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Reds Designate Conner Capel For Assignment

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The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Austin Wynns. In corresponding moves, they have optioned outfielder Jacob Hurtubise and designated outfielder Conner Capel for assignment.

It’s unclear why the Reds have added a third catcher to their roster, as they already have Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile on the team. It’s possible that something is up with Stephenson, as he has only been in the starting lineup twice since Saturday, serving as the designated hitter in one of those two.

This is pure speculation but he has been hit on the hand by a pitch a few times this year, which could be part of the problem. Back on June 6, x-rays on his hand came back negative, per C. Trent Rosecrans on X. But he has hit .111/.250/.185 since that date, perhaps suggesting something is amiss.

Whatever the reason, the 33-year-old Wynns has been added to the roster. In the offseason, he was signed to a major league split deal that would pay him $950K for time spent on the major league roster and $300K in the minors. He was later designated for assignment and passed through waivers. As a player with between three and five years of service time, he could have elected free agency but doing so would have meant forfeiting that money.

He therefore reported to Louisville and gets back to the majors today. He has a pretty tepid batting line of .226/.273/.324 in his major league career and his work at Triple-A this year has only been slightly better at .252/.310/.408. But he has received solid grades for his defense in recent years, with Statcast being particularly fond of his work controlling the running game, as he comes in the top ten on their catcher throwing leaderboard since the start of 2021.

To get Wynns onto the roster, the Reds have bumped off Capel. The 27-year-old was selected to the roster in early May but only appeared in five games before being optioned back down. He has been in pretty good form in Louisville, having hit eight home runs and drawn walks in 16.7% of his 192 plate appearances. He is slashing .226/.361/.439 at that level for a 109 wRC+ despite a .248 batting average on balls in play.

The Reds will now have a week to trade Capel or pass him through waivers. He is in his final option year so perhaps he will garner interest from a club with a 40-man roster spot available and a need for outfield depth. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he has a previous career outright and would therefore have the right to elect free agency.

Marlins Designate Christian Bethancourt For Assignment

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June 21: The Marlins have now made it official, announcing they have selected Sánchez and designated Bethancourt for assignment.

June 20: The Marlins are designating catcher Christian Bethancourt for assignment, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com (X link). De Nicola adds that the recently-acquired Ali Sánchez is likely to be selected onto the MLB roster in his place.

Miami acquired Bethancourt from the Guardians in a cash transaction over the offseason. It was one of the first moves of note for new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who had been the general manager in Tampa Bay during Bethancourt’s two-year run with the Rays. The move didn’t go as the front office hoped.

Bethancourt appeared in 38 games for the Fish and hit .159/.198/.268 over 88 plate appearances. He struck out 22 times while drawing three walks and collecting 13 hits. Miami has gotten even less offense out of starting catcher Nick Fortes, who owns a .159/.194/.225 line over 145 trips. Between that duo and a handful of reps from Jhonny Pereda, Miami has gotten an MLB-worst .155/.192/.237 slash out of its catchers.

That’s not tenable production even for a noncompetitive team. Fortes is younger than Bethancourt and still has minor league options remaining, so the Marlins will move on from the more experienced backstop as their first change behind the plate.

There’s a decent chance Miami will end up keeping Bethancourt in the organization at Triple-A Jacksonville. The Panamanian catcher is playing on a $2.05MM arbitration salary, a little over half of which remains to be paid. That’ll diminish any trade interest and could get Bethancourt through waivers unclaimed. As a player with between three and five years of major league service, he would need to forfeit what remains of that salary to elect free agency. If he clears waivers, he’d likely accept an outright assignment to Jacksonville. Even if he sticks in the organization for the time being, he’d be a straightforward non-tender candidate at the end of the season.

Sánchez, assuming he’s indeed the corresponding call-up, will get to the big leagues for the first time since 2021. The 27-year-old only has seven games of MLB experience. He has played parts of five seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a .270/.344/.400 hitter in more than 1000 plate appearances. Sánchez was hitting .240/.338/.388 for the Cubs’ top affiliate when Miami acquired him for cash considerations last night.

A Venezuela native, Sánchez is a contact-oriented offensive player who has gotten decent reviews from scouts for his receiving skills. He cut down 34.3% of attempted basestealers in Triple-A last season. That dropped sharply to a 13% rate over 268 1/3 innings there this year. Sánchez is out of options, so the Marlins would need to put him on waivers to take him off the MLB roster once they select his contract.

