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Phillies Claim Cal Stevenson

By Steve Adams | May 26, 2023 at 3:04pm CDT

The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve claimed outfielder Cal Stevenson off waivers from the Giants. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia transferred Rule 5 right-hander Noah Song from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Stevenson originally came to the Giants from the A’s, coming over in exchange for cash. He went hitless in 12 plate appearances as a Giant and has just a .145/.259/.188 slash in 83 trips to the plate at the big league level. That’s an unsightly look, of course, but it comes in a tiny sample.

Down in the minors, he’s been a much more productive hitter. Stevenson touts a .271/.382/.386 batting line with seven home runs and 21 steals in 26 attempts. He’s walked at a hefty 15% clip in Triple-A against a lower-than-average 18.2% strikeout rate. Stevenson can play all three outfield spots, though the bulk of his work has come in center field.

The Phils don’t necessarily have a dire outfield need, with Kyle Schwarber, breakout 25-year-old Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos lining up from left to right, respectively. However, with Cristian Pache on the mend from surgery to repair a meniscus tear, Philadelphia also doesn’t have a true fourth outfielder. Veteran utilityman Josh Harrison is no stranger to the outfield corners, and rookie infielder/outfielder Dalton Guthrie has spent time in center field. However, Guthrie has more experience on the infield than in the outfield. Stevenson will give the Phillies a pure fourth outfield option who carries nearly 1800 professional innings of experience in center, plus another 1300 in the corners.

Dodgers Claim Zack Burdi

By Steve Adams | May 26, 2023 at 2:04pm CDT

The Dodgers have claimed right-hander Zack Burdi off waivers from the Rays, per announcements from both clubs. Righty Tyler Cyr was transferred to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Burdi was twice designated for assignment by Tampa Bay this season, clearing waivers and accepting an outright the first time around. He’ll be claimed this time through, however, and be placed directly onto Los Angeles’ 40-man roster. The 28-year-old tossed three shutout innings during his first stint with the Rays but was rocked for five earned runs on five hits and a walk in just one inning when the Rays were blown out by the Blue Jays by a score of 20-1.

Burdi is a former first-rounder whose results have not yet aligned with his former top prospect status. That’s due largely to injury, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 and then suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee the following year. There were no minor leagues to return to in 2020, so Burdi jumped straight to the big leagues with the White Sox after pitching just 33 combined innings in 2018-19. The results weren’t good (nine runs in 7 1/3 innings) and Burdi has yet to find his footing. In 21 1/3 big league innings, he has an 8.44 ERA.

Cyr, 30, was selected to the big league roster just a week ago. The journeyman right-hander tossed 1 2/3 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts in his brief stint with the Dodgers, but his shoulder barked following his second appearance, sending him to the 15-day injured list with what was diagnosed as an impingement. It seems that the injury is serious enough that it’ll require at least a two-month absence.

It’s a tough blow for Cyr, whose only prior MLB experience came in 2022 with the A’s and Phillies — a total of just 12 1/3 innings. He’d hoped his call to the Dodgers and a pair of scoreless outings might give him an opportunity to prove he can hold down a spot in a big league bullpen. Those hopes will be delayed indefinitely now as he battles this shoulder issue.

Cyr, who entered the season with just 34 days of MLB service time, will accrue service time and be paid at the prorated league minimum rate while he’s on the injured list. That’s a decent financial consolation prize after grinding through eight minor league seasons with scant salaries each year, but the loss of the opportunity to carve out a larger role on a big league club surely stings.

Reds Place Wil Myers On 15-Day IL, Recall Will Benson

By Nick Deeds | May 26, 2023 at 12:49pm CDT

The Reds announced a series of roster moves ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Cubs as they placed outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day injured list due to a kidney stone and activated right-hander Fernando Cruz from the 15-day IL. In corresponding moves, the club recalled outfielder Will Benson from Triple-A and and optioned right-hander Alan Busenitz to Triple-A.

