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Rangers Select Cody Bradford

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May 15: The Rangers have made it official, announcing the selection of Bradford’s contract today. In a corresponding move, righty Yerry Rodríguez was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.

May 14: The Rangers announced that Cody Bradford will have his contract selected from Triple-A on Monday, as Bradford is slated to start Texas’ game against the Braves.  The 25-year-old left-hander will be making his Major League debut.  Texas will have to make a corresponding move for the 26-man active roster, but there’s already space on the 40-man after Ian Kennedy was designated for assignment earlier this week.

It might end up being just a cup of coffee in the Show for Bradford, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News notes that the Rangers are using him as a spot starter to give the rotation an extra day of rest.  The Rangers are 10 games into a stretch of 13 games in 13 consecutive days, and the rotation is already a little short-handed with Dane Dunning taking the place of the injured Jacob deGrom.  Dunning has pitched well in his first two starts but hasn’t thrown more than 72 pitches, so he’ll a bit of a breather before taking the mound again on Tuesday.

This opens the door for Bradford to make his first big league appearance in front of his local fans, as Bradford’s hometown of Aledo, Texas is about 40 minutes west of Globe Life Field.  Bradford also stayed close to home in playing his college ball at Baylor, and the Rangers made him a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft.  Between thoracic outlet surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Bradford didn’t make his pro debut until 2021.

Perhaps due to this layoff, the southpaw was rather inconsistent at high-A and Double-A in 2021 and 2022, though he limited walks and had respectable strikeout numbers.  This season has been a big surge in bottom-line results, as Bradford has a tiny 0.91 ERA over seven starts and 39 2/3 innings at Triple-A Round Rock.  A .206 BABIP and a huge 92.5% strand rate indicate a lot of good luck in that minuscule ERA, but Bradford has also allowed only one home run, which is a positive step after surrendering 18 long balls over 118 2/3 frames last year.

Baseball America ranks Bradford 22nd amongst Rangers prospects, while MLB Pipeline ranks him 26th.  His 60-grade changeup is considered to be his best pitch, while his 55-grade fastball has good movement despite an average velocity in the low 90s.  Bradford started using a cutter last season that is showing good results as both a third offering, and as a way to better disguise a slider that has been mostly ineffective, as per BA’s scouting report.

Angels Recall Livan Soto, Place Anthony Rendon On IL

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May 15: The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, including the recall of Soto and the reinstatement of catcher Chad Wallach from the injured list. In corresponding moves, Rendon was placed on the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain, retroactive to May 14, while catcher Chris Okey was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.

May 14: The Angels will be calling up infielder Livan Soto from Double-A to the majors, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base (Twitter link).  Soto began the season at Triple-A, but was shifted down to Double-A Rocket City about a month ago.

The hitting hasn’t been there for Soto this season, as he has hit only .177/.349/.226 over 129 combined plate appearances at the two minor league levels, with only slightly improved numbers at Double-A.  This lack of production makes the two-level promotion a little unusual, but the Angels also promoted Soto to the majors in 2022 without any Triple-A experience, and he posted an impressive .996 OPS over 59 PA after making his Major League debut.

Soto has drawn far more praise for his glove than his bat during his six minor league seasons, as scouts consider him a big-league caliber defender at shortstop.  He has also played a good deal of second base in the minors and a handful of games at third base, so Soto will provide the Halos with some utility infield depth.

Some extra infield help is perhaps a sign that Anthony Rendon might require a trip to the injured list.  Rendon left Saturday’s game due to left groin tightness, and Angels manager Phil Nevin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) today that Rendon was going to miss a couple of games while being evaluated.

It could be that the testing has revealed an injury that requires some time off for Rendon, or since the Angels don’t have an off-day until May 25, the team might be making a precautionary IL placement just to fully heal Rendon up, and to not leave the roster short-handed.  Conversely, Rendon might be avoiding the IL and another player might end up being optioned or designated for assignment to make room for Soto.

