Blue Jays Select Edwin Jackson
The Blue Jays have selected the contract of righty Edwin Jackson, per a club announcement. Lefty Thomas Pannone was optioned out to create active roster space, with righty Matt Shoemaker moved to the 60-day injured list for a 40-man spot.
Jackson’s addition to the MLB roster was a foregone conclusion when he was acquired recently from the A’s. The veteran hurler had joined the Oakland organization on a minors pact that included an opt-out chance later this month. He was shipped to Toronto to help fill a need for innings on the Jays’ roster and will take the ball this evening.
By making it official, the Blue Jays have now become the 14th MLB team Jackson has appeared with in 16 seasons in the majors. He’s closing in on two thousand career innings with a cumulative 4.60 ERA.
Last year, the 35-year-old pitched to a 3.33 ERA in 92 frames for the A’s, though metrics suggested those results were based in no small part upon some batted ball fortune. Jackson ran up 19 strikeouts but also surrendered four home runs in his 14 2/3 minor-league frames to open the present campaign.
Once Jackson takes hill today, he’ll officially surpass righty Octavio Dotel for the all-time lead in number of Major League teams pitched for. The most well-traveled veteran in the game’s history has appeared for the Rays, Cubs, Dodgers, Nationals, White Sox, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Braves, Athletics, Padres, Orioles, Marlins and Tigers prior to the 2019 season. And while he’ll make his Toronto debut this afternoon, Jackson has technically even been a Blue Jay in the past; he was traded from the White Sox to the Jays on July 27 but immediately flipped to the Cardinals just hours later.
Braves To Promote Austin Riley
The Braves will promote top position-player prospect Austin Riley to the majors, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription link). Ender Inciarte is expected to be placed on the injured list with back tightness; the corresponding 40-man move isn’t yet known.
With the move, the Braves are adding a player who entered the season graded as a consensus top-fifty prospect. Riley was listed as high as 22nd overall, by Baseball America. He has moved up the boards since with an impressive offensive onslaught.
The 22-year-old Riley has turned in 162 plate appearances of .299/.377/.681 hitting with 15 home runs thus far at Triple-A. He has also drawn 18 walks to go with 31 strikeouts, representing a notable improvement for a player who has shown some swing and miss in the past.
While Riley’s long-term fit is probably at third base, he began seeing time in the corner outfield recently. That clearly set the stage for a call-up, though it came a bit sooner than might have been anticipated.
Joining the majors today will mean that Riley can earn as many as 138 days of MLB service this season. That could set him up for eventual Super Two qualification, if he’s able to hang onto his roster spot permanently.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Braves manage things once they’re at full health. There could be some roster and playing time crunches. If so, the club will no doubt consider it a good problem to have.
Now that he’s in the majors, Riley will have the chance to drive the decisionmaking. Inciarte might return in a reduced role. Matt Joyce could be bumped from the roster, though he’s performing quite well in a limited capacity. Utilityman Johan Camargo can be optioned. Josh Donaldson will remain entrenched at third base this year and remains a qualifying-offer candidate at season’s end, but Riley could spell the veteran at times.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Angels Option Justin Bour, Will Select Jared Walsh
The Angels announced following tonight’s game that they’ve optioned first baseman Justin Bour to Triple-A Salt Lake. They’ll make a corresponding roster move prior to tomorrow’s game, which, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link), will be to select the contract of first baseman/left-handed reliever Jared Walsh.
Though Bour is a veteran of parts of six big league seasons, he’s still a couple of months shy of the five full years of MLB service time. Players with five or more years of MLB service can only be optioned to the minors with their consent, but Bour entered the year at four years, 64 days of MLB service and is now at four years, 111 days.
Bour, 30, was non-tendered by the Phillies in the offseason and inked a one-year deal worth $2.5MM with the Halos. At the time, the hope was that he could help fill in for Shohei Ohtani early in the season and then move into some kind of timeshare at first base and designated hitter. But while he entered the year as a career .260/.344/.466 hitter with 84 home runs in 1563 Major League plate appearances, Bour has batted only .163/.268/.316 through 112 plate appearances with his new club. He’s drawn 13 walks in that time, demonstrating strong knowledge of the strike zone, but has also shown questionable contact skills with a 27.7 percent strikeout rate.
