Reds Select Kyle Crockett, Option Wandy Peralta, Release Tony Cruz
The Reds announced a series of roster moves Thursday, most notably selecting the contract of left-handed reliever Kyle Crockett and optioning fellow southpaw Wandy Peralta to Triple-A Louisville in his place. Cincinnati opened a spot on the 40-man roster for Crockett by releasing Triple-A catcher Tony Cruz. Additionally, the Reds placed Scott Schebler on the bereavement list and recalled outfielder Phil Ervin from Louisville.
[Related: Updated Cincinnati Reds depth chart]
The decision to option Peralta was likely a disheartening one for the organization. The hard-throwing 26-year-old looked to be on the path to establishing himself as a quality big league reliever last season when he tossed 64 2/3 innings with a 3.76 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9 and a 54.2 percent ground-ball rate. Most encouragingly, Peralta showed minimal platoon splits (.287 wOBA vs. lefties, .298 vs. righties).
Unfortunately for Peralta, the 2018 campaign has been nothing short of a nightmare. He has more walks (25) than strikeouts (21) in 29 1/3 innings so far in 2018, and he’s hit a pair of batters as well. He’s allowed just one homer on the season, but his awful control in 2018 has resulted in a 6.14 ERA. Things have been particularly bad of late, as Peralta has surrendered 11 runs over his past five innings of work; he was charged with five earned runs without recording an out in his final appearance before being optioned.
Cincinnati will hope that Crockett, 26, can step into the role they’d set aside for Peralta. The 2013 Indians fourth-rounder was somewhat improbably the first player from his draft class to reach the Majors, and he did so in impressive fashion, posting a 1.80 ERA with a 28-to-8 K/BB ratio in 30 innings for Cleveland as a rookie in 2014. Since that time, however, he’s managed just a 4.84 ERA in 38 MLB innings. Crockett pitched well for Cleveland’s Triple-A club in 2017 and has a 4.00 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 27 Triple-A innings this season.
Cruz, 31, hit .154/.154/.308 in 26 plate appearances this season while serving in a backup capacity for the Reds. However, the Reds picked up Curt Casali in a minor trade with the Rays, displacing Cruz as the backup to Tucker Barnhart. In 73 plate appearances with Louisville this year, Cruz has batted .188/.260/.344.
White Sox Release Michael Saunders
The White Sox have released outfielder Michael Saunders, per an announcement from their top affiliate. Top prospect Eloy Jimenez was promoted to Triple-A Charlotte, among other roster moves.
Saunders, 31, has struggled to gain traction this year after a miserable 2017 season. Through 51 plate appearances in the White Sox organization, he managed only a .152/.235/.239 slash, which was only marginally worse than he slashed earlier this year for the Orioles’ top affiliate.
At this point, Saunders is going to have a tough time finding extended opportunities at the highest level of the minors. But he’s still not far removed from a strong 2016 MLB campaign, so surely some team will pick him up.
Fans of the South Siders will take greater notice of the Jimenez promotion, though perhaps they’d prefer to see him moving all the way onto the MLB roster. The 21-year-old had already reached the Double-A level last year, and has mashed there again in 2018 to the tune of a .317/.368/.556 slash with ten home runs in 228 trips to the plate.
Jimenez, of course, is widely considered one of the game’s very best prospects. While we’re reaching the point in the season when contractual considerations no longer pose as significant a barrier to a promotion — with only 102 service-eligible days left in the season, there’s no worry of setting up Super Two status — the Chicago organization is still taking things relatively slowly with Jimenez.
2018 Amateur Draft Signings: 6/21/18
We’ll use this post to cover the day’s notable draft deals. The rankings referenced come courtesy of Fangraphs, MLB.com, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law; Fangraphs and MLB.com scouting reports are available to the public free of charge, while the others require subscriptions.
- The Red Sox announced a variety of signings, including that of second-rounder Nick Decker. A New Jersey high-school outfielder who was slated to attend the University of Maryland, Decker will instead take home a $1.25MM bonus to join the Boston organization, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). That payday lands just north of the $1,010,500 allocation for the 64th overall pick. Decker drew a variety of grades entering the draft, with Fangraphs placing him just on the cusp of its top fifty. While the jury is out on Decker’s pure hitting ability, scouts love his present-day physical ability and big power at the plate.
Nexen Heroes Sign Eric Hacker, Release Esmil Rogers
Korea’s Nexen Heroes have announced that they signed right-hander Eric Hacker, as Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News reports (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Hacker receives a $300K contract.
The move was made after righty Esmil Rogers went down with a broken finger. By releasing him, the club opened another spot for a foreign player. The Korea Baseball Organization allows its member teams to carry three apiece.
