Padres Select Makita, Recall Mejia; Machado Appeals 1-Game Ban
As part of a series of roster moves, the Padres have selected the contract of right-handed reliever Kazuhisa Makita from Double-A Amarillo. The club recalled catcher Francisco Mejia from Triple-A El Paso, optioned backstop Austin Allen and left-hander Nick Margevicius to El Paso, and transferred outfielder Franchy Cordero to the 60-day injured list in other transactions.
Additionally, Padres third baseman Manny Machado has been issued a one-game suspension “for aggressively arguing and making contact with umpire Bill Welke” in Saturday’s game in Colorado, but he will appeal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today was among those to report.
This is the first big league promotion of the season for the 34-year-old Makita, whom the Padres signed out of Japan to a two-year, $3.8MM guarantee in January 2018. The submarining Makita struggled to a 5.40 ERA/4.85 FIP last season in San Diego, in part because of a microscopic 20.2 percent groundball rate. While Makita did manage 9.51 K/9 against 3.09 BB/9, that wasn’t enough to prevent the Padres from designating him for assignment last November. Makita has since pitched to a 3.82 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 in 35 innings at the Double-A level.
The recall of Mejia may be the most interesting move here, as he’s not far removed from a run as one of the majors’ best hitting prospects. Now 24, the Padres acquired Mejia from the Indians last June for relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber. Mejia hasn’t done much in the majors, though, which led the Padres to demote him to El Paso on June 1. But the Padres want more offense from behind the plate – something the light-hitting Allen and Austin Hedges haven’t provided – which explains their decision to bring the gifted Mejia back to the majors.
Machado, the Padres’ highest-profile player, may sit a game stemming from an ejection Saturday. He slammed his helmet to the ground and fired his bat against the backstop amid a heated argument with Welke.
Blue Jays Transfer Elvis Luciano To 60-Day IL
The Blue Jays have moved right-hander Elvis Luciano to the 60-day injured list to make room for the activation of fellow righty David Phelps, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.
Luciano went to the 10-day IL with a sprained elbow on June 12. His 60-day placement means he won’t be back until around mid-August at the earliest. However, as a Rule 5 pick, it’s unlikely to jeopardize Luciano’s place in the organization. Luciano has about two weeks left before he officially becomes Blue Jays property, notes Nicholson-Smith, who suggests that’s a formality.
The Blue Jays plucked Luciano from the Royals last December, and he made Toronto’s roster even though he won’t turn 20 until February 2020. The youngest player in the majors, Luciano has pitched to a 6.51 ERA/6.29 FIP with more unintentional walks (23) than strikeouts (22) in 27 2/3 innings. Luciano has also allowed 33 hits, including four home runs, but the rebuilding Blue Jays have ridden out his struggles thus far and appear likely to keep him around going forward.
Indians Activate Mike Clevinger
JUNE 17: The Indians will make room for Clevinger by moving Kluber to the 60-day IL and optioning lefty Josh Smith, Bell tweets.
JUNE 12: The Indians will activate starter Mike Clevinger to take the ball on Monday, MLB.com’s Mandy Bell was among those to cover on Twitter. Clevinger recently made a second rehab appearance as part of his recovery from an upper back/teres major strain.
While the club ended up going without the excellent righty for just over two months, that’s actually a relief. When it was determined that his injury was worse than originally believed, it seemed that he might need that much time just for rest and rehab.
Clevinger, 28, will make for a significant boost to a club that has dealt with a trio of blows to its exceptional starting staff. Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco remain sidelined, but the Cleveland organization can now slot in another co-ace alongside Trevor Bauer at the front of the rotation.
The Indians will hope that Clevinger can pick up where he left off. In his first dozen frames of the year, he allowed just a pair of hits while racking up a 22:4 K/BB ratio. It’ll take a big effort from Clevinger and the rest of the roster to track down the division-leading Twins, but that’s not out of the realm of possibility and the Indians remain in the thick of the Wild Card hunt.
Orioles Designate Joey Rickard, Select Sean Gilmartin
The Orioles announced today that they have designated outfielder Joey Rickard for assignment. That creates a roster opening for the team to select the contract of lefty Sean Gilmartin.
Both of these players are former Rule 5 picks who managed to stick it out in the majors with their new teams. In each case, the initial hope faded over the long term.
Rickard, 28, has slashed just .203/.304/.347 in his 135 plate appearances on the season and hasn’t fared much better over the scope of his MLB career. As for Gilmartin, he has bounced around and failed to find steady work in the majors since a strong rookie year. He has pitched to a 2.48 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 36 1/3 Triple-A frames in 2019.
Red Sox To Sign Chris Owings
The Red Sox have inked a minors deal with infielder Chris Owings, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). He’ll spend some time at extended spring training before heading to Triple-A.
Owings was released previously by the Royals. They’ll remain obligated to him for the $3MM promised over the winter, less any amount of the pro-rated minimum that he might earn in the majors for the rest of the season.
