched quite well down the stretch for the ’19 Mets and parlayed that into a 2020 return to Queens, but he was hit hard in 12 1/3 innings last year. The consistency he once enjoyed has begun to elude him, but Brach’s work prior to the shoulder injury this season suggests he’s still a capable reliever when he’s right.
The Reds will place Brach on outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days, and any club will be able to claim him for the final few weeks of the regular season. He’s a free agent at the end of the year.
Brewers Place Rowdy Tellez On 10-Day Injured List
The Brewers placed first baseman Rowdy Tellez on the 10-day injured list due to a right patella strain. Catcher Luke Maile was called up from Triple-A to fill Tellez’s spot on the active roster.
Tellez has been bothered by the knee problem for a while, manager Craig Counsell told media last night after Tellez was removed during the second inning of Milwaukee’s 3-0 win over the Indians. Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns told reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) today that the team felt the IL was necessary for Tellez even as the team awaits the results of an MRI.
With only three weeks remaining in the regular season, Tellez and the Brewers are certainly hopeful that the slugger’s knee will be ready to go for the postseason. Tellez has become the Brew Crew’s everyday first baseman in the second half of the season, and while he has been rather streaky over his three-plus months in Milwaukee, Tellez has been good enough to stabilize a shaky first base situation.
Since being acquired in a trade from the Blue Jays on July 6, Tellez has hit .270/.329/.474 with seven home runs over 167 plate appearances, good for a 112 OPS+. That would be a significant bat to lose for the playoffs if Tellez’s injury proves serious enough to sideline him into October, though that scenario might not yet be a consideration, at least until Tellez’s MRI results are known.
Daniel Vogelbach can step in as another slugging left-handed first base bat while Tellez is out of action, though Vogelbach’s inconsistency was one of the reasons the Brewers acquired Tellez to shore up first base. Utilityman Jace Peterson and infielder Eduardo Escobar are also options, with the switch-hitting Escobar likely to get some looks at first base when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound.
Yankees Recall Clarke Schmidt, Option Andrew Velazquez
The Yankees have recalled right-handed pitcher Clarke Schmidt to start tonight’s game against the Mets, according to a team announcement. Swapping places with him is infielder Andrew Velazquez, who has been optioned to Triple-A.
Schmidt is, at least temporarily, taking the rotation spot of Gerrit Cole, who left his start on Tuesday after 70 pitches over 3 2/3 innings because of tightness in his left hamstring, per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic. However, Cole himself said he’s good to go for this coming Tuesday, per Adler. That’s surely good news for the Yankees, who are suddenly out of playoff position. With the Blue Jays winning this afternoon, the Yanks are going into tonight’s contest a half game behind the Jays, as well as the Red Sox, in the Wild Card race. A healthy Cole is potentially a huge difference-maker in a race that tight. Overall, it’s yet another excellent season for the Yankees’ ace, as he has an ERA of 2.78 over 158 2/3 innings so far this year. He’s provided 5.2 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, better than every pitcher in the AL, and trailing just Corbin Burnes and Zack Wheeler overall.
For Schmidt, this will be his first major league action of the season. He began the year on the injured list and only started a rehab assignment towards the end of July. Since then, he’s logged 27 1/3 innings across four different levels of the minors, with an ERA of 2.96, a strikeout rate of 29.3% and walk rate of 6.9%. His only MLB experience thus far was a small sample of 6 1/3 innings in 2020, where he had an ERA of 7.11.
Velazquez was originally selected by the Yankees August 9th, when the club was dealing with a vast COVID-19 outbreak that saw multiple players test positive and miss time. The infielder became something of a fan favourite in that time, at least partially because of his Bronx roots. However, he didn’t provide enough offense to hold onto a roster spot, hitting .234/.246/.375 with a tiny walk rate of 1.5% and hefty strikeout rate of 32.3%. However, this is over a small sample of just 65 plate appearances. He’s fared much better in 277 Triple-A plate appearances this year, slashing .283/.367/.471.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/12/21
Some minor moves from around the league:
- The Marlins have released left-hander Ross Detwiler, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Detwiler had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. The release is largely a formality, as Detwiler had the ability to reject an outright assignment. The 35-year-old will now see if there are any offers available for him on the open market. He would not be eligible to appear in the playoffs with any new club, since it is after the August 31st deadline. But he could potentially help a team absorb some innings down the stretch. In 45 1/3 innings this year, he has an elevated ERA of 4.96. However, his 28% strikeout rate is a career high, though that’s also come with a career-low ground ball rate of 39.7%.