Guardians Recall Angel Martínez For MLB Debut

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The Guardians announced that infielder Gabriel Arias has been placed on the family medical emergency list. In a corresponding move, the club has recalled infielder Angel Martínez, who will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Martínez, 22, has been a notable prospect in the club’s system for some time. Baseball America ranked him as one of the top 30 prospects in the organization back in 2020 and each year since. In 2022, he hit .278/.378/.471 between High-A and Double-A for a 135 wRC+ while also stealing 12 bases.

The Guards selected him to their 40-man roster after that season, in order to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He had a down year in 2023, slashing .251/.321/.394 between Double-A and Triple-A for a 92 wRC+. This season then got off to a rocky start, as he began the year on the injured list due to a right foot contusion and then suffered a left hamate fracture. He was reinstated from the IL at the end of May.

Despite the injury setbacks, he’s been in good form this year. He has taken 74 trips to the plate with Triple-A Columbus, walking more than he has struck out and hitting three home runs. His current batting line at that level is .333/.438/.550 this year.

Martínez has primarily played the three infield positions to the left of first base, with a brief showing in center field as well. The Guardians have José Ramírez, Andrés Giménez and Brayan Rocchio getting regular playing time at those infield spots with Daniel Schneemann bouncing around to multiple spots and Tyler Freeman getting semi-regular work in center. Arias has been serving in a bench role that Martínez should jump into.

Mets Claim Duke Ellis From White Sox

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The Mets have claimed outfielder Duke Ellis off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to Double-A Binghamton, with Tim Healey of Newsday among those to relay the news on X. The Sox designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Mets have had a 40-man vacancy since catcher Tomás Nido was designated for assignment last week and won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Ellis, 26, was just selected to the White Sox roster earlier this month, largely on account of his speed. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020, he has stolen 117 bases in the minor leagues while getting caught just 16 times. While with the big league club, the Sox put him into eight games but mostly as a pinch runner as he only stepped to the plate four times, though he stole four bags in four tries.

His work at the plate has been less impressive, as he’s hit .241/.328/.333 throughout his minor league career for a wRC+ of 88. His 10% walk rate is solid but he has also been punched out at a 25.7% rate. He has just 13 home runs in 961 plate appearances.

For the Mets, it’s an understandable claim. They had an open roster spot to use and Ellis clearly has game-changing baserunning abilities. Since he has a full slate of options, they can give him regular plate appearances in the minors but could perhaps consider bringing him up at some point as a pinch running specialist. Rosters expand in September and clubs often use the extra space for a player like this to improve the chances of scoring in a tight game, particularly in this age with the free runner in extra innings.

Marlins Release Burch Smith

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The Marlins have released right-hander Burch Smith, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That was the expected outcome after he was designated for assignment a week ago. He’s now a free agent and can sign with any club.

Smith, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Rays in the offseason. He didn’t crack that club’s Opening Day roster but had an upward mobility clause in his contract. Such a clause meant that the Rays had to send him to another team if any of them wanted to give Smith a roster spot. The Marlins wanted him and so the Rays traded him for cash considerations.

The righty went to make 25 appearances with the Fish with a 4.25 earned run average and subpar strikeout rate of 17%. However, his 6.7% walk rate and 47% ground ball rate were both a few ticks better than average. A .376 batting average on balls in play may have pushed some extra runs across the plate, which is why his 3.04 FIP and 4.00 SIERA were both more pleasant than his ERA. The Marlins are one of the worst defensive clubs this year, as their -24 Outs Above Average is dead last and their -19 Defensive Runs Saved is better than just three clubs.

Perhaps Smith would have fared better in different circumstances but he got nudged off the roster regardless, likely not helped by allowing five earned runs in his final three appearances before getting designated for assignment a week ago.

Smith came into this season with his service time count at four years and 92 days, putting him 80 shy of the five-year mark. He hit that line on June 15, the day after he was designated for assignment, as players still collect service time while in DFA limbo. By getting over that mark, he earned the right to reject an outright assignment while retaining all of his $1MM salary. Unless some club wanted to grab him off waivers, he was bound for the open market, which prompted the Marlins to release him.

Now that he’s freely available, he could attract interest from clubs looking to make a low-cost buy. The Marlins remain on the hook for what remains of that salary, while another club could sign him and only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Fish pay.

Perhaps one of the other teams will feel Smith could find a bit more success with some better batted ball luck or by pitching in front of a better defense. If so, he could be grabbed for a minimal cost and no real commitment.

Angels Place Jose Soriano On Injured List, Outright Cole Tucker

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The Angels placed starter José Soriano on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 17, with an abdominal infection. Los Angeles is off tonight, so they didn’t immediately reveal the corresponding move. The Halos also announced that Cole Tucker went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake after being designated for assignment on Monday.