Myers, 32, signed a one-year deal with the Reds this past offseason to act as the club’s regular right fielder. That pact has hardly gone accordingly to plan so far, however, as Myers has slashed a brutal .189/.257/.283 in 141 plate appearances across 37 game this season. Prior to signing with the Reds during the offseason, Myers had spent the past eight seasons as a member of the Padres, slashing a solid .254/.330/.452 with a wRC+ of 111 in 888 games with San Diego.

While the Reds were surely hoping for such a similar performance this season to help steady their offense, Myers’s struggles have helped contribute to an offense that ranks in the bottom five across baseball in terms of slugging percentage thanks to an offense that struggles to find production outside of TJ Friedl, Jonathan India, and Spencer Steer.

In Myers’s place, the Reds have recalled Benson, who the club acquired from the Guardians this past offseason to shore up their outfield mix. A former first round pick who turns 25 next month, Benson has a great deal of upside, though his results have not matched it to this point. in 87 MLB plate appearances so far in his career, Benson has slashed just .138/.198/.150 with a wRC+ of -1, though he sports a far more palatable .243/.396/.464 slash line in 641 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Benson figures to mix into the outfield for the Reds alongside Friedl, Jake Fraley, and Stuart Fairchild while Myers is on the shelf.

Joining Benson in returning to the active roster is Cruz, a 33-year-old journeyman who made his major league debut with the Reds last year. Since then, the right-hander has posted a 3.81 ERA with a 3.12 FIP in 28 1/3 innings of work, good for a 124 ERA+. That ERA is inflated by a brutal stretch of five appearances prior to Cruz’s placement on the injured list, during which he allowed eight runs on eleven hits in just 7 1/3 innings. As Cruz attempts to get back on track, he’ll join a Reds bullpen that has been a bright spot for the club this season, ranking top 10 in baseball in FIP and third in terms of fWAR.

Making room for Cruz on the roster is Busenitz, who heads to Triple-A after just pitching just four innings for the big league club. The 32-year-old righty allowed two runs in four innings of work while striking out three. Busenitz figures to act as depth for Cincinnati going forward at the Triple-A level, where he sports a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings of work.

Jake Marisnick Accepts Outright Assignment With White Sox

By Nick Deeds | May 26, 2023 at 12:41pm CDT

TODAY: As noted by Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times, Marisnick has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte, where he will serve as outfield depth for the White Sox going forward.

May 21: The White Sox have announced that they have designated outfielder Jake Marisnick for assignment. The move opens up spots on both the active and 40-man rosters for outfielder Clint Frazier, who’s contract has been selected as was previously reported.

Marisnick, 32, was used primarily as a defensive replacement as he appeared in nine games despite stepping up to the plate just twice during his tenure with the White Sox. Prior to his time on the south side, which began when he signed a minor league deal with the club back in January, Marisnick had already played in the majors for six organizations, with the White Sox standing as his seventh.

A third round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2009 draft, Marisnick made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2013 before being dealt to the Astros at the 2014 trade deadline. That deal would kick off a five and a half season tenure in Houston during which Marisnick primarily played center field, slashing .232/.285/.396 with a wRC+ of 85 during 631 games with the club. Marisnick’s tenure in Houston came to an end during the 2019-20 offseason, when he was dealt to the Mets in early December.

Thanks to his superlative outfield defense, which earned him +39 Outs Above Average between the 2016 and 2019 seasons, Marisnick has found part time roles with the Mets, Cubs, Padres, and now the White Sox since departing Houston, with a .233/.288/.403 slash line that’s good for an 87 wRC+ in 316 plate appearances. Now Marisnick figures to look for his eighth club in four seasons. Assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers, Marisnick will have the opportunity to elect free agency and sign elsewhere, likely on a minor league deal with a club in need of upper-level outfield depth in the minors.

The move opens up a roster spot for Frazier, who returns to Chicago after signing with the Cubs last season. The fifth overall pick by Cleveland in the 2013 draft, Frazier slashed an impressive .267/.351/.485 (123 wRC+) in 447 plate appearances between 2018 and 2020 with the Yankees, but has otherwise struggled with injuries throughout his career. Still, the 28-year-old Frazier showed the ability to be a useful bench bat in 19 games with the Cubs last year, with a .216/.356/.297 slash line that was good for a wRC+ of 97. Going forward, he figures to compete for starts in right field alongside Gavin Sheets and Adam Haseley.

