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Nationals Select Joe La Sorsa, Place Derek Law On 15-Day IL

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TODAY: The Nationals officially announced that La Sorsa’s contract has been selected.  In other moves, righty Joan Adon was also called up from Triple-A, while the Nationals placed left-hander Robert Garcia on the bereavement list and placed right-hander Derek Law on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow flexor strain.

Despite the serious-sounding nature of Law’s injury, he told reporters (including Spencer Nusbaum of the Washington Post) that he thinks he’ll be back to normal in 5-6 days time.  Law’s elbow has been bothering him for over a week, ever since pitching during rainy conditions in the Nationals’ 9-5 loss to the Giants on August 8.

AUGUST 16: Left-handed reliever Joe La Sorsa is on his way from Triple-A Rochester to join the Nationals, per Andrew Golden of the Washington Post (X link). Golden notes that La Sorsa might not be activated for today’s game, however. MLBTR has confirmed that La Sorsa is indeed headed to Philadelphia to join the Nats, and a source says he’ll have his contract selected following tonight’s game. He’ll formally join the roster tomorrow. The Nats have a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding 26-man roster move to accommodate the southpaw.

La Sorsa, 26, appeared in 25 big league games during last season’s MLB debut and pitched to a 4.41 ERA with a 19.3% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate in 32 1/3 innings between the Rays and Nats. Washington outrighted him off the 40-man roster back in December but has kept him in Triple-A as a non-roster player all season.

Things have gone well for La Sorsa with the Red Wings. He’s appeared in 42 games and logged 56 innings of relief with a pristine 2.25 earned run average. His 18.2% strikeout rate there is several percentage points shy of average, but he’s helped to offset the lack of whiffs with pinpoint command (4.9% walk rate) and a hefty slate of grounders (50.9%). La Sorsa now sports sub-3.00 ERA marks at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels in his career.

The Nats already have a pair of lefties in the bullpen in Robert Garcia and Jose A. Ferrer, although the latter has struggled considerably since returning from a long stay on the 60-day injured list due to a lat strain. However the Nats decide to make room for him, La Sorsa should be getting a legitimate audition down the stretch. If he performs well over the final five-plus weeks of the 2024 campaign, it’s easy to see the Nats keeping him on the 40-man roster this time around. La Sorsa still has two minor league option years remaining, so he could be an up-and-down depth arm for manager Davey Martinez next year even if he doesn’t carve out a permanent spot in the bullpen just yet.

Phillies Select Tyler Gilbert

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The Phillies announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tyler Gilbert from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  In corresponding moves, right-hander Tyler Phillips was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Spencer Turnbull was shifted from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.

It’s something of a homecoming for Gilbert, who was a sixth-round pick for the Phillies in the 2015 draft.  He spent his first five pro seasons in the Phils organization before he was traded to the Dodgers for Kyle Garlick prior to the 2020 season, and Gilbert’s tenure in L.A. didn’t consist of even a single game due to the canceled 2020 minor league campaign.  The Diamondbacks then selected Gilbert in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft and he posted a 4.32 ERA across 91 2/3 MLB innings for Arizona from 2021-23, highlighted by a no-hitter in his first Major League start on August 14, 2021.

Almost exactly three years after that history-making game, Gilbert finds himself going full circle, as he is now in line to finally suit up for the Phillies in a big league contest.  Gilbert signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati during the offseason and started the year with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate before the Phillies acquired him in a cash deal in May.  The southpaw has been nothing short of outstanding since the trade, as Gilbert has a 2.06 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate, 4.2% walk rate, and a 58.1% grounder rate over 35 relief innings in Lehigh Valley.

This is the first time Gilbert has been used exclusively as a reliever in his career, and it certainly appears to have unlocked something in the 30-year-old.  If Gilbert can deliver anything remotely close to his Triple-A numbers at the MLB level, it would be an enormous help to a Philadelphia bullpen that has posted the third-worst ERA (5.32) in baseball since the All-Star break.  Phils manager Rob Thomson Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters that Gilbert will be deployed as a multi-inning reliever.

Turnbull hasn’t pitched since he suffered a right lat strain on June 26, and the June 27 placement date of his 15-day IL stint still stands as the start date of his new 60-day window.  Turnbull had his planned return to mound work last week delayed by some soreness, so given that he’ll still need a good deal of ramp-up time before he’s ready to rejoin the Phillies, his absence is almost sure to extend beyond the 60-day minimum.

A’s Select Grant Holman

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The Athletics announced a quartet of roster moves, including the news that right-hander Grant Holman’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Las Vegas.  Star slugger Brent Rooker is also back from the paternity list, and right-hander Will Klein and infielder Armando Alvarez were both optioned to Triple-A to create the two needed opening on the 26-man roster.

