Brewers Outright Josh Lindblom
MAY 28: As expected, Lindblom has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Nashville. He has indeed accepted that assignment, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
MAY 26, 5:19pm: The Brewers expect Lindblom to accept a minor league assignment and remain with the organization, according to president of baseball operations David Stearns (via Sophia Minnaert of Baily Sports Wisconsin).
MAY 26, 3:32pm: The Brewers announced that they have designated right-hander Josh Lindblom for assignment, recalled lefty Eric Lauer and outrighted infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson to Triple-A Nashville.
Lindblom spent time with a few major league teams from 2011-17, during which he posted up-and-down production, and he then left for the Korea Baseball Organization. The decision couldn’t have gone better for Lindblom, who thrived as a member of the Lotte Giants and Doosan Bears from 2018-19. Lindblom started 56 games during that stretch and recorded sub-3.00 ERAs in both seasons, also totaling 363 1/3 innings. He also earned the Choi Dong-Won Award — the top pitching award in the KBO – in each campaign, and took home MVP honors in 2019.
Convinced Lindblom’s high spin rate and KBO success would transfer to the bigs, the Brewers signed him to a three-year, $9.125MM pact prior to 2020. But the move didn’t go as planned for Milwaukee, as Lindblom has struggled to a 6.39 ERA with a 25.0 percent strikeout rate and a 9.4 percent walk rate over 20 appearances (10 starts) and 62 frames since returning stateside. As a result, the Brewers are willing to eat a fairly significant chunk of money – around $4.6MM, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com notes – in order to cut ties with Lindblom. They’ll have a week to trade, release or outright him.
Peterson – who has been with the Brewers since 2019 – has been an on-base threat with the club, albeit over a small sample of work. The 31-year-old has collected 89 plate appearances (28 this year) with Milwaukee and batted .203/.371/.391 with four home runs.
Marlins Reinstate Starling Marte From Injured List
The Marlins announced a series of roster moves this afternoon (via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). Center fielder Starling Marté has been activated from the injured list, while infielder Luis Marté has been selected to the roster. To clear active roster space, first baseman Lewin Díaz was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville, while shortstop Miguel Rojas was placed on the 10-day injured list with a dislocated left index finger. Miami already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was required to accommodate Luis Marté’s selection.
Starling Marté got off to a good start to the season, hitting .310/.414/.483 with a pair of homers over his first 70 plate appearances. That was halted when Marté suffered a non-displaced rib fracture on a swing in mid-April, sending him to the IL. He’ll now return to action a little less than six weeks later, where he’ll try to build on his solid work early in the year.
It’s an important season for Marté, who’s in the final year of the contract extension he signed with the Pirates in March 2014. The 32-year-old is a few months away from his first trip to the open market. Marté’s strong track record and expiring contract would also make him a plausible midseason trade candidate if Miami falls out of the National League postseason picture. The young Marlins have held around in a jam-packed NL East, going 24-26 over their first 50 games. Despite that, FanGraphs pegs the team’s playoff odds at a meager 1.5%, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Marté’s name floated in trade talks in the coming months.
Rojas suffered a “concerning” finger dislocation during yesterday’s game against the Phillies. It’s unclear how much time he’s expected to miss. The injury opened a spot for Luis Marté, who’ll be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game. The 27-year-old spent the first seven-plus seasons of his professional career in the Rangers system, topping out at Triple-A.
Marté was in the high minors with the Braves between 2018-19 and inked a minors deal with Miami over the winter. He’s never offered much at the plate, hitting .245/.263/.355 in four seasons at Double-A and .261/.284/.352 in nearly as much Triple-A time. Marté has ample experience all around the infield in the minors, though, and he’s hit three homers in 61 plate appearances this year with Jacksonville, albeit with similar on-base issues as he’s had throughout his career.
Diamondbacks Move Luke Weaver To 60-Day IL, Select Ryan Buchter
The Diamondbacks have transferred right-hander Luke Weaver to the 60-day injured list, selected lefty Ryan Buchter and optioned righty Corbin Martin, per a team announcement.