Jose Iglesias Opts Out Of Padres Deal

By Nick Deeds | May 26, 2023 at 12:14pm CDT

Veteran infielder Jose Iglesias has opted out of his minors deal with the Padres, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, the 33-year-old Iglesias has been a quality glove-first middle infield option for big league clubs ever since his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2011. With more than 1,000 games in the majors under his belt, Iglesias owns a career slash line of .279/.319/.382, good for a wRC+ of 87 with a career strikeout rate of just 12.4%. Most recently, Iglesias played 118 games for the Rockies in 2022, with a .292/.328/.380 slash line (85 wRC+) and 12% strikeout rate that was largely in line with his career norms.

The majority of Iglesias’s value throughout his career has come from his glove, however, as Iglesias has ranked as one of the top defensive shortstops in the league since his debut in 2011 according to both UZR and OAA, with the fourth-most UZR and ninth-most OAA, minimum 1,000 innings at the position. That being said, metrics have soured on Iglesias’s glovework in recent years, with Statcast considering him a roughly league average defender over the past two seasons while Defensive Runs Saved considers him a whopping 26 runs below average over that same timeframe.

Still, as a veteran capable of solid defense up the middle with a decent bat, Iglesias could make a solid bench contributor for teams in need of infield help. That’s allowed him to secure minor league pacts with both the Marlins and the Padres since the end of the 2022 campaign, though neither club ultimately made the decision to promote him to their big league roster. Now back on the open market, Iglesias will look for a third organization to offer him a role, presumably on another minor league deal.

As for the Padres, Iglesias’s decision represents another blow to the club’s infield depth after Manny Machado hit the injured list with a fracture in his hand earlier this month and Ha-Seong Kim left yesterday’s game after taking a pitch off his knee. That being said, the club still sports Roughned Odor, Brandon Dixon, and Jake Cronenworth among their capable infield options alongside Xander Bogaerts, to say nothing of Fernando Tatis Jr. who converted to outfield work this season following the acquisition of Bogaerts.

Mets Designate Gary Sánchez For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | May 25, 2023 at 11:02pm CDT

The Mets announced that they have reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list and designated fellow backstop Gary Sánchez for assignment in a corresponding move.

Sánchez, 30, was selected to the Mets’ roster less than a week ago. He received seven plate appearances in three games, striking out in three of them and producing a slash of .167/.143/.167 in that tiny sample size. He wasn’t likely to stick around for very long anyway, since both Nido and Omar Narváez have been working their way back from injuries while rookie Francisco Álvarez is thriving with a .253/.316/.506 batting line.

Prior to joining the Mets, Sánchez had just become a free agent for the first time this past winter. However, he lingered on the open market until April, when he signed a minor league deal with the Giants. That deal came with an opt-out on May 1, which he eventually triggered after hitting just .164/.319/.182 for their Triple-A club. He fared much better after signing a minor league deal with the Mets, hitting .308/.514/.500 in Syracuse before getting called up and scuffling in the majors.

At this point, it’s tough to figure out what to make of Sánchez. He was once arguably the best offensive catcher in the league, hitting 53 home runs over 2016 and 2017 and slashing .283/.353/.567 for a wRC+ of 142. However, that came with concerns about his defense, tying for the lead league in passed balls with 16 in 2017 and then taking sole possession with 18 in 2018. More recently, his offense has fallen off but his defense has improved. With the Twins last year, he allowed just four passed balls and had roughly average defense but hit just .205/.282/.377 for a wRC+ of 89. This year, he’s been inconsistent, but it would be fair to wonder if all the bouncing from club to club made it hard for him to get into a consistent rhythm.

The Mets will now have a week to trade Sánchez or pass him through waivers. The deal they signed him to came with a prorated $1.5MM salary for the year, which amounts to about $1.1MM from his selection to the end of the season. They could try to eat some of that in order to facilitate a trade but he will most likely end up released, with the Mets still on the hook for that money. If that comes to pass, any of the 29 other clubs would be free to sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the active roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Mets pay.

