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Padres Promote Luis Patino

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3:40pm: Patino’s contract has been selected to the Major League roster, per a club announcement. Righty David Bednar was optioned to the Padres’ alternate training site in a corresponding move.

12:10pm: The Padres are set to promote top pitching prospect Luis Patino. It appears the ADN Barranquilla Twitter account first posted the news, which has since been confirmed by other outlets.

Patino is just twenty years of age, but he’s widely considered one of the most electric young arms in baseball. He’s expected to work out of the bullpen to begin his tenure, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets.

Though he lacks extensive experience in the upper minors, Patino did reach Double-A last year after an impressive run at the High-A level. He’s still ironing out his full secondary arsenal, but possesses the kind of elite stuff that ought to play right out of the gates, especially in a relief role.

The 2020 season sprint creates opportunity for the Friars, who have started out with a nice 7-4 stretch. The up-and-coming club is hoping to hit on a variety of talented but fairly inexperienced players. Patino now joins that mix.

The timing of the promotion is such that Patino cannot accrue enough service time to reach a full year. Accordingly, the San Diego club can control his rights through at least 2026. He will, however, likely qualify for arbitration after the 2022 campaign as a Super Two player — if he can grasp ahold of a permanent roster spot from this point forward.

Athletics Promote James Kaprielian

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The Athletics announced Tuesday that they’ve placed right-hander Jordan Weems on the 10-day injured list with a strained right lat and recalled right-hander James Kaprielian from their alternate training site.

Oakland already has a deep rotation — Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo, Mike Fiers, Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt — so it seems that Kaprielian’s Major League debut will be made out of the bullpen. It’s been a long time coming for the former first-round pick and top 100 prospect, whom the A’s acquired in the trade that sent Sonny Gray to the Bronx.

Kaprielian, now 26 years old, was selected with the No. 16 oveall pick out of UCLA by the Yankees back in 2015. The 6’3″, 225-pound righty was impressive early in his pro career, but an elbow issue cost him most of the 2016 season. He made it back to pitch in the Arizona Fall League that year, which seemingly put him on track for a healthy 2017 season.

That, however, didn’t prove to be the case at all. Tommy John surgery early in 2017 would wipe out Kaprielian’s entire ’17 campaign, and the win-now Yankees bit the bullet when they traded the still highly regarded righty to Oakland in the aforementioned Gray deal. Oakland hoped to be acquiring a high-end talent when his stock was down due to injury, but he missed the 2018 season as well while recovering from that surgery.

Kaprielian finally made his organizational debut with the A’s in 2019, and he enjoyed strong results across three minor league levels. In 68 frames between Class-A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A, Kaprielian worked to a combined 3.18 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 1.06 HR/9.

It’s been a half decade since Kaprielian was drafted, and between his considerable injury troubles and the shortened 2020 season, he’s still thrown just 97 1/3 professional innings. But he’s been working at the Athletics’ satellite camp in Stockton and been deemed ready for a big league look by the club’s decision-makers. A spot in the rotation could eventually be in the fold for the righty in the future, but for the time being he’ll slot into the bullpen and await his first pitch off a big league mound.

White Sox Place Carlos Rodon On Injured List, Designate Luis Alexander Basabe

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The White Sox have placed left-hander Carlos Rodon on the 10-day injured list due to left shoulder soreness, per a team announcement. In his place, they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Brady Lail from their alternate training site. Outfield prospect Luis Alexander Basabe was designated for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster for Lail. In other Sox news, MLBTR has learned that they’ll add right-handed pitching prospect Andrew Dalquist, their 2019 third-round pick, to the 60-man player pool.

Rodon exited last night’s start early after displaying a worrying drop in velocity. The former No. 3 overall pick came out firing with fastballs in the 91-93 mph range in the first inning but topped out at just under 86 mph in the second inning. For a pitcher who has averaged better than 93 mph in his career with the heater, that type of drop is alarming — particularly given that he’s only just returning from 2019 Tommy John surgery. The Sox haven’t provided a more in-depth diagnosis or timeline for his recovery, though they’ll presumably provide more info the next time GM Rick Hahn or manager Rick Renteria meets with reporters.

As for Basabe, the 23-year-old was at one point a well-regarded outfield prospect. He joined the White Sox organization in the Chris Sale blockbuster, although he was a clear third piece behind headliners Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech. (Righty Victor Diaz was also sent to Chicago in that swap.) Basabe had a miserable first year with the White Sox before rebounding to hit .258/.354/.445 with 15 homers, 21 doubles, eight triples and 16 steals between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2018.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for Basabe in a second stint in the Double-A Southern League this past season. In 291 plate appearances, he slashed just .246/.324/.336 with a glaring 29.2 percent strikeout rate. The Southern League is a pitcher-friendly setting, but Basabe’s overall output was nevertheless below the league average. His strikeout totals and continued middling success rate on stolen bases — 60.4 percent over the past two seasons — surely worked against him as well.

