Mets Place Joey Lucchesi On 10-Day IL, Activate Albert Almora
The Mets have placed lefty Joey Lucchesi on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. Outfielder Albert Almora will take Lucchesi’s spot on the active roster, as Almora has himself been activated off the 10-day IL.
With New York facing a number of injuries in its pitching staff this season, Lucchesi has been a valuable arm, able to work both in the rotation and out of the bullpen. Lucchesi has a 4.46 ERA/3.72 SIERA over 38 1/3 innings (starting eight of his 11 games), and an above-average 26.1% strikeout rate and seven percent walk rate. The southpaw added to this resume with a strong outing just last night, tossing 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Nationals.
The Mets have doubleheaders scheduled for today, Monday, and on Friday, so the rotation was already facing a crunch even before Lucchesi hit the IL (the club does have an off-day on Thursday to act as something of a reset). Robert Gsellman is scheduled to start the second game tonight, and a solid outing could put him in line to act as Lucchesi’s replacement.
Almora has been on the IL since May 12 due to a shoulder contusion suffered after a big collision with the outfield wall. The 27-year-old will settle back into his backup outfield role, and look to essentially restart his season after hitting only .048/.091/.048 in his first 22 plate appearances.
Padres Place Pierce Johnson On 10-Day Injured List, Outright Sam McWilliams, Select Daniel Camarena
The Padres announced a trio of moves tonight, first and foremost placing right-hander Pierce Johnson on the 10-day injured list with right triceps inflammation. The move is retroactive to June 18th. The Padres selected the contract for southpaw Daniel Camarena from Triple-A El Paso to take Johnson’s roster spot.
Johnson, 30, has been a productive member of the Friars’ bullpen when healthy. He rides an unconventional curve-forward arsenal, throwing his hook 73.1 percent of the time this season. He compliments his high-spin curveball with a 95.5 mph power sinker. The combo put Johnson in the 93rd percentile league-wide by K-rate with a 34.8 percent strikeout rate. In 27 appearances, he’s has a 3.57 ERA/2.84 SIERA over 22 2/3 innings with three holds and a blown save.
Camarena, 28, has yet to make his Major League debut, but he’s likely to do so either today or tomorrow, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). He was a drafted out of San Diego area Cathedral Catholic High School in the 20th round by the Yankees way back in 2010. He career took a hit, however, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss the entire 2015 season.
The 6’0″ lefty rehabbed and reached Triple-A in 2016, but he’s been unable to break through. Baseball America had him as the Yankees’ 31st-ranked prospect back in 2017, writing, “Camarena’s fastball typically sits in the low-90s but touched 93 in the middle portion of the season before backing up again as the fatigue from a lost year set in down the stretch. He coupled the fastball with a full offspeed arsenal that included an above-average changeup, a get-me-over curveball and a slider he added this year to give him an extra weapon against righthanders.”
BA pegged him for a back-end rotation arm, but he became a minor league free agent before receiving a big-league opportunity in New York. In eight starts with El Paso this season, Camarena finally earned his call-up with a 3.00 ERA in 39 innings, where he has allowed 33 hits and 11 walks while notching 24 strikeouts.
Lastly, recently-acquired right-hander Sam McWilliams was also outrighted to Triple-A. The 6’7″ McWilliams impressed scouts this past winter, driving a mini-auction for his services. He ultimately signed with the Mets. The well-traveled McWilliams has spent time with Philadelphia, Arizona, Tampa Bay, New York, and the Padres, reaching Triple-A with the Rays in 2019. He’s been knocked around at the highest level of the minors this season, giving up 15 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings between the Mets’ and Padres’ Triple-A clubs. Control has been his bugaboo; McWilliams has a 25.4 percent walk rate this season.
Rays Recall Drew Rasmussen
The Rays have called up right-hander Drew Rasmussen, the team announced. The moves comes as the second part of yesterday’s optioning of infielder Mike Brosseau to Triple-A.
Rasmussen was one of the two arms acquired from the Brewers as part of the Willy Adames trade. Since joining Tampa’s system, Rasmussen posted 11 1/3 scoreless innings over eight outings in Triple-A. The 25-year-old put up a 4.24 ERA/3.88 FIP over 17 innings with the Brewers prior to the deal.
Rammussen has all the makings of another high-leverage, power arm capable of soaking up some high-leverage innings out of the Rays’ bullpen. In his short time with the Brewers, his 91.1 mph four-seamer registered in the 95th percentile for fastball velocity league-wide. His high-spin fastball dominates his arsenal at a 68.1 percent usage rate. He’s flashed a four-pitch arsenal at times, but the Rays have a way of simplifying a pitcher’s approach, so it will be interesting to see if he changes his approach at all after changing uniforms.
Brosseau has moved up and down between Triple-A and the Majors all season. The 27-year-old has batted just .182/.264/.326 in 148 plate appearances in the bigs. He has not yet appeared in a game at Triple-A.