Braves Claim Dereck Rodríguez, Transfer Kyle Wright To 60-Day IL

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The Braves announced that they have claimed right-hander Dereck Rodríguez off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Fellow righty Kyle Wright was transferred to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Rotation depth has suddenly become a serious issue for the Atlanta club. Both Max Fried and Kyle Wright have landed on the injured list recently, with the former battling a forearm strain and the latter a lingering shoulder issue. The reported plan for Fried is for him to be shut down long enough that he will then have to effectively rebuild from scratch, suggesting a potential absence of a couple of months. Last week, Wright said he is expecting to be out of action even longer than Fried, so it’s not a shock to see him land on the 60-day injured list today. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which was on May 4, ruling him out officially until early July.

Those injuries have cast a spotlight on the club’s starting mix, which is down to three primary members in Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder. The club has some depth starters on its 40-man roster that it could call upon, but it doesn’t seem like Michael Soroka will be up in the immediate future. He’s still looking to get into a consistent rhythm after hardly pitching since 2019 due to various injuries, including a pair of Achilles ruptures. Mark Bowman of MLB.com recently spoke to manager Brian Snitker about Soroka, though it doesn’t seem as though the club is going to let the recent injuries to Fried and Wright alter their approach to Soroka’s return to action. Other options on the roster include Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster, though neither fared especially well in their brief major league looks earlier this year. Ian Anderson won’t be an option for the rest of the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last month.

All of those question marks give the club a significant challenge in navigating the next couple of months, which is surely what led to the claim of Rodríguez. The right-hander who turns 31 next month had a solid debut season with the Giants in 2018 but has struggled since. That first season in the bigs saw him post an ERA of 2.81 in 118 1/3 innings, but his ERA jumped to 5.64 in the following season. He’s only been able to scratch out sporadic major league outings since then, appearing in five games since the start of 2020.

He’s spent the past couple of seasons bouncing on and off the Twins’ roster. He was twice selected to join the club in 2022, once in April and once in September, making one appearance before getting quickly designated for assignment in each case. He returned to the organization on another minor league deal this winter and was added to the 40-man a couple of weeks ago. He pitched two thirds of an inning on Friday before getting optioned back to Triple-A. It wasn’t publicly reported that he was designated for assignment but the Twins evidently tried to pass him through waivers in recent days, which led to today’s claim.

Prior to getting called up to the big leagues this year, he had made seven appearances for the St. Paul Saints, tossing 19 1/3 innings with a 4.66 ERA while striking out 23.5% of batters faced against an 11.8% walk rate. In 94 2/3 innings at Triple-A last year, he had a 4.75 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate. He’ll head to Gwinnett and will presumably be competing with the likes of Dodd and Shuster for roles in the majors over the coming months. The big league club is still in first place in the National League East but have lost four in a row and seem less of a lock in that division than they did a week ago.

Reds Place TJ Friedl On IL With Oblique Strain

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The Reds announced a series of roster moves today, including the selection of prospect Matt McLain, which was reported on yesterday. To make room for McLain on the active roster, outfielder TJ Friedl was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain, retroactive to May 12. To open a spot for McLain on the 40-man roster, first baseman Joey Votto was transferred to the 60-day IL. Additionally, left-hander Brandon Williamson is with the club on the taxi squad.

Friedl recently underwent an MRI which revealed only mild damage, though manager David Bell said on the weekend that the club would take 48 hours to decide on whether or not an IL trip was needed. It seems that they have decided on the cautious approach and will give Friedl a bit of a breather. Since the move is backdated, he can return in a week if the issue does indeed prove to be minor.

The loss of Friedl is rough for the Reds, as he’s been having a great season so far. He’s hitting .306/.351/.468 for a wRC+ of 117 while stealing four bases and getting good grades for his glovework, leading to a tally of 1.2 wins above replacement from FanGraphs after just 37 games. He’ll now hit the shelf but his absence will create an opening for McLain, one of the club’s many interesting infield prospects.