If Bour is able to eventually turn things around, the Angels will be able to control him through the 2020 season as an arbitration-eligible player this winter, but that’s a long way from being a consideration at this point. For now, he’ll simply work to earn another crack at the big league roster.
As for Walsh, the 25-year-old is off to a .302/.398/.604 slash with 10 homers and a dozen doubles on the season so far. He’s also pitched five innings of relief and allowed a pair of runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts. He’s more of a position player than a pitcher — Walsh has just 13 2/3 professional innings under his belt in the minors — but he’s an intriguing player to monitor as he gets his first call to the big leagues.
Yankees Acquire Kendrys Morales
The Yankees announced that they’ve acquired first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales from the Athletics in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, New York transferred righty Jonathan Loaisiga from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
Morales, 35, was designated for assignment by the Athletics yesterday. Oakland had picked him up early in the season after losing first baseman Matt Olson to a hand injury for more than a month. However, the veteran Morales struggled quite a bit in limited time with the A’s, hitting at a .204/.310/.259 clip and connecting on just one home run. With Olson and fellow first baseman Mark Canha healthy in Oakland alongside designated hitter Khris Davis, there simply wasn’t a place on the Athletics’ roster for the struggling Morales.
That’s not necessarily the case up in the Bronx, however. While Luke Voit has solidified himself as the team’s primary first baseman, the outfield/designated hitter mix is considerably less certain. Morales could see fairly regular time at DH in the short term, leaving the Yankees with a starting outfield of Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier, while Cameron Maybin shifts into a reserve role. Although Morales’ 2019 production has been nonexistent, he’s just a year removed from a respectable .249/.331/.438 batting line and is a combined .270/.330/.465 hitter dating back to the 2009 season — when he first established himself as a Major League regular.
Of course, that alignment isn’t anywhere near what the Yankees had envisioned heading into the season, but the team’s jaw-dropping list of injuries has been well documented by now. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, Troy Tulowitzki and Didi Gregorius are all on the injured list, while Aaron Hicks was only just activated from the IL and has yet to make his season debut. To their credit, despite that slate of injuries, the Yankees are hitting .253/.333/.430 (104 wRC+) as a team and rank right in the middle of the pack in terms of total runs scored among MLB clubs.
Royals Designate Frank Schwindel For Assignment
The Royals have designated first baseman Frank Schwindel for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for infield prospect Nicky Lopez, whose previously announced promotion to the Major Leagues is now official (Twitter link via Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star).
Schwindel, 26, opened the 2019 season on the active roster with the Royal but appeared in only six games before returning to the minors. He’s had a rough go of it so far in Triple-A Omaha, hitting just .186/.237/.286 with a homer and four doubles through 76 trips to the plate. That said, Schwindel enjoyed a much more productive 2018 run in Omaha when he hit .286/.336/.506 with 24 homers and 38 doubles, and he’s generally been a productive bat since arriving on the scene in Triple-A back in 2017.
The move to designate Schwindel buys struggling veteran Chris Owings some additional time on the active roster. Kansas City signed the former D-backs utilityman to a one-year deal worth $3MM this past offseason, but Owings has mustered only a .143/.209/.244 output in 129 trips to the plate so far. For now, he’ll continue to try to sort things out at the MLB level, but Lopez’s arrival will further cut into his already dwindling playing time.
Braves Designate Jerry Blevins
The Braves have designated lefty Jerry Blevins for assignment, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. Righty Kyle Wright was already optioned down, thus creating two active roster openings that will be filled by relievers Jesse Biddle (back from the IL) and Wes Parsons (recalled from Triple-A).
Blevins opened the season in the Athletics organization, facing the unfamiliar position of earning his way onto a major league roster. He ended up being acquired by the Braves and installed in their relief unit.
Things haven’t worked out as hoped for Blevins, who has allowed four runs with four strikeouts and three walks in his 3 1/3 innings over six appearances. That’s too short a sample to draw any final conclusions, but Blevins was working at or near career-worst levels of velocity (89.1 mph average fastball), swinging strikes (8.1%), and hard contact (50.0%) in th ebrief showing.
Brewers Promote Keston Hiura
12:34pm: Hiura’s promotion is official, along with the corresponding moves to open roster space.