Blue Jays Acquire Jacob Barnes From Mets For Troy Miller
The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Jacob Barnes from the Mets for fellow righty Troy Miller, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Mets only recently designated Barnes for assignment.
Barnes doesn’t have an arsenal with much versatility, relying mostly on a 94.4 mph fastball and 88.9 mph cutter. No matter the pitch mix, Barnes could not avoid the long ball in his 18 2/3 innings with the Mets this season, serving up six long balls and a 25.0 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. A 12.5 percent barrel rate was by far the highest of his career.
He did a decent job of limiting free passes (6.3 percent walk rate) and keeping the ball out of the air (49.1 percent groundball rate), but it wasn’t enough to stem the tide. The 31-year-old leaves New York with a 7.27 ERA/6.22 FIP, though a 4.29 xFIP gives at least some indication that he’s been the recipient of tough luck this season.
Miller is a University of Michigan alum who signed as an non-drafted free agent with the Blue Jays in 2018. The 24-year-old began the year at High-A, earning a promotion after three starts with a 1.84 ERA. With Double-A New Hampshire, Miller has tossed 20 innings with a 7.20 ERA.
Twins Activate Byron Buxton, Option Willians Astudillo
The Twins activated star centerfielder Byron Buxton today, per the Athletic’s Dan Hayes (via Twitter). He is in the starting lineup for today’s ballgame. Buxton has been out with a hip strain since May 7th. The injury was initially only expected to keep him out for a couple of weeks, but Buxton ended up with a 41-day stint on the injured list.
The injury was a particularly crushing blow because Buxton had been red hot to start the season. He logged a ridiculous 2.6 bWAR in just 24 games before going down, slashing .370/.408/.772 with nine home runs in 98 plate appearances.
Losing Buxton proved to be as detrimental to the Twins’ playoff chances as we might have guessed. They were 12-19 (.387 win percentage) when Buxton went down, but just 5 1/2 games out of first place. Rocco Baldelli‘s squad has actually played a little better in the 38 games since, going 16-22 (.421 win percentage). Nevertheless, the Twinkies have fallen 13 games behind the White Sox for the division lead and 13 games behind the Astros for the second wild card spot entering play today.
In a corresponding move, the Twins optioned Willians Astudillo the Triple-A, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (via Twitter). “La Tortuga” has served as a source of, shall we say, comic relief this season, bringing a 54.2 mph heater to the mound in three relief appearances. He faced 11 total hitters and allowed one earned run on one somewhat controversial blast from Yermin Mercedes.
In his day job, Astudillo has hit .254/.276/.385 while employing his trademark all-contact approach (1.6 percent walk rate, 7.9 percent strikeout rate). Despite the hyper-specific offensive profile, Astudillo provides value through his defensive versatility. He is perhaps the most positionally agile player in baseball, having appeared at first, second, third, right, catcher and, of course, pitcher this season. Shortstop is the only position Astudillo has never played at the big-league level.
Phillies Place Matt Joyce, Andrew Knapp On Injured List, Call Up Matt Vierling, Rafael Marchan
The Phillies announced a number of roster moves this afternoon. Matt Joyce has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain and Andrew Knapp has been placed on the 7-day injured list because of a concussion. In their place, the Phillies have selected the contract of outfielder Matt Vierling and recalled catcher Rafael Marchan from Triple-A.
The 36-year-old Joyce has had a limited impact this season as an extra bat off the bench. In 62 plate appearances across 36 games, Joyce has slashed .100/.258/.240. In his defense, most of that action has come in a pinch-hitting role. True to his reputation, he’s also maintained a positive approach, posting a 16.1 percent walk rate and 22.6 percent strikeout rate. He has not been helped by an .086 BABIP mark.
The 24-year-old Vierling has not yet appeared in the Majors. He is, in fact, making the jump after just three games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He had not appeared above High-A before this season. Regardless, he ‘s been on point so far this season, slashing a combined .354/.426/.616 in 115 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A.
Like Joyce, Knapp has had a tough go of it this season: -1.0 bWAR and a triple slash line of .174/.234/.221 that’s far from characteristic of what the Phillies have come to expect from their long-time backup catcher.
Marchan has had a taste of the bigs in five games of action this season. He should slide seamlessly into his role backing up J.T. Realmuto.
A’s Place Stephen Piscotty On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Skye Bolt
The Athletics have placed Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day injured list because of a left wrist sprain, the team announced. Piscotty will see a specialist in Arizona, per MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos (via Twitter). Skye Bolt will be recalled to claim Piscotty’s roster spot.
Bolt was only recently sent down. The injury to Piscotty, however, allows Oakland to turn around and bring him right back to the active roster. Bolt had been serving as an injury replacement for the recently-returned Ramon Laureano. In nine games, Bolt went 1-for-13 at the plate with a solo homer. While his bat has yet to heat up at the Major League level, Bolt has flashed plus glovework in the outfield while making a couple of highlight reel catches. His glove has been worth one defensive run saved in a mere 36 innings of scattered playing time in centerfield.