Hacker, 35, saw action in parts of three MLB seasons before plying his trade on the other side of the Pacific. He hasn’t looked back since, turning in a strong, five-year run with the NC Dinos.
In 586 2/3 innings over more than a hundred starts, Hacker has worked to a 3.52 ERA in the notoriously hitter-friendly KBO. Last year, he tossed 160 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball, but he had not been pitching competitively thus far in 2018.
As for Rogers, he enjoyed a more significant major-league career in advance of his own move to Korea. But he never found consistent success in seven seasons in the bigs, posting a lifetime 5.59 earned run average.
Rogers previously worked in the KBO in 2016 but returned to North America least year. He threw well in seven late-season Triple-A starts in the Nationals organization, paving the way for a contract with Nexen. Through 13 starts this year, Roges had thrown 83 frames of 3.80 ERA ball with 65 strikeouts and 16 walks.
If you’re interested in catching up on any of the other familiar names currently playing in Korea, take a look at this handy page from MyKBOstats.com.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/20/18
We’ll use this post to track the latest minor moves …
- The Angels announced yesterday that righty Oliver Drake was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. Drake received multiple opportunities this year, seeing action with three clubs, but ended up being designated for assignment by each of them when he simply could not produce results to match his generally promising peripheral numbers. All said, in 19 2/3 innings to open the 2018 campaign, he has allowed 18 earned runs on 29 hits while recording 23 strikeouts and ten walks. Certainly, Drake has been unlucky to carry a 59.1% strand rate and surrender a .450 batting average on balls in play on only a 32.3% hard contact rate. But it’s a bottom-line business at the end of the day, and he will now have to await another opportunity in the upper minors.
Marlins Release Severino Gonzalez, Sean Burnett
The Marlins have released right-hander Severino Gonzalez and veteran left-hander Sean Burnett from their Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans, as first tweeted by the club’s Triple-A broadcaster, Tim Grubbs.
Gonzalez, 25, spent a day on the Marlins’ active roster in early April after having his contract selected from New Orleans, but his addition was purely a depth move, it seems. Gonzalez didn’t get into the game in his lone day on the roster, and he was designated for assignment the next day. He ultimately accepted an outright assignment back to New Orleans, where he went on to struggle for much of the season.
In 33 2/3 innings out of the bullpen this season, Gonzalez has stumbled with a 5.61 ERA and similarly discouraging peripheral metrics. Never one to miss many bats, Gonzalez has averaged 6.1 K/9 so far in 2018, and his typical otherworldly control has taken a step back. While his 2.4 BB/9 mark is still strong, it’s also a bit of a step back from the career 1.8 mark he’d posted at the Triple-A level prior to 2018. The real problem for Gonzalez, however, was the long ball; he’d previously been stingy in that regard but has been hammered for seven homers in his 33 2/3 frames. The former Phillies prospect does have strong K/BB numbers in 66 Major League innings (all with Philadelphia), but he’s nonetheless logged a 6.68 ERA as a big leaguer.
As for Burnett, the 35-year-old veteran has appeared in parts of nine Major League seasons and had a nice peak from 2009-12 as an excellent setup man for the Pirates and Nationals before undergoing Tommy John surgery after signing a two-year deal with the Angels. Burnett has continued to grind since injuries ruined his two-year stint with the Halos, and he briefly resurfaced in the Majors with the 2016 Nats.
He didn’t pitch in the Majors or minors in 2017, and while his 5.49 ERA in 19 2/3 innings this season looks ugly, there’s still some reason to believe he could have something left in the tank. Burnett notched an outstanding 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in those 19 2/3 innings, allowing just two homers along the way and registering a 48.4 percent ground-ball rate. And while he allowed far too many hits in New Orleans (30, to be exact), he was also plagued by a sky-high .452 average on balls in play. Burnett punched out nine of the 25 lefties he faced (36 percent) without allowing a walk, so perhaps a club could view him as a potential situational lefty at the very least.
Indians Select Contract Of George Kontos
The Indians announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-handed reliever George Kontos from Triple-A Columbus and placed fellow righty Evan Marshall on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation in his right elbow.
Kontos, 33, was released by the Pirates in late May and signed a minor league pact with Cleveland a few days later. He’s been in the organization for a bit more than two weeks and has tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings in Columbus, allowing seven hits and no walks with six strikeouts and a 61.9 percent ground-ball rate.
That’s encouraging progress for the veteran Kontos, who posted respectable numbers in the Giants’ bullpen from 2012-17 and was terrific for the Pirates late in 2017 before faltering in 2018. Kontos was unable to recover from a dismal start to the year with the Buccos, as he struggled to a 5.03 ERA in 19 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment and released.