9:33am: The Brewers will promote exciting second base prospect Keston Hiura, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Precise timing and corresponding roster moves aren’t yet clear.
Hiura, 22, entered the present season as a consensus top-twenty prospect leaguewide. Baseball Prospectus was particularly bullish, ranking him sixth. If the promotion occurs in advance of today’s game, Hiura can accrue as many as 139 days of service this year, setting him up for potential future Super Two qualification.
The ninth overall pick of the 2017 draft, Hiura has done nothing but hit since becoming a professional. That’s more or less what was expected out of the UC-Irvine product, who was seen as a highly advanced college batter. But he has perhaps exceeded expectations with a breakout start to the 2019 season.
Through 147 plate appearances this year at the highest level of the minors, Hiura carries a hefty .333/.408/.698 slash line with 11 long balls. It’s not entirely surprising to see the power emerging, though this is certainly whole new level of pop for a player who tallied 13 homers in 535 total plate appearances last year. That power surge comes as part of a PCL-wide jump, though Hiura still owns an impressive 164 wRC+.
That’s not to say that there aren’t any concerns at all. Hiura has boosted his walk rate a bit, topping ten percent for the first time, but doesn’t draw a notable number of free passes. And he’s carrying a 27.2% strikeout rate this year, a significant step up from his prior levels and a potential area of concern as he adapts to MLB pitching.
Hiura isn’t seen as a particularly impressive defender, and does have a history of elbow woes, though he’s generally expected to provide solid-enough glovework at second base. Just how the Brewers will allocate playing time will be interesting to observe. Mike Moustakas will presumably continue to see more time at third base, creating added uncertainty for the struggling Travis Shaw.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brewers To Designate Cory Spangenberg; Travis Shaw Likely Headed To IL
The Brewers appear to have lined up roster moves to accommodate the promotion of second baseman Keston Hiura. Milwaukee will designate utilityman Cory Spangenberg for assignment, per an announcement from the club’s San Antonio affiliate. And it appears likely that third baseman Travis Shaw will head to the IL with a wrist injury, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Spangenberg had been stationed at San Antonio to open the year after signing onto the MLB roster (albeit on a split contract) over the offseason. The former first-round draft pick struggled to a .212/.305/.317 batting line in his 118 plate appearances, tallying forty strikeouts along the way.
It hasn’t been a pleasant start to the season for Shaw, either. The 29-year-old is carrying only a .163/.266/.281 batting line with four home runs and fifty strikeouts. That’s well shy of the strong offensive output he has provided the Brew Crew over the past two campaigns. Shaw played last night without evident issue; the severity of his wrist issue isn’t yet known.
Indians Promote Oscar Mercado
TODAY: Mercado’s promotion has been announced. Naquin will indeed hit the IL with calf tightness.
YESTERDAY: The Indians are calling upon a top minor-league performer, per MLB.com’s Mandy Bell (via Twitter). Young outfielder Oscar Mercado is heading up to the MLB roster, with Tyler Naquin likely headed to the 10-day injured list.
Mercado, a former second-round pick who was picked up in a trade last summer from the Cardinals, has been on a tear for most of the season at Triple-A. He’s slashing .294/.396/.496 over 140 plate appearances, with four home runs and 14 stolen bases in 17 attempts.
The Cleveland organization is badly in need of a boost after watching two of its best players go down to injury and spotting the Twins four games in the AL Central. To this point of the season, just one of the team’s outfielders (Jordan Luplow) has managed to produce offensively at better than an 87 wRC+ rate.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/13/19
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the game:
- The Pirates outrighted southpaw Tyler Lyons after he cleared waivers, per a club announcement. The 31-year-old reliever will have the option of electing free agency, if he has not already decided to accept the assignment. Through seven seasons in the majors, Lyons carries a 4.20 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. He gave up five earned in his four frames this year with Pittsburgh, though he had shown better at Triple-A to open the season.
- Righty Michael Blazek is back in the affiliated ranks after signing on with the Nationals, Triple-A communications director Paul Braverman tweeted. Blazek is headed to Fresno after initially signing with the indy ball Lincoln Saltdogs. The 30-year-old reliever has thrown 123 innings in the bigs, mostly with the Brewers, working to a 4.39 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9. Blazek had not actually appeared yet for the Saltdogs, whose season hasn’t yet begun.