Holman will be making his Major League debut whenever he makes his first official appearance for the A’s.  A sixth-round pick in the 2021 draft, Holman has worked exclusively as a reliever since he was promoted to Double-A in 2023, and his results this season have been spectacular.  The righty has a tiny 0.55 ERA over 48 2/3 combined innings at Double-A (19 1/3 IP) and Triple-A (29 1/3 IP), along with a strong 29% strikeout rate and a more modest 11.83% walk rate.  It should be noted that Holman has received a lot of batted-ball luck in the form of a .174 BABIP against Triple-A competition, but allowing just one homers in 29 1/3 frames of Pacific Coast League action is quite impressive.

MLB Pipeline rates Holman as the 21st-best prospect in Oakland’s farm system, and he received a 60-grade on his 95mph fastball.  Beyond that top offering, Holman also has a decent slider and a rather lightly-used splitter.  It makes for a pretty solid arsenal for a reliever, and Pipeline’s scouting report observes that “much of Holman’s step forward this season has come simply as a result of being healthy and getting regular reps,” following two seasons of elbow and shoulder problems.

There’s plenty of intrigue in Holman’s arsenal, and the 24-year-old should get opportunities for an Athletics team that continues to evaluate young talent as part of its rebuild.  Mason Miller has deservedly drawn most of the headlines, but Oakland’s bullpen has been pretty decent as a whole this season, and Holman will become the latest rookie arm to try and earn higher-leverage work.

Rockies Outright Riley Pint

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The Rockies announced that right-hander Riley Pint has been outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster.  Pint wasn’t known to have been designated for assignment, but he apparently cleared waivers and will now likely be headed to the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate.  This is the first time Pint has been outrighted and he has less than a year of MLB service time, so he can’t reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Taken fourth overall in the 2016 draft, Pint briefly retired during the 2021 minor league season after dealing with multiple injuries and a lack of performance over his first six years as a professional.  Pint returned to the mound in 2022 but couldn’t shake the severe control issues that have plagued his career, and to date he has a whopping 17.77% walk rate over 300 2/3 minor league innings.  His brief time in the majors has been even more extreme in terms of free passes, as Pint has walked eight of the 27 batters he has faced at the MLB level — between all these walks and two homers allowed, Pint has a 22.09 ERA over his 3 2/3 career innings in the Show.

Pint’s weeklong stint on Colorado’s active roster ended on Thursday when he was optioned to Triple-A, and he has now been removed from the 40-man roster altogether.  It isn’t yet clear if the outright assignment could hint at the end of Pint’s time in the organization, even though his ability to miss bats (33.1% strikeout rate at Triple-A) remains elite.  This strikeout ability helped Pint post a 3.10 ERA in 29 innings with Triple-A Albuquerque this season, albeit also with a 19.8% walk rate.  The possibility exists that Pint could be a valuable reliever if he can manage even decent control, yet he hasn’t made any progress in this area.

Pirates Place Andrew McCutchen On 10-Day Injured List

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The Pirates announced that Andrew McCutchen has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to left knee inflammation, and infielder Alika Williams was called up from Triple-A to take McCutchen’s spot on the 26-man roster.  Ryan Palencer of the Bucs On Deck site (X link) was the first to report yesterday that Williams was headed back to the majors, after McCutchen was removed from Friday’s game due to left knee discomfort.

While there’s no truly good time for an injury, the knee problem arises at a particularly unfortunate juncture for McCutchen, as the veteran was in the midst of his hottest stretch of the season.  McCutchen has hit .281/.375/.483 with four home runs over his last 104 plate appearances, boosting his overall slash line to .235/.336/.405 in 437 PA.  That works out to an 109 wRC+ and yet another year of above-average production — now in his 16th MLB season, Cutch has only once dipped below the 100 wRC+ average threshold, as he slowed to a 97 wRC+ when playing with the Brewers in 2022.

Losing McCutchen to the IL is another blow to a reeling Pirates team.  The Bucs’ 5-3 win over the Mariners yesterday snapped a 10-game losing streak that all but ended the club’s chances of snagging an NL wild card berth.  Even that win was bittersweet due to McCutchen’s injury, which occurred while he was running to first base after hitting a single in the seventh inning.

Apart from handful of appearances in right field, the 37-year-old McCutchen has been utilized almost exclusively as a designated hitter over his two-season return to Pittsburgh.  The Pirates will probably just shuffle several players through the DH spot to try and make up for Cutch’s absence, while also giving more at-bats to some younger players in what has suddenly become another evaluation period during the team’s lengthy rebuild.  McCutchen can hopefully be back in short order to put a positive coda onto his season, and continue to set himself up for another contract in 2025.

Rays Place Zack Littell On 15-Day Injured List

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11:55AM: Littell described the IL trip as precautionary, and he told Topkin and other reporters that he could miss just the minimum 15 days.