Weaver landed on the 10-day IL with a strained shoulder on May 18, at which point he seemed optimistic he wouldn’t miss a significant amount of time. However, he will indeed be out for the foreseeable future, as the move to the 60-day IL means Weaver won’t come back until at least the second half of July.
This injury is yet another worrying setback for Weaver, who missed a large portion of 2019 with forearm and UCL injuries. Weaver appeared to be coming into his own that year, his first with the Diamondbacks after they acquired him from the Cardinals in the Paul Goldschmidt trade, but he hasn’t returned to form since. Weaver threw 52 innings of 6.58 ERA/4.52 SIERA ball last year, though he has logged a better 4.50 ERA/4.18 SIERA in 40 frames this season. The 27-year-old was also rather effective in his two most recent starts, in which he combined for 10 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up five hits with nine strikeouts against two walks, but it will be quite some time before he’s able to build on that.
Buchter, 34, inked a minor league pact with the Diamondbacks last winter after throwing a meager six innings as an Angel a season ago. Historically, Buchter has been a more-than-capable reliever with a few teams in the majors, where he has logged a 2.90 ERA with a 26.8 percent strikeout rate and an 11.2 percent walk rate over 220 frames. Buchter’s fielding-independent marks haven’t been as promising, yet he has still found a way to limit left-handed hitters to a .189/.269/.351 line and hold righties to a .209/.317/.378 mark.
Mariners Select Hector Santiago, Designate Sam Delaplane
The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Hector Santiago and designated righty Sam Delaplane for assignment. In other moves, the club recalled lefty Daniel Zamora, and it optioned righties Wyatt Mills and Yohan Ramirez.
Santiago, whom the Mariners signed to a minor league contract earlier this season, will now have an opportunity to appear in the majors for a 10th year. The 33-year-old is best known for a productive run with the White Sox and Angels from 2011-15, but his numbers have fallen off since then among a few teams. He most recently pitched in the majors in 2019 between the White Sox and Mets, with whom he combined for a 6.68 ERA/4.89 SIERA in 33 2/3 innings (most of which came in relief). Santiago has thrown 14 frames with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate this year and yielded seven earned runs on 10 hits (including five home runs) with an eyebrow-raising 22 strikeouts against five walks.
Delaplane, 26, has been with the Mariners since they chose him in the 23rd round of the 2017 draft. He has since posted impressive minor league production, including a stunning 0.49 ERA with a similarly excellent 43.3 percent strikeout rate against a 6.7 percent walk rate during a 37-inning Double-A debut in 2019. However, with Delaplane having undergone Tommy John surgery in April, Seattle doesn’t believe he’s worth a 40-man roster spot at this point.
White Sox Select Ryan Burr
The White Sox have selected the contract of right-hander Ryan Burr, moved injured center fielder Luis Robert to the 60-day IL and placed righty Michael Kopech on the bereavement list, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets.
The 26-year-old Burr has been a member of the Chicago organization since it acquired him from Arizona in August 2017, but he has seen little major league action to this point. He combined for 29 1/3 innings of 5.52 ERA pitching with the White Sox from 2019-20, after which they re-signed him to a minor league contract. The former Tommy John patient hasn’t put up many innings between Double-A and Triple (58 combined), but he does carry a 2.15 ERA in 180 1/3 minor league frames.
As for Robert, it’s no surprise he’s going to the 60-day IL. The White Sox lost the prized center fielder for three to four months because of a Grade 3 hip flexor strain on May 3, so the 60-day placement is just a procedural move on the team’s part.
Wade LeBlanc Opts Out Of Brewers Deal
Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Brewers and is once again a free agent, the team announced Thursday.
The 36-year-old LeBlanc opened the year with the Orioles but was designated for assignment and elected free agency in April. He joined Milwaukee on a minor league pact a few days later and made four starts for their Triple-A club, with solid results. In 16 2/3 frames, LeBlanc allowed seven runs on 12 hits and seven walks with 14 strikeouts — good for a 3.78 ERA.
LeBlanc also spent the 2020 season with the Orioles, and none of his time in Baltimore proved particularly productive. He tossed 29 frames as an Oriole and surrendered 27 runs on 38 hits and nine walks with 19 strikeouts.