Basabe can still be optioned for the remainder of the 2020 season, but he’ll be out of minor league options in 2021. Given his pedigree and the bit of flexibility he still carries as an optionable player in 2020, another team could have interest in taking a flier on him. However, he’s looked mostly overmatched at the Double-A level, so there’s a chance the Sox could succeed in passing him through waivers and keep him in the organization without requiring a 40-man spot.

As for Dalquist, he’s only pitched three innings with the White Sox’ Rookie-level affiliate, so he won’t be viewed as a 2020 option. Still, there’s plenty of value in allowing the 19-year-old to work with the team’s staff and other more experienced players at the satellite site. He ranks seventh among ChiSox farmhands at Baseball America and 12th at both MLB.com and FanGraphs, so it’s not a surprise that the front office wants to continue to get him some valuable developmental reps in the only setting that’s really available to them this season.

Rays Activate Austin Meadows

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The Rays can look forward to a significant lineup boost. The team has activated outfielder Austin Meadows from the COVID-19 injured list, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.

Meadows has yet to make his season debut. He had already been cleared to rejoin the team but needed a few weeks to ramp up to regular-season readiness.

To create an active roster spot, the club optioned righty Trevor Richards. He was a nice pickup for the Tampa Bay organization last year but had been knocked around early in 2020.

Meadows will now get back to work trying to build off of his enormously impressive showing in his first full MLB campaign. He launched 33 home runs, swiped a dozen bags, and posted a 142 wRC+ over 591 plate appearances last season.

60-Man Pool Additions: Orioles, Brewers

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Here are the latest additions to 60-man player pools from around the majors:

  • Joining the Orioles’ 60-man player pool are righty Kyle Bradish, outfielder Ryan McKenna, and southpaw Bruce Zimmermann. Bradish, a fourth-round pick of the 2018 draft, had a solid year at the High-A level in 2019 and came to the Baltimore organization in the Dylan Bundy swap. The latter two will each be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this fall if they’re not added to the 40-man roster beforehand. McKenna had a tough season last year at Double-A, where slashed just .232/.321/.365 in 567 plate appearances. The 25-year-old Zimmermann topped out at Triple-A in 2019, scuffling in seven starts. But he earned his way there with 101 1/3 impressive frames at Bowie, over which he carried a 2.58 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
  • The Brewers have brought outfielder Hedbert Perez and righty Justin Topa into their alternate training site, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on Twitter. It’s a rather interesting duo. The former only just turned 17 years of age and is obviously still a long ways away from the majors. The organization obviously sees quite a lot of potential. Topa is already 29 but sits in the upper nineties with his fastball, so this’ll be an opportunity for the Milwaukee organization to see if he could ultimately be an option at the MLB level. Last year, Topa worked to a cumulative 3.38 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 over forty frames split between the High-A and Double-A levels.

Astros To Acquire Chase De Jong

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The Astros have struck a deal to pick up righty Chase De Jong, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Twitter link). He had been working with the indy league Sugarland Skeeters.

It’s not immediately clear whether De Jong will join the Astros’ active roster or instead head to the team’s alternative training site. Regardless, he’ll first have to pass a physical and covid screening.

De Jong, 26, is a former second-round pick who has appeared in each of the past three MLB seasons. He hasn’t found much success at the game’s highest level, allowing 31 earned runs with a 26:22 K/BB ratio in 47 total frames. He also ran into the Triple-A home run buzzsaw last year, but did carry a 3.66 ERA in 160 frames at the highest level of the minors in the 2018 campaign.

Twins Select Caleb Thielbar

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The Twins have selected the contract of lefty Caleb Thielbar, per a club announcement. To create active roster space, the team optioned outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr.

Thielbar, 33, is making a triumphant return to the majors after four seasons away. He worked to a 2.74 ERA over 98 2/3 innings with the Twins from 2013-15, but teams obviously didn’t buy into his ability to sustain anything approaching that level of output.

In the interim, Thielbar has kept turning in good results, first in the indy ball ranks and then in the upper minors. Last season, he worked to a 3.22 ERA in 78 1/3 Triple-A innings with 94 strikeouts and 16 walks.

White Sox Sign Clayton Richard

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The White Sox have inked left-hander Clayton Richard to a minor-league deal, per LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune  on Twitter. He’ll report to the team’s alternative training site.

Richard, 36, has eleven years of MLB experience under his belt. He had a nice run earlier in his career before injuries intervened. Richard hasn’t found much success of late.

Last year, Richard took ten starts with the Blue Jays, limping to a 5.96 ERA with 4.4 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over 45 1/3 innings. Given those most recent results, it seems fair to presume that the South Siders view the veteran southpaw as a depth option.

Pirates Select Yacksel Rios

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The Pirates have selected the contract of righty Yacksel Rios. Fellow right-hander Michael Feliz was moved to the 45-man injured list.

Rios was outrighted off of the 40-man roster in late June. The 27-year-old will now get another shot. He owns a 6.20 ERA through 65 1/3 total MLB frames over the past three seasons.

It’s obviously somewhat ominous news to see Feliz move right onto the lengthier injury list. He came down with forearm issues yesterday. Clearly, the team anticipates a rather lengthy absence for the 27-year-old.

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