More troubling than his ERA was the fact that Kontos, who entered the season with a career 7.4 K/9 mark, managed just nine strikeouts in those 19 2/3 frames (4.1 K/9). His swinging-strike rate was nearly cut in half (from 16.4 percent to 8.5 percent), and his average fastball velocity dipped from 91 mph last season to 89.6 mph in 2018. Unsurprisingly, Kontos’ lack of whiffs translated into more hits, as he averaged a career-worst 10.5 H/9 and 1.8 HR/9 with the Pirates through the season’s first two months.
The Indians will hope that the heartening results Kontos displayed in Columbus can carry over to the Majors and help to stop the bleeding for a porous relief corps. Indians relievers rank 28th in MLB with a 5.42 ERA, and their 4.71 FIP checks in at 29th. No team’s collective bullpen has averaged more than Cleveland’s 1.63 HR/9.
Certainly, the team has missed Andrew Miller, who has been limited to just 14 1/3 innings this season while dealing with injuries. However, virtually every reliever on the Cleveland staff has taken a step back. Zach McAllister (5.40), Dan Otero (6.12), Nick Goody (6.94) and Tyler Olson (7.27) all have ghastly ERAs thus far after functioning as core pieces of a strong bullpen in 2017.
Brewers Designate Boone Logan
The Brewers have designated lefty Boone Logan for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to right-hander Freddy Peralta, who was recalled to take a start this evening.
Logan, who’s closing in on his 34th birthday, simply never got things going after joining the Brewers on a one-year deal over the winter. His $2.5MM guarantee included a buyout for a club option in 2019, which obviously now will not be exercised. The contract also included a hefty $3.2MM incentives package that started to accrue after 25 appearances.
Logan will continue to receive the promised money, but won’t see any of that potential extra cash. He opened the year on the DL and has struggled since being activated. In 10 2/3 innings, he has allowed seven earned runs on 15 hits and 10 walks (three of them intentional).
To be fair, Logan has also run up 14 strikeouts and shown well in terms of average velocity (94.3 mph on his fastball) and swinging-strike rate (14.0%). That said, the walks seemed to be a product of real command troubles. Logan has worked in the zone at a 45.0% career rate, but has done so on just 33.9% of his pitches thus far in 2018.
Orioles Designate Pedro Alvarez
The Orioles have designated corner infielder Pedro Alvarez for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to infielder Steve Wilkerson, whose contract was selected.
Also coming up to the O’s is catcher Caleb Joseph, who was recalled from optional assignment. He’ll join his younger brother, Corban Joseph, on the active roster.
Alvarez, 31, has slumped badly of late. Through 127 plate appearances, he owns a .180/.283/.414 slash with eight home runs. He has likely been unfortunate to carry a .179 BABIP, and has shown a solid walk rate (12.6%) and robust power output (.234 ISO), so there ought to be some interest from other organizations.
The real difficulty for Alvarez, of course, is his lack of defensive ability. Though the O’s have plugged him in at third base from time to time, few organizations will be really comfortable doing so. As a lefty who has traditionally done damage against right-handed pitching, there could yet be a niche for Alvarez, but there just hasn’t been much demand for that sort of player of late — as the plight of Adam Lind demonstrates.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/19/18
Here are some of the notable recent minor moves from around the league …
- The Giants released outfielder-turned-pitcher Jordan Schafer, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Schafer had joined the San Francisco organization at the start of the current season in hopes of continuing his attempt to return to the majors on the mound. He had missed the prior campaign owing to Tommy John surgery. Schafer threw 6 1/3 innings at Triple-A prior to his release, allowing four earned runs on ten hits and five walks but also recording nine strikeouts.
- Eddy also reports that the Nationals have released corner infielder Matt Hague from their Triple-A affiliate. The 32-year-old has seen brief action in three MLB campaigns, most recently in 2015. He had joined the Washington organization after being released by the Mariners in April. Over 112 plate appearances at Syracuse, he exhibited typically strong plate discipline (12 walks vs. 18 strikeouts) but was slashing just .242/.321/.323.
- The Twins have cut ties with hard-throwing righty Zack Jones from Double-A Chattanooga, per the Eastern League transactions log. The former Rule 5 Draft pick had allowed just seven earned runs on ten hits through 25 1/3 innings thus far in 2018, racking up 39 strikeouts along the way. Unfortunately, the 27-year-old Jones has also handed out 25 walks this season. Over his seven minor-league seasons, he has recorded 12.9 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9, so the command issues represent a longstanding concern.