LeBlanc’s last quality season at the big league level came with the 2018 Mariners, when he tossed 162 innings of 3.72 ERA ball at the back of their rotation. He was a steady performer from 2014-18 in 321 1/3 innings split between the Pirates, Yankees, Angels and Mariners, logging a combined 3.92 ERA in that time. Overall, LeBlanc carries a 4.59 ERA in 889 innings as a Major Leaguer. A club in need of some veteran depth due to injuries in its rotation (e.g. Rangers, D-backs, Mets) could take a low-risk look at the lefty now that he’s once again on the market.
Phillies Sign Jorge Bonifacio
The Phillies have signed outfielder Jorge Bonifacio to a minor league contract, as noted by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. Bonifacio has been assigned to Double-A Reading, where he’s begun his Fightin Phils career 0-1 with a strikeout.
Bonfiacio saw major league action every year from 2017-20. He once looked like a potential long-term piece for the Royals, hitting a decent .255/.320/.432 with 17 home runs as a rookie in 2017. He wound up suspended for almost half the following season after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, though, and he’s struggled at the plate since returning from that ban. Over the past three seasons, he’s hit just .231/.307/.360 across 385 plate appearances with Kansas City and the Tigers.
The 27-year-old has worked exclusively in the corner outfield in recent seasons. He’s not a potential option for the Phils uncertain center field situation, but he’ll add some experienced depth in the corners. Bonifacio’s assignment to Double-A suggests he might be behind players like Travis Jankowski and Ryan Cordell, both of whom also have MLB experience and are at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, on the depth chart. Still, there’s little harm for the Phillies in adding some experience to the organization, particularly with right fielder Bryce Harper hitting the injured list with a forearm contusion.
Giants Outright Braden Bishop, Trevor Hildenberger
The Giants have outrighted Braden Bishop and right-handed reliever Trevor Hildenberger to Triple-A Sacramento, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. The team designated the two of them for assignment in recent days.
Bishop is a Bay Area native whose younger brother, Hunter, is in the Giants’ system. The Giants claimed the elder Bishop, 27, via waivers from the Mariners on May 17, though he didn’t get a chance with San Francisco before it designated him. Bishop had brief major league appearances with the M’s from 2019-21 and batted an ugly .133/.188/.156 in that 99-PA span.
The Giants grabbed Hildenberger off waivers from the Mets on May 18, but he also didn’t see any action with the club before it jettisoned him. Between the Mets and Twins, the 30-year-old has pitched to a 5.52 ERA (with a much better 3.60 SIERA) 133 2/3 innings since he debuted in 2017.
Cubs Place Nico Hoerner On IL, Designate Shelby Miller
The Cubs have placed infielder/outfielder Nico Hoerner on the 10-day injured list, designated right-hander Shelby Miller for assignment and selected the contract of outfielder Rafael Ortega, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago was among those to report.
Hoerner suffered a left hamstring strain earlier this week, forcing the team to place him on the shelf for the second time this month. He missed time earlier with a left forearm strain, but a healthy version of Hoerner has been a standout this season. Even though the 24-year-old hasn’t homered in 84 plate appearances, he has made up for it with a .338/.405/.432 line and a paltry strikeout percentage of 14.3. Hoerner has also seen some time and both middle infield positions and all three outfield spots, though he has primarily lined up at the keystone. The Cubs figure to use a combination of Eric Sogard and David Bote at second while Hoerner’s out.
Miller, 30, is a former star hurler whose career fell off course in 2016 after a trade to Arizona, and he hasn’t been able to get back on track since then. Injuries have been part of the problem along the way, and Miller was on the IL with a back problem before the Cubs designated him. They signed Miller to a minor league contract last winter but have only gotten two disastrous innings of seven-run, seven-hit, five-walk ball from him.
Ortega, also 30, has past MLB experience with a handful of teams, though he has slumped to a .229/.287/.290 line in 447 plate appearances at the game’s top level. He has, however, hit a much more effective .294/.368/.447 with 39 home runs and 86 stolen bases across 2,232 trips to the plate in Triple-A.