Soriano has been a rare bright spot in a rough season. Los Angeles transitioned the hard-throwing righty to the rotation this year. It was a gamble, as Soriano had been one of the club’s better relievers as a rookie. The second-year hurler has taken well to the starting role. In 72 1/3 innings, he carries a 3.48 earned run average. While Soriano’s strikeout rate has plummeted from last year’s 30.3% clip to a modest 20.3% mark, he has offset that with a drastic uptick in grounders.

Among pitchers with 50+ innings, only Framber Valdez has run a higher ground-ball rate than Soriano’s 60.2% clip. The Angel hurler has also trimmed his walk rate by almost three percentage points. This year’s 9.5% walk percentage still isn’t great, but it has been sufficient for Soriano to work to mid-rotation results. He has held huge velocity in extended stints, averaging 97.8 MPH on his sinker.

Tucker, 27, signed a minor league deal in April. He hit well in 10 games for Salt Lake to earn an MLB look a couple weeks later. Tucker didn’t carry that success over in 25 contests for the Halos. Over 57 trips to the plate, he hit .180/.263/.300 while striking out nearly 30% of the time. A former first-round draftee of the Pirates, Tucker has played in the majors in six consecutive seasons. He owns a .213/.266/.316 batting line over 536 plate appearances between Pittsburgh, Colorado and Los Angeles.

This is the fourth career outright for Tucker. He has the right to test free agency each time he clears waivers. The Angels didn’t announce whether he’ll rejoin Salt Lake or head back to the open market in search of a minor league opportunity elsewhere.

Jesús Tinoco Elects Free Agency

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7:05pm: Tinoco’s transactions log at MLB.com indicates that he indeed chose to become a free agent.

3:45pm: The Rangers announced that right-hander Jesús Tinoco has been assigned outright to Triple-A Round Rock. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not clear if he has chosen to do so.

Tinoco, 29, signed a minor league deal with Texas in the offseason and posted some encouraging results for the Express. He tossed 21 1/3 innings for that club, allowing 3.80 earned runs per nine. His 11.2% walk rate was on the high side but he got ground balls at a 47.1% clip and struck out 30.3% of batters faced.

He was selected to the big league roster on May 23 but his results tailed off from there. He threw 10 major league innings for the Rangers but allowed nine earned runs in that time. He struck out nine opponents but gave out seven walks. Since he’s out of options, the club’s only way to remove him from the active roster was to remove him from the 40-man as well.

Tinoco has generally been able to rack up strikeouts on the farm but less so in the majors. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has a 4.60 ERA in the minors while striking out 26.3% of batters faced. In that same time frame, he has a 5.34 ERA in the big leagues with an 18.8% strikeout rate.

He will now have to decide whether to return to Round Rock or pursue opportunities elsewhere. The fact that he cleared waivers shows that no club is willing to give him a major league spot right now but he shouldn’t have trouble getting another minor league opportunity somewhere.

Nationals Release Robert Gsellman

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The Nationals have released right-hander Robert Gsellman, according to Talk Nats on X. The righty had been pitching for Triple-A Rochester but is now a free agent and can be signed by any club.

Gsellman, 30, signed a minor league contract with the Nats in the offseason and has been pitching in a swing role for the Red Wings. He tossed 36 innings over 17 appearances, including four starts. Unfortunately, he allowed 35 earned runs in that time, leading to an ugly earned run average of 8.75.

That’s obviously not great and surely led the Nats to move on, but the underlying numbers suggest he wasn’t nearly as bad as all that. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate were both subpar, but not by much, while his 45.6% ground ball rate was pretty decent. But his .373 batting average on balls in play and 49.7% strand rate were both far to the unlucky side, which is why his 4.83 FIP with the Red Wings was actually pretty normal.

Gsellman has 366 innings of major league experience, mostly with the Mets but most recently with the Cubs. In that time, he has a 4.60 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate.

Other than the ERA, his Triple-A stats this year have been pretty close to his previous work. Given that a number of teams around the league are dealing with mounting pitching injuries, it’s possible some club sees him as the same guy he was coming into the year and brings him aboard via another minor league deal.

Mariners Sign Rob Kaminsky To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have signed left-hander Rob Kaminsky to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The southpaw has been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma and will give the club some non-roster depth.

Kaminsky, 29, has a small amount of major league experience, having pitched for the Cardinals in 2020. He appeared in five games that year with a 1.93 earned run average in a small sample of 4 2/3 innings. He lost his roster spot later that year and has been limited to minor league deals in subsequent seasons.