Votto’s move to the 60-day injured list isn’t a shock as he’s still trying to get healthy in the wake of last year’s rotator cuff and bicep surgery. He started a rehab assignment earlier this year but halted that in the middle of April and has yet to resume playing in official games. Since the 60-day count goes from his initial IL placement at the end of March, he’s now ineligible to return until late May, which didn’t seem to be on the table anyway.

As for Williamson, he’s one of the club’s top pitching prospects and could potentially be making his major league debut this week. The Reds have a couple of rotation vacancies after recently designating Luis Cessa for assignment and placing Nick Lodolo on the injured list. Perhaps Williamson will be slotted into one of those openings, though that has yet to be made official. He’s already on the 40-man roster but would require a corresponding move to get onto the active roster.

Red Sox Designate Ryan Brasier For Assignment

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11:58PM: Rodriguez will be activated from the 15-day IL to take Brasier’s roster spot on Monday, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey reports.

10:12PM: The Red Sox have designated Ryan Brasier for assignment, as the right-hander himself told reporters (including Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe) tonight in the aftermath of a tough outing against the Cardinals.  Brasier allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings of relief in a 9-1 Red Sox loss.

No corresponding move is yet known, though manager Alex Cora told reporters over the weekend that Joely Rodriguez was going to be activated from the 15-day injured list on Monday, so the Sox could be clearing room for Rodriguez’s return.  Rodriguez suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain in mid-March during Spring Training, and has yet to pitch this season.

Tonight’s performance inflated Brasier’s season ERA to 7.29 over 21 innings of work out of the Boston bullpen.  There is some level of misfortune in that ERA since Brasier’s strand rate (52.8%) and BABIP (.344) are both skewed, and his FIP is a more moderate 4.38.  That said, he has also posted below-average strikeout and walk rates, and Brasier is near the bottom of the league in hard contact.

The advanced metrics were much more favorable to Brasier last year, but the bottom-line results still weren’t there, as the righty had a 5.78 ERA over 62 1/3 innings in 2022.  With the lack of results stretching into a second season, the Sox have opted to part ways with a reliever who has had his share of ups and downs over six years in Boston, but for the most part was a solid hurler prior to the start of the 2022 season.

After pitching with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 2017, Brasier returned from Japan to sign a minor league deal with the Red Sox, and ended up unexpectedly emerging as an ace reliever for the eventual World Series champions.  Brasier posted a 1.60 ERA over 33 2/3 regular-season innings and then a 1.04 ERA in 8 1/3 postseason innings to help the Sox win the title.

Brasier’s 2019 season was a lot shakier, but he posted better results in 2020-21, with a 3.16 ERA albeit over only 37 innings.  Brasier’s workload was limited by the shortened 2020 regular season, and then a 2021 campaign that saw him miss most of the year due to a calf strain and then a concussion after he was struck in the head by a line drive during a simulated game.

The 35-year-old is in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and is still owed roughly $1.5MM of his $2MM salary for the 2023 season.  It doesn’t seem all that likely that another team will claim Brasier off DFA waivers, so the Red Sox will likely end up eating the salary if they end up releasing the righty, or they could simply outright him down to Triple-A.  If Brasier is signed by a new team after being released, the new club will only owe the prorated portion of the Major League minimum salary, with Boston covering the remainder of the $1.5MM.

Rockies Place Ryan Feltner On 15-Day Injured List

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9:34PM: The Rockies announced that Feltner was discharged from the hospital.

TODAY, 12:28PM: The Rockies announced that Feltner has been placed on the 15-day IL with a skull fracture. As relayed by MLB Network’s Jenny Cavnar, manage Bud Black described Feltner’s fracture as small, and notes that Feltner also suffered a concussion. Feltner will hopefully be released from the hospital later this afternoon, per Black.

May 14: In a terrifying moment, Rockies starter Ryan Feltner was hit in the head with a Nick Castellanos line drive in the second inning of tonight’s game.  Feltner immediately dropped to the ground but seemed alert and coherent, and he left the field under his own power, with some assistance from team trainers.