Piscotty, generally speaking, sees semi-regular playing time in right field, splitting responsibilities with Seth Brown in a fairly straightforward platoon. The right-handed Piscotty has 75 plate appearances against southpaws this year (with a 105 wRC+) versus 66 opportunities against right-handers (with a 59 wRC+). On the whole, the veteran owns a .217/.284/.357 line with 4 home runs, a 7.8 percent walk rate and 23.4 percent strikeout rate. Piscotty’s splits haven’t always been quite so severe, but with a 127 wRC+ in his career against lefties – and just 102 wRC+ against righties – he can generally be regarded as a plus bat so long as he’s kept on the short side of a platoon.
Brown, his counterpart in right, has just 14 plate appearances against lefties versus 141 plate appearances against righties. In the, admittedly, tiny sample, Brown has managed quite well against southpaws – 132 wRC+, which can be attributed to one home run and three walks). With Piscotty out, manager Bob Melvin could give Brown an opportunity to prove himself with more volume against left-handers. More likely, however, Melvin will turn to Chad Pinder or Bolt himself, who is a switch-hitter.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/18/21
The latest minor transactions from around the league:
- The Blue Jays are transferring outfielder Jonathan Davis from the paternity list to the restricted list, reports Scott Mitchell of TSN (Twitter link). Players on the paternity list are allotted a maximum of 72 hours away from the team, but Davis will take an extra few days with his family. The 29-year-old isn’t expected to be out for long, but his transfer will temporarily free up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto.
Yankees Release Kyle Barraclough
The Yankees have released reliever Kyle Barraclough from his minor league contract, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s now a free agent.
Barraclough signed with the Yankees in February and has spent the entire 2021 season with the RailRiders. Over 14 innings, the righty pitched to a solid 3.21 ERA and struck out a fantastic 24 of 55 batters faced (43.6%). Barraclough doled out far too many free passes, though, issuing eleven walks (20%). Those control issues made it tough for Barraclough to crack a Yankees bullpen that has been one of the game’s best this season.
Those high-strikeout, high-walk ways are nothing new for Barraclough, who pitched in the majors for the Marlins, Nationals and Giants between 2015-19. He’s punched out a lofty 29% of opponents in his big league career while 14.1%. In each of his five MLB seasons, Barraclough struck out and walked batters at a higher than average rate.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him draw interest from teams needing bullpen help now that he’s back on the market. The 31-year-old was a quality option for much of his tenure in Miami and has demonstrated he’s still more than capable of missing high-level bats this season.
Cardinals Sign Brandon Dickson
The Cardinals have signed right-hander Brandon Dickson to a minor league contract, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) first reported. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Memphis.
Dickson, 36, is looking to return to the majors after nearly a decade away. He pitched 14 2/3 MLB innings for St. Louis between 2011-12 but joined the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball before the 2013 season. Dickson spent the next eight years with the Buffaloes, pitching to a 3.32 ERA across 892 1/3 innings at Japan’s highest level. He began his NPB career as a starter but worked as a closer the past few seasons, suggesting he’s likely to serve as bullpen depth for St. Louis. Last season, Dickson worked to a 3.28 ERA with a 21.1% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk percentage.
Dickson becomes the second arm the Cards have added in recent days, as St. Louis signed veteran lefty Wade LeBlanc to a big league deal yesterday. Nevertheless, the Cardinals front office is still hunting for pitching depth, Goold writes in a separate piece. St. Louis has been in contact with rival clubs about trading for starting pitching, he notes, and they’ve been active on the free agent market. Goold reported last week that St. Louis has been in contact with free agent Shelby Miller about a potential reunion, but he added today that Miller has received offers from several teams since being released by the Cubs last month.
The Cardinals rotation looks in need of an upgrade if the 35-34 club is going to make a run in the NL Central. Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas are down with injuries for extended periods of time, leaving St. Louis with a current starting staff of Adam Wainwright, Kwang-hyun Kim, Johan Oviedo, John Gant and Carlos Martínez. Oviedo and Martínez have struggled this season, while Gant’s elevated 15.8% walk rate raises some doubt about his ability to keep his ERA around its current 3.50 mark.
It’s still too early in the year for many teams to abandon hope of competing, but there are a couple arms who could offer passable innings at the back of the rotation and should be available right now. The Diamondbacks have no hope of contending this season and could consider moving Merrill Kelly, who’s controllable through 2022 via a $5.5MM club option. He only has a 5.40 ERA this year but his peripherals (21.4% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, 4.26 SIERA) are closer to average. Pittsburgh figures to be willing to trade Tyler Anderson, who has a similar combination of poor ERA (4.89) but more adequate underlying numbers (21% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk percentage, 4.33 SIERA). The Rangers and Tigers would surely listen on Mike Foltynewicz and José Ureña, respectively, although it’s not clear either is an upgrade over Martínez or Oviedo with how poorly they’ve pitched this season.