For the most part, his minor league results have involved few strikeouts but lots of ground balls. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 78 innings in the minors with a 4.96 ERA. His 21.4% strikeout rate in that time was subpar but he got opponents to hit the ball into the dirt around half the time.

This year, Kaminsky made two appearances for the Staten Island Ferry Hawks of The Atlantic League, tossing 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five but also allowed five walks. Last month, he retweeted some footage of himself pitching at Driveline, with his fastball seeming to get above 92 miles per hour and his secondary offerings in the mid-to-high 80s. In his brief big league stint, Statcast had his fastball averaging 91.6 mph, his knuckle curve at 84.9 mph and his changeup at 83.1 mph.

The M’s have had some bullpen injuries this year, with each of Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar, Gregory Santos and Gabe Speier on the injured list. Brash and Kowar each had Tommy John surgery and won’t be coming back this season. Tayler Saucedo is the only lefty in the big league bullpen at the moment. The Mariners are plenty familiar with Kaminsky as he was in their system the previous two seasons, so have tapped him for an extra left-hander in the minors.

Astros To Promote Jake Bloss

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11:23am: Manager Joe Espada confirmed that Bloss will be called up to start Friday’s game, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle on X.

11:05am: The Astros are expected to promote pitching prospect Jake Bloss from Double-A to the majors, per a report from Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The young righty will be making his major league debut by starting Friday’s game. He is not yet on the club’s 40-man roster, so a corresponding move or moves will be required.

It’s an incredibly quick rise to the majors for Bloss, who was just drafted last summer. He will be celebrating his 23rd birthday on Sunday, two days after his planned major league debut. The Astros selected him in the third round out of Georgetown University and he was able to make his professional debut shortly thereafter. He made seven appearances last year between the Complex League and Single-A, tossing 18 2/3 innings with a 2.89 earned run average.

Coming into this year, Baseball America ranked him the #8 prospect in the club’s system, noting that he mixes a fastball with a curveball, a slider and a changeup, with the curve being the standout secondary offering. Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #12 slot.

Here in 2024, Bloss has seemingly raised his stock with some good results. The Astros initially sent him to High-A but his four good starts there prompted a quick promotion to Double-A. He’s made 12 starts combined between those two levels with a 1.74 ERA in 62 innings. He has benefited from .181 batting average on balls in play that he won’t be able to maintain, but his 25.8% strikeout rate is strong and his 9% walk rate around par.

FanGraphs didn’t release their list of top Astros prospect for 2024 until June 11, so they were able to give more weight to this season’s performance. They moved Bloss up to the #2 slot in the organization and said he is “trending up and tracking like a mid-rotation starter.” He has also snuck onto their top 100 list, currently listed in the #99 spot. As noted in the report from Rome and Rosenthal, general manager Dana Brown has been singing the praises of Bloss recently.

While there’s plenty to like about Bloss, the aggressive move to skip him over Triple-A and to the majors after so little professional experience is a reflection of the significant rotation struggles that the Astros have been dealing with this year.

Each of Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. underwent elbow surgery last year, so the club knew they couldn’t expect anything from those two in the first half of 2024. But since the season has started, the injury situation has gotten worse. Both José Urquidy and Cristian Javier required Tommy John surgery, knocking both of them out of action for the rest of the year. Justin Verlander started the season on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation and is now back on the shelf due to neck discomfort. J.P. France has been battling shoulder problems all year and is on the minor league injured list.

Framber Valdez had a brief stint on the IL as well but has been pretty close to his usual self. Ronel Blanco has stepped up and been a huge help but the group has been flimsy apart from that. Hunter Brown had a 9.78 ERA through the end of April, though he has been much better lately and has brought that number down to 4.72. Spencer Arrighetti was pushed into action but has an ERA of 6.37 through his first 12 major league starts. Blair Henley was called up for a spot start earlier in the year but it went about as poorly as possible, as he recorded just one out and allowed five earned runs.

Bloss will now be thrown into that mix to see if he can get major league hitters out, in spite of his youth and limited track record. Whether it’s just a spot start or if he is sticking around will likely depend on various factors. The Astros have two off-days next week and could perhaps survive with a four-man rotation for a while once they make it through this weekend. If Verlander can be back after a brief IL stint as hoped, he could be back by the time they next need a full five-man set.

Perhaps that points to this just being a one-off outing for Bloss, though Arrighetti may not be guaranteed to stick around based on his results. However it plays out, it’s an exciting week for Bloss but also highlights what a rough season it has been for the Astros so far. Thanks in part to their rotation struggles, they are 34-40 and 6.5 games out of a playoff spot.

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