11:07AM: The Rays announced that right-hander Zack Littell has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to fatigue in his throwing shoulder.  The placement is retroactive to August 15.  Left-hander Tyler Alexander has been called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Littell threw five innings of one-run ball in his last start on August 14, but threw only 68 pitches, perhaps indicating that his shoulder issue might’ve hastened a relatively early exit from the game.  The 68 pitches tied Littell’s second-lowest pitch count of the season, as the veteran has been a reliable and durable presence in the Rays’ rotation, and leads the team in both innings (129 2/3) and starts (24).

These are both career bests for Littell, who had only 172 2/3 innings and 18 starts at the MLB level before Tampa Bay acquired the righty on a waiver claim off Boston’s roster back in May 2023.  At first, Littell worked as a reliever and opener with his new team, but over the last two months of the 2023 campaign, he thrived after being given the first extended starting job of his six big league seasons.

This success gave Littell another spot in Tampa’s rotation this year, and he has continued to pitch well, posting a 3.89 ERA over his 129 2/3 frames.  Littell’s 4.7% walk rate is one of the best in baseball, though the rest of his secondary metrics (such as a 21.1% strikeout rate, 39.6% hard-hit ball rate, or 9.7% barrel rate) are below average.  Home runs have also been an issue for Littell, but overall, his 4.05 ERA isn’t far beyond his bottom-line ERA.

At the price of a $1.85MM salary in his second year of arbitration eligibility, Littell has been a bargain, and he’ll continue to be a cost-effective rotation piece even after he gets a healthy raise this winter.  As MLBTR’s Steve Adams observed in a subscriber-exclusive piece back in May, Littell has been the latest unheralded pitcher to suddenly gain a new level of success after joining the Rays.

Today’s IL placement interrupts the righty’s overall solid season, and given the calendar, the injury could potentially threaten to end Littell’s 2024 altogether.  Another bout of shoulder fatigue cost him about three weeks last season, and while every situation is different, it could be that this placement is a way to let Littell rest up after almost a full year of an increased workload.  The Rays could use Alexander as a bulk pitcher behind an opener while Littell is on the IL, or the team again dip into the farm system for a replacement arm.

Tigers Promote Spencer Torkelson

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10:01PM: The Tigers officially announced Torkelson’s recall and Madris being optioned to Toledo.

8:18AM: The Tigers are set to recall first baseman Spencer Torkelson from Triple-A Toledo today, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.  Torkelson will take the place of Bligh Madris, as Petzold reports that Madris was optioned to Triple-A after the Tigers’ 3-0 loss to the Yankees yesterday.

It has been over two and a half months since Torkelson’s last Major League game, as the Tigers decided the first baseman was in need of a refresh after a brutal start to the season.   Torkelson hit only .201/.266/.330 with four home runs in his first 230 plate appearances in 2024, translating to only a 68 wRC+.  With his Statcast numbers not hinting at any underlying reasons for optimism, Torkelson went back to Toledo looking to get himself back on the track.

The results in Triple-A have been mixed.  Torkelson has hit .239/.356/.443 with 11 homers in his 275 PA with the Mud Hens, so his numbers have been solid yet far from dominant.  He also posted a 30.9% strikeout rate in the minors this season, well above his past strikeout rates at either the Major League or minor league levels.  As Petzold notes, a lot of these strikeouts are coming against sliders and changeups, though Torkelson has at least been performing better against higher-velocity offerings.

A winning record is still within reach for the 59-64 Tigers, but with a playoff run looking quite unlikely, Detroit is using the rest of the season to evaluate its young talent.  Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney were just called up yesterday for their respective MLB debuts, so between those rookies, Torkelson, and Colt Keith becoming a fixture in his first Major League season, the Tigers could be getting an early look at what might be their infield of the future.

Torkelson still must be considered part of that future, as he hit .233/.313/.446 with 31 homers over 684 PA during the 2023 season.  The first overall pick of the 2020 draft doesn’t turn 25 years old until next week, and while the Tigers naturally would’ve liked to have seen the youngster adjust to the big leagues in much smoother fashion, it is still far too early to wonder if Detroit should be looking to move on from Torkelson.  Of course, Torkelson will need to hold up his end of the deal against MLB pitching, and even average-ish production won’t cut it from a bat-first player expected to deliver big numbers from the first base position.

Pirates Sign Beau Sulser To Minor League Contract

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The Pirates brought Beau Sulser back on a minor league deal on Thursday. Pittsburgh assigned the 30-year-old righty to Double-A Altoona. Sulser had been with the Blue Jays on a non-roster contract before being released last week.

A tenth-round pick by the Bucs in the 2017 draft, Sulser got to the big leagues five years later. He made four appearances before being designated for assignment and lost on waivers to Baltimore. Sulser pitched six times for the O’s and finished his first MLB campaign with a 3.63 earned run average through 22 1/3 innings. He didn’t miss many bats, though, and the Orioles cut him loose at the end of that season.