Signed in hopes he’d bounce back in K.C., Owings ended up falling deeper into a malaise at the plate. He ended up slashing a meager .133/.193/.222 in his 145 plate appearances. The Red Sox will see if they can help the versatile defender find a groove in hopes that he could be a second-half roster option at an affordable rate of pay.
Angels Activate Justin Upton, Designate Cesar Puello
The Angels announced today that Justin Upton has been activated from the injured list. He’ll take the active and 40-man roster spots of fellow outfielder Cesar Puello, who was designated for assignment.
It’s obviously good news for the Halos to finally welcome Upton back to the active roster. He hasn’t yet suited up owing to a turf toe injury that proved surprisingly problematic. The slugger is a key piece of a roster that has not performed as hoped to this stage of the season.
That said, the L.A. org won’t be able to hope for much of a production bump over Puello. The 28-year-old has produced a hefty .390/.500/.683 output with three home runs in fifty plate appearances this year. That far outstrips anything he had shown previously, though it’s fair to note that Puello has been a steady offensive producer in the high minors for several seasons.
Padres To Promote Logan Allen
The Padres will promote highly regarded pitching prospect Logan Allen, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. The southpaw is expected to make a start tomorrow.
Acquired as part of the 2015 Craig Kimbrel deal, Allen has steadily climbed the prospect charts over the past several seasons. The former eighth-round pick, now 22 years of age, cracked most top-100 charts entering the current campaign.
Allen hasn’t exactly been at his most impressive in 2019, though the offensively robust PCL surely hasn’t helped his stat sheet. Through 57 2/3 innings, he carries a 5.15 ERA with 63 strikeout sand 22 walks.
This continues the Padres’ season-long strategy of rotating up young arms to the MLB roster. That approach hasn’t led to much in the way of stable starting pitching, though it has allowed the team preserve its talent base while trying to compete. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results have been uneven.
Phillies Outright Phil Gosselin
The Phillies have outrighted infielder Phil Gosselin after he cleared waivers, per a club announcement. He has been assigned to Triple-A, but still has the right to reject the assignment.
While the 30-year-old Gosselin brings a solid and versatile glove, he has never really come around fully with the bat. He’s slashing .262/.310/.356 in 629 career plate appearances in the majors. Gosselin is a .291 hitter in over a thousand trips to the dish at Triple-A, but only carries a .338 OBP and .399 slug at the highest level of the minors.
Diamondbacks To Sign First-Rounder Drey Jameson
The Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal with 34th overall pick Drey Jameson, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (Twitter link). Jameson was one of two compensatory first-rounders awarded to the D’Backs after Patrick Corbin and A.J. Pollock rejected qualifying offers and left in free agency. High schooler Brennan Malone was taken with the other compensation pick (33rd overall) and agreed to his own contract with Arizona earlier this week.
Jameson, a right-hander out of Ball State, inked a deal with a $1.4MM bonus. This is significantly below the $2,148,100 assigned slot price for the 34th overall pick, though Callis notes that “issues had to be ironed out after [Jameson’s] physical.” These savings will help the Diamondbacks navigate their enormous draft class, as while Arizona’s $16,093,700 bonus pool was the largest of any team, the Snakes also had five extra picks beyond their allotted ten choices in the draft’s first 10 rounds.
Jameson is relatively undersized at 6’0″ and 165 pounds, and he also has what Fangraphs’ scouting report describes as “high-maintenance delivery” that “may make it hard for him to start.” Some scouts believe Jameson could ultimately end up in the bullpen, though his overall stuff certainly merits a look as a starter. MLB.com and Baseball America rank Jameson 49th in the draft class and Fangraphs has him 50th, all citing his plus fastball that can hit 97-98mph and regularly sits in the 93-96mph range.
Mariners To Select Austin Nola’s Contract
12:23pm: The Mariners have officially announced Nola’s addition to the roster.
12:09am: The Mariners will call up catcher/utility infielder Austin Nola to the majors, manager Scott Servais told reporters following tonight’s game. Nola will take the roster spot left open after Edwin Encarnacion was traded to the Yankees earlier today.
This will mark the first time that the 29-year-old Nola has appeared in the big leagues, following an eight-year professional career largely spent in Miami’s farm system. Originally drafted in the fifth round by the Marlins in the 2012 draft, Nola (the older brother of Phillies righty Aaron Nola) has a modest .252/.340/.339 slash line over 3085 PA in the minors, though he has broken out in his first season in the Mariners’ organization.
After being let go by the Marlins after the 2018 campaign, Nola has hit an impressive .327/.415/.520 with seven home runs over 229 PA for Triple-A Tacoma. While Nola is older than a lot of his competition and it’s probably unlikely he’s a late bloomer, his success has nevertheless earned him a trip to the Show.
Nola brings some unusual versatility to Seattle’s bench, as he shifted to catching in 2017 after primarily playing middle infield for his first several seasons. Most of Nola’s work has come behind the plate over the last three seasons, though he has also seen time at both corner infield spots. At the very least, he can spell first baseman Daniel Vogelbach against tough lefties, while also backing up third base and giving the M’s more catching depth behind Omar Narvaez and Tom Murphy.