Astros Shuffle Rotation With Valdez, Odorizzi Set To Return
Astros skipper Dusty Baker announced several changes to his team’s pitching staff during his Wednesday media session, revealing that lefty Framber Valdez will return from the injured list to make his season debut Friday and Jake Odorizzi will be activated to start Saturday’s game (all Twitter links via Jake Kaplan of The Athletic). That’s the good news, but Baker also announced that righty Lance McCullers Jr. is headed to the 10-day IL due to shoulder soreness. The team does not believe the issue to be serious at this point.
The Astros have also selected the contract of right-hander Ralph Garza from Triple-A Sugar Land. Injured righty Josh James was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a roster spot. Lastly, Baker said right-hander Cristian Javier will be moved to the bullpen to accommodate the returns of Valdez and Odorizzi.
It’s a broad-ranging series of roster moves and role changes that carry significant implications for the Astros’ outlook moving forward. The 27-year-old Valdez broke out as one of the team’s best starters in 2020 and was expected to occupy a key role near the top of the rotation in ’21, but a broken ring finger sustained on a comebacker in Spring Training placed his very season in jeopardy. Valdez opted not to undergo surgery that could have cost him the bulk of the year, and he’ll now return to the mound after missing approximately two months of action.
Valdez stepped up in the wake of Justin Verlander‘s injury last year, logging 70 2/3 frames with a 3.57 ERA and even better FIP (2.85) and SIERA (3.23) marks. He fanned a hearty 26.4 percent of his opponents against just a 5.6 percent walk rate — all while inducing grounders at a 60 percent clip that ranked among the game’s best. That combination of missed bats, precise control and grounders is a time-honored recipe for success, and he’ll now look to build on last year’s performance to cement himself as one of the club’s best rotation arms.
Odorizzi, 31, inked a three-year deal with the Astros over the winter (the third of which is a player option that’s unlikely to be exercised but was included as a means of manipulating the luxury tax). He made a pair of starts for the ‘Stros earlier this season after a short ramp-up before being placed on the IL with a pronator muscle strain. Those first two outings didn’t go well, but Odorizzi will look to put that pair of outings and an injury-ruined 2020 season with the Twins behind him.
It appears the return of Odorizzi and Valdez will be utilized by the Astros as a means of managing the 24-year-old Javier’s workload. He’s been quite good thus far in 2021, pitching to a 3.14 ERA with a 29.9 percent strikeout rate and a 10.8 percent walk rate. However, the 48 2/3 innings he’s thrown are already just six shy of his entire 2020 total, and there are still more than four months of regular-season play remaining (plus, the Astros hope, additional October ball to be played). A move to the ‘pen will allow the ‘Stros to more carefully monitor his overall innings count this year.
The role change doesn’t necessarily rule out a return to the rotation later in the season, and based on Javier’s first 103 big league innings, it’d be a shock if the organization didn’t view him as a starter moving forward. He’s pitched to a combined 3.32 ERA with a 27.5 percent strikeout rate and 9.6 percent walk rate through 21 appearances (19 of them starts). With Verlander and Zack Greinke both slated to reach free agency this winter, there could be a fairly straightforward path to rotation work for Javier in 2022 and beyond.
Turning to the other IL moves announced today, the move of James to the 60-day IL is a procedural one that doesn’t really impact his timeline back to the Majors. He’s been out all year while recovering from hip surgery and was said during Spring Training to be targeting a June return. Today’s placement on the 60-day IL merely means that he can’t be activated until May 31, which wasn’t going to happen anyhow.
The departure of McCullers will be felt in the short-term, as he’s logged an excellent 2.96 ERA through his first 51 2/3 frames this year. The right-hander elected to forgo free agency in favor of a five-year, $85MM extension offer from the Astros during Spring Training, and at least to this point, the 27-year-old looks like a pitcher capable of living up to that deal.
Garza, 27, isn’t considered to be among the team’s top-ranked prospects but has tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings in Sugar Land, yielding just a hit and three walks with 11 punchouts along the way. He’s spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, pitching to a combined 3.80 ERA with a 26.2 percent strikeout rate. He’ll join the club’s bullpen for now.