Pittsburgh claimed him back but ran him through waivers almost immediately. Sulser elected free agency and took a job with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization. The Wiz released him in June, setting the stage for another minor league deal with Pittsburgh. Sulser finished the year in Triple-A with the Pirates before signing with Toronto this May.

In 47 2/3 innings with the Jays’ top affiliate in Buffalo, Sulser turned in a 5.29 ERA. He struck out a below-average 17.5% of opponents against a strong 6.1% walk rate. That’s generally par for the course, but Sulser’s grounder rate fell and he had a very tough time keeping the ball in the park (2.45 HR/9). He’ll now move back a step on the minor league ladder but returns to an organization with which he’s clearly familiar, as this is the fourth time the Pirates have acquired him.

Giants Reinstate Ethan Small From Injured List

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The Giants reinstated left-hander Ethan Small from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. San Francisco moved Wilmer Flores from the 10-day to the 60-day IL to open the necessary spot on the 40-man roster. Flores suffered a knee injury and will not return this season.

Small has been on the injured list all season after suffering an oblique strain in Spring Training. It was a tough start to his San Francisco tenure, coming around six weeks after the Giants acquired him from the Brewers in a cash deal. Small began a minor league rehab stint in the Arizona complex league on July 16. He pitched three times there and once in Low-A before heading to Sacramento, where he has tossed five innings across six appearances. Small has surrendered six runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Pitchers can only spend 30 days on a rehab assignment, so the Giants needed to activate Small today. They’ll keep him in Triple-A in what would be his last option year if he spends at least 20 more days in the minors. A former first-round pick by Milwaukee, Small has spent the majority of the last two seasons in Triple-A. He worked as a starter in 2022 before kicking to the bullpen a year ago, pitching to a 3.18 ERA in 51 innings. His major league résumé consists of four games (two starts) between 2022-23.

Braves Outright Parker Dunshee

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August 16: Dunshee went unclaimed on waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, tweets David O’Brien of the Athletic. Since this is his first career outright, he’ll remain in the organization without carrying a 40-man roster spot. The Wake Forest product has the necessary minor league time to become a free agent in the offseason unless the Braves reselect his contract.

August 14: The Braves announced today that outfielder Michael Harris II has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, as was expected. Outfielder Eli White was optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot while right-hander Parker Dunshee was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move.

Dunshee, 29, just had his contract selected last week, his first time on a big league roster in his career. In Thursday’s game, Charlie Morton had a rough outing, allowing eight earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Dunshee was sent in for some mop-up duty and ate up 2 1/3 innings but allowed five earned runs in the process. He was optioned to the minors the next day, meaning he’s currently sitting on an unsightly 19.29 earned run average in his very brief MLB career.

The trade deadline has now passed, so Atlanta will be putting Dunshee on waivers at some point in the coming days. Perhaps some club will be intrigued by his solid results in recent years, major league debut notwithstanding. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 112 minor league innings with a 2.81 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate in that time is a bit on the high side but he has struck out 29.4% of batters faced. He has a full slate of options and essentially no service time.

He was drafted by Oakland and was a somewhat notable starting pitching prospect a few years ago but his results tailed off as he hit the upper levels of the minors. He’s been in more of a relief role recently which seems to have led to better numbers and could perhaps lead to an upcoming waiver claim.

Atlanta will be hoping that the return of Harris is the spark that incites a turnaround. They have been dropping in the standings throughout the summer and are currently 63-56. That puts them four games back of the Padres and Diamondbacks, who are tied for the top two Wild Card spots in the National League. Atlanta still has the final spot but the Mets are just two games back and there are several other clubs within striking distance.

Much of Atlanta’s struggles have been related to injuries. Ronald Acuña Jr. is out for the year after yet another ACL tear, this time in his left knee. Ozzie Albies has been out of action for about a month due to a left wrist fracture and Harris has missed two months due to a strained left hamstring. That’s on top of several notable injuries to the pitching staff.

All that has led the club to turn to veteran fill-ins like Whit Merrifield, Ramón Laureano, Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall. The first two have been passable this year but the other two have struggled significantly. Rosario has already been released but Duvall is still clinging to his roster spot despite a .178/.240/.315 batting line. Among big league players with at least 300 plate appearances this year, the only one with a worse wRC+ than Duvall’s 53 is Rosario.

Though Duvall is still holding onto his roster spot, Harris should be able to upgrade the team simply by taking his playing time. Before landing on the IL, Harris was himself struggling, having hit .250/.295/.358 for a wRC+ of 80. But he was hitting .295/.334/.494 for a 124 wRC+ coming into the year and even the slumping version of Harris would still be far stronger than Duvall’s season so far.

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