It’s been a while since Sánchez has been in peak form but there are plenty of teams throughout the league dealing with injuries to their catchers. Perhaps one or a few of them will be intrigued by the possibility of taking a chance on a Sánchez bounceback with essentially no financial risk.

For the Mets, this settles their catching situation for the time being. However, Narváez has recently started a rehab assignment and the club will have to decide what to do when he’s ready to return.

NL West Notes: Kim, Doyle, Cessa, McCarthy, Fletcher

By Mark Polishuk | May 25, 2023 at 10:16pm CDT

X-rays were negative on Ha-Seong Kim’s left knee, Padres manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) after Kim had to be helped off the field during today’s game. In the second inning of the Padres’ 8-6 win over the Nationals, Kim fouled a pitch off his knee, knocking him to the ground in obvious pain. Despite the relatively good news from the imaging, Kim isn’t expected to play on Friday and might end up on the 10-day injured list unless the swelling and discomfort subsides quickly.

Now in his third season with the Padres, Kim is hitting a modest .237/.316/.382 over 172 plate appearances, which works out to a 97 wRC+. Even this slightly below-average number might be generous considering that Kim’s 22.3% hard-hit ball rate is among the lowest in the league, though he has provided a lot of defensive value to San Diego as a second baseman and, more recently, as a third baseman in place of the injured Manny Machado. The Padres’ depth would take another hit if both Machado and Kim are out, and Rougned Odor (whose bat has been on fire as of late) would be the likeliest candidate for regular time at third base. Odor and Brandon Dixon could split time between second and third, Jake Cronenworth could also play second base, and Matt Carpenter could see more time as a first baseman.

Braves Notes: Tonkin, Fried, Ritchie

By Mark Polishuk | May 25, 2023 at 8:37pm CDT

The Braves placed right-hander Michael Tonkin on the 15-day injured list today due to a neck strain, with Dylan Dodd called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Tonkin’s IL placement is retroactive to May 24.

Tonkin has a 3.42 ERA over 26 1/3 innings out of Atlanta’s bullpen this season, with a solid 5.8% walk rate and a heavy dose of batted-ball luck (.203 BABIP) helping make up for a below-average hard-hit ball rate, as well as a forgettable 18.4% strikeout rate. It’s still a very respectable showing for a pitcher who last worked in the majors in 2017, as Tonkin had a 4.43 ERA over 146 1/3 innings for the Twins from 2013-17. After being released in November 2017, Tonkin’s long path back to the Show included stops in Japan, Mexico, independent leagues, and in the farm systems of the Brewers and Diamondbacks before he inked a minor league deal with the Braves prior to the 2022 season.

Dodd allowed four runs in five innings in tonight’s start against the Phillies, which marked the left-hander’s fourth start of the season. This is the third time the Braves have included the rookie southpaw on the big league roster, as Dodd has gotten some looks due to the ongoing health concerns in Atlanta’s pitching staff. The Braves have been short-handed in the rotation for more or less the entire season, and that shortage will continue since Kyle Wright and Max Fried are facing extended stints on the injured list.

While Wright was moved to the 60-day IL, Fried remains on the 15-day IL after his initial placement on May 6. Fried is dealing with a forearm strain, but after a few weeks of shutdown, played catch today for his first bit of throwing since his injury occurred. It’s still too early in the recovery process to know when Fried might be able to pitch again, but the Braves did have a rough projection of early July for his return, which might represent a best-case scenario. Given the May 6 placement and early-July estimate, Fried might still get placed on the 60-day IL just as a matter of timing and if the Braves need a 40-man roster spot, so a move to the 60-day wouldn’t necessarily be any hint about Fried’s progress.

In other pitching injury news from deeper within Atlanta’s organization, Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes (Twitter link) reports that JR Ritchie will undergo Tommy John surgery. As per the procedure’s usual timeline, Ritchie will miss the remainder of the 2023 and probably at least half of the 2024 season, and a recovery setback could put the young righty’s entire 2024 campaign in jeopardy. Pitching at A-ball this season, Ritchie had a 5.40 ERA over 13 1/3 innings that seems almost entirely due to bad luck, given his enormous .440 BABIP and his incredible 47.2% strikeout rate.