Following the game, Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters (including Patrick Lyons of the DNVR Rockies podcast) that Feltner was undergoing tests at a local hospital, and that details of those tests would be known tomorrow.  It would seem probable that Feltner will be placed on the seven-day concussion injured list for at least precautionary purposes, and if he is able to recover quickly from any symptoms, he might not even miss a start since the Rockies have an off-day on Thursday.

Feltner allowed four runs on four walks and two hits in the first inning of Saturday’s start, and his ERA now sits at 5.86 through 35 1/3 innings and eight starts for Colorado this season.  It seemed like Feltner was getting on track after a trio of nice starts from April 20-May 3, but his last outing was also rough, as he allowed four runs in 3 1/3 frames against the Mets on May 7.

This is the 26-year-old Feltner’s third MLB season, after being selected by the Rockies in the fourth round of the 2018 draft.  He had only a 6.16 ERA through 103 2/3 innings (starting 21 of 22 games) in 2021-22, but a lack of pitching depth ensured Feltner would get another shot in Colorado’s rotation this year.  That depth has been even further stretched by German Marquez’s season-ending Tommy John surgery, Antonio Senzatela being limited to two starts due to recovery from knee surgery and his current elbow sprain, rookie Noah Davis on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation, and now the possibility that Feltner could miss time.

Reds To Promote Matt McLain

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The Reds are set to call up infield prospect Matt McLain, according to Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  McLain is expected to make his MLB debut when the Reds open a series against the Rockies on Monday.  Since McLain isn’t on the 40-man roster, Cincinnati may have to make more than one transaction to accommodate his promotion onto the active roster.

The 17th overall pick of the 2021 draft, McLain was a highly touted player in his college days at UCLA, and he has made a quick rise through Cincinnati’s farm system.  His breakout year at Triple-A seemed to clinch his promotion, as McLain has hit an outstanding .346/.464/.713 with 12 homers over 168 plate appearances at Triple-A Louisville this season.

Even with just 37 games under his belt at the Triple-A level, these numbers are awfully hard to ignore, and so the 23-year-old will now embark on his next test in the Show.  While McLain has played a good deal of second base in the minors, he has exclusively played shortstop this year, and now looks to supplant the Kevin Newman/Jose Barrero combination at shortstop.

McLain was cited on the top-100 prospect lists from MLB Prospectus (77th) and MLB Pipeline (87th) prior to the 2022 season, but didn’t receive any top-100 attention heading into this year, though his Triple-A surge moved him back to 95th on Pipeline’s most recent update to their ranking.  As per Pipeline’s scouting report, there was concern over McLain’s big spike in strikeouts at Double-A in 2022, as “much of that stemmed from McLain trying to do too much at the plate as he was trying to figure out who he is as a pro hitter and he sold out for power too often.”

To that end, McLain has drastically and impressively cut down on his swing-and-miss this year, with almost as many walks (27) as strikeouts (33) at Louisville.  His plus speed has resulted in 10 steals in 15 attempts at Triple-A, but McLain stole 27 bases in 30 tries at Double-A in 2022.

Baseball America’s little report is a little less optimistic about McLain’s future as a regular, saying “he projects as a super-utility player who can play a variety of positions including shortstop in a pinch.”  It remains to be seen if shortstop will remain McLain’s long-term position, though beyond just defensive questions, his usage might also be impacted by the Reds’ oncoming rush of talented young infielders.  Elly De La Cruz is one of baseball’s elite prospects and is also expected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2023, and third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand shouldn’t be too far behind on the shuttle from Louisville.  Infielders Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, and Cam Collier are also ranked within Pipeline’s top 100, and of course Jonathan India is already established as the Reds’ second baseman and Spencer Steer has been playing respectably well in his rookie season.

It makes for a pretty nice “problem” for the Reds to have as they sort out who exactly will be part of their infield of the future, and with the team in rebuild mode at least through the rest of 2023, they’ll have plenty of time to keep evaluating these youngsters.  McLain will get the first chance at making a first impression, and it could be that he might get bounced around the diamond early if De La Cruz is called up and takes over the shortstop job.