- The Cardinals reinstated minor-league righty Johan Quezada from the 60-day injured list, according to a team announcement. Right-hander Junior Fernandez is going the other direction, landing himself on the 60-day injured list, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Quezada was acquired from the Phillies in the offseason but hasn’t been able to pitch much this year due to injuries. The 27-year-old has thrown 16 2/3 innings between the Florida Complex League and Double-A. As for Fernandez, this IL placement will end his season. He racked up a lot of mileage shuttling between Triple-A and MLB this year, being recalled and optioned five times. He’ll finish the season with an ERA of 5.66 over 20 2/3 innings in the big leagues, along with identical strikeout and walk rates of 15.5%. In 14 1/3 Triple-A innings, his ERA is higher, 6.28, but with much better strikeout and walk rates of 33.3% and 7.6%, respectively.
Diamondbacks Outright Jake Hager
The Diamondbacks have outrighted Jake Hager to Triple-A Reno, thus removing the utilityman from the team’s 40-man roster. Hager has spent much of his Arizona tenure in the minors, appear in only nine MLB games since the D’Backs claimed him off waivers from the Mariners on July 30.
The waiver wire has essentially been Hager’s second home for the last four months, as he has been a member of four different organizations in that time. After beginning the season with the Mets, he has been designated for assignment and then claimed three times, going from the Mets to the Brewers to the Mariners before finally landing with the Diamondbacks.
Hager made his MLB debut this season while playing with the Mets, and the 28-year-old’s rookie season has seen him amass 14 games and 30 total plate appearances (batting .115/.233/.115) with New York and Arizona. Drafted 32rd overall by the Rays back in 2011, Hager has hit .258/.313/.385 over 3508 career PA in the minor leagues, with the bulk of that time coming in Tampa and Milwaukee farm systems.
COVID Notes: 9/12/21
The latest updates on coronavirus situations around baseball…
Latest Moves
- The Red Sox placed yet another player on the COVID list, as right-hander Phillips Valdez tested positive for the virus (MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo was among those to report the news.) Right-hander Brad Peacock will join the active roster in Valdez’s place after Peacock’s contract was selected from Triple-A Worcester. Between Pivetta’s activation and Valdez joining, Boston’s COVID list remains at 10 players.
Earlier Today
- The Red Sox reinstated right-hander Nick Pivetta from the COVID-related injury list today, and optioned righty Connor Seabold to Triple-A. Pivetta will get the start today against the White Sox after recovering from a case of COVID-19 that sidelined him on September 5. (As per league regulations, Pivetta was cleared to return after seven days because he was fully vaccinated earlier this season.) It has been something of an up-and-down season for Pivetta, and the righty is looking to bounce back after posting a 10.13 ERA over 10 2/3 innings pitched in his last three starts.
Giants Activate Wilmer Flores, Austin Slater
The Giants have activated Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater from the injured list, and both players are in today’s starting lineup against the Cubs. Right-hander John Brebbia and left-hander Caleb Baragar were optioned to Triple-A to create roster room.
Slater is back after spending a week on the concussion-related IL. Back on September 4, the outfielder was concussed after crashing into the wall while trying to catch a Trea Turner home run. Fortunately, Slater is back in pretty short order, and he’ll resume his part-time role on San Francisco’s depth chart. Slater has hit .227/.313/.395 over 288 total plate appearances this season, with much of that damage coming against southpaws — Slater has a .263/.364/.480 slash line and eight home runs in 176 PA against left-handed pitching.
Flores also has a well-earned reputation as a lefty-masher, though he has a comparatively modest .273/.316/.438 slash line in 136 PA against southpaws this year. Between that production and similar numbers against righties, Flores is batting .249/.319/.438 with 17 homers in 389 total PA in 2021.
After suffering a left hamstring strain on September 2, Flores is back after missing only the minimum 10 days, beating manager Gabe Kapler‘s initial expectation that Flores would be out “a couple of weeks.” Hamstring injuries have been a persistent issue for Flores for much of the year, and he also missed 10 days with a right hamstring strain in May.