Ritchie was taken 35th overall in the 2022 draft, selected by the Braves with the Competitive Balance Round-A draft pick they acquired from the Royals as part of the Drew Waters trade last July. A high schooler out of Washington state, Ritchie took an above-slot bonus of $2.4MM (the 35th overall pick had a slot price of $2.0232MM) to start his pro career rather than honor his commitment to UCLA. MLB Pipeline ranks Ritchie third among all Braves prospects and Baseball America ranks him fourth, with both publications praising the 19-year-old’s arsenal of four quality pitches. BA’s scouting report felt Ritchie was advanced enough to possibly land in Double-A before the 2023 season was over, but now his Tommy John surgery will throw an unwelcome delay into his career.

Cubs Release Eric Hosmer

By Mark Polishuk | May 25, 2023 at 7:25pm CDT

The Cubs have released Eric Hosmer, according to the veteran first baseman’s MLB.com profile page. Hosmer was designated for assignment last week, and now that he has gone unclaimed on waivers, he’ll return to the open market in the aftermath of the release.

It wasn’t an unexpected outcome given Hosmer’s underwhelming performance this season, as he hit .234/.280/.330 with two home runs over an even 100 plate appearances. The Cubs signed Hosmer to a one-year deal this past offseason hoping for a bounce-back in a best-case scenario, but more realistically viewing him as something of a placeholder until Matt Mervis was ready for a regular dose of first base duty in the majors. With Trey Mancini also getting a lot of action at first base and Patrick Wisdom able to play the position, Chicago didn’t even have room for Hosmer as a veteran complement.

Signing Hosmer came with essentially no financial cost to the Cubs, who owed him just a Major League minimum salary ($720K). As per the terms of his eight-year, $144MM deal signed with the Padres during the 2017-18 offseason, Hosmer is still owed $13MM in each of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 seasons, and San Diego is still responsible for the vast majority of that money. Should another club sign Hosmer to a new contract, that new team will again just have to pay a prorated minimum salary, with the Padres footing the rest of the $13MM bill for 2023.

Given this low-risk salary situation, it’s possible a team in need of first base help, left-handed hitting depth, or clubhouse leadership might explore bringing Hosmer aboard. However, it has been some time since Hosmer has been a truly productive member of a roster, as the 33-year-old has hit only .263/.323/.406 since the start of the 2018 season (or, when he joined the Padres in the first place). Those offensive numbers translate to just a 98 wRC+, and Hosmer’s overall value is -0.1 fWAR in the last five-plus seasons.

Reds Sign Shea Spitzbarth To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | May 25, 2023 at 6:46pm CDT

The Reds have signed right-hander Shea Spitzbarth to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the club’s Complex League affiliate for now but will presumably move to a higher level after getting some work in.

Spitzbarth, 28, has five innings of major league experience under his belt, which came with the Pirates in 2021. He recorded a 3.60 ERA in that brief time despite a miniscule 4.5% strikeout rate, getting helped out by a .176 batting average on balls in play and 89.3% strand rate. He spent the majority of that year in Triple-A, tossing 46 2/3 innings with a 2.12 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 44.1% ground ball rate.

He was outrighted at season’s end and signed a minor league deal with the Tigers for 2022. He threw 53 2/3 innings in the minors last year with a 2.85 ERA, though the numbers under the hood weren’t as impressive. His 20.5% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate were both a few ticks worse than league average. A .214 batting average on balls in play and 81.7% strand rate kept the ERA down but led to a 4.65 FIP.

The Reds have actually had a strong relief unit overall this year, as their collective bullpen ERA of 3.71 puts them in the top 10 league wide. However, their depth is getting tested by injuries, with each of Tejay Antone, Fernando Cruz, Derek Law, Casey Legumina, Reiver Sanmartin and Tony Santillan current on the IL. Spitzbarth will add some non-roster depth and try to earn his way back to the majors. If he does so, he still has options and less than a year of service time, which would give the Reds the option of retaining him as a cheap depth piece for an extended period of time.

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