Since McLain wasn’t included on at least two of the preseason top-100 lists from Pipeline, Baseball America or ESPN.com, he won’t qualify for a full year of big league service time even if he finishes in the top two of Rookie Of The Year voting.  However, assuming McLain remains in the majors for the rest of 2023, he should bank enough service time to potentially qualify for Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility.

Marlins Place A.J. Puk On 15-Day Injured List

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The Marlins are placing A.J. Puk on the 15-day injured list, as the left-hander is dealing with some nerve irritation in his left elbow.  A corresponding move hasn’t yet been announced and it might not come until Tuesday, since Miami has an off-day on Monday.  Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) guesses that JT Chargois might replace Puk, as Chargois is completing a rehab assignment after missing just over a month with an oblique strain.

Puk’s last appearance was on May 10, and manager Skip Schumaker told the Herald’s Andre Fernandez and other reporters prior to today’s game that Puk had been dealing with a “dead arm.”  The designation of nerve irritation sheds some new and concerning light on the issue, as while it could be that Puk might be back to normal after 15 days, there is no real timeline for nerve-related injuries.

It’s another troubling injury setback for Puk, as Tommy John surgery cost him all of the 2018 season as a prospect in the Athletics’ farm system, and he didn’t pitch in 2020 due to shoulder problems that eventually required a surgery.  Puk carried a lot of promise as a starter during his way up the minor league ladder, yet his health problems led the A’s to use him only as a reliever.  In his first full MLB season, Puk looked mostly excellent in posting a 3.12 ERA over 66 1/3 relief innings for the A’s in 2022.

That good form has continued into Puk’s first year in Miami, as the Marlins dealt JJ Bleday (another former top prospect) to Oakland for Puk back in February.  Though the Marlins considered using Puk as a starter, they instead opted to use him as their primary closer, with strong results.  Puk has a 3.07 ERA and a wealth of impressive secondary metrics over 14 2/3 innings with the Marlins, including a 29.2% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate that are both well above the league average.  Batters haven’t been able to make much hard contact against Puk’s offerings, as his 2.4% barrel rate is among the best in MLB.

Dylan Floro got the save in today’s 3-1 win over the Reds, and he is likely the favorite for ninth-inning work in Puk’s absence given how Floro finished the 2020 season as Miami’s closer.  The Marlins could also take a situational approach to save situations, with any of Floro, Andrew Nardi, Huascar Brazoban, Tanner Scott, or Matt Barnes getting a crack at closer duties based on in-game scenarios.

It’s been a tough couple of days health-wise for the Marlins, as while Garrett Cooper returned from the 10-day IL today, Miami has lost both Jesus Sanchez and now Puk to the injured list.  Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s status is also to be determined, as Schumaker said the center fielder will visit a specialist about a case of turf toe.  Chisholm suffered the injury in yesterday’s game after a collision with the outfield wall in pursuit of a fly ball.

Mets Activate Brooks Raley, Designate Dennis Santana For Assignment

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The Mets have announced that they’d designated right-hander Dennis Santana for assignment and activated lefty reliever Brooks Raley from the 15-day injured list.

Santana, 27, had been added to the Mets’ roster earlier today for the first game of the day. The right-hander, who sported a career 5.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP coming into today’s game, pitched one scoreless inning against the Nationals this afternoon, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out one. The Mets will now have seven days to trade or waive Santana. If he clears waivers, the club can assign him outright to Triple-A, but Santana would have the right to reject such an assigment, as he has been assigned outright previously during his career.

Santana’s departure from the roster makes room for Raley, who the Mets acquired from the Rays this past offseason. Raley joined the Rays ahead of the 2022 season with a career ERA of 5.62 in 107 1/3 big league innings, but proved to be a revelation in Tampa last season, as the 34-year-old lefty dominated to the tune of a 2.68 ERA (136 ERA+) and 2.74 FIP in 53 2/3 innings of work. That performance caught the attention of the Mets, who swapped lefty Keyshawn Askew to the Rays in exchange for Raley’s services.

One could argue Raley got off to a shaky start in Queens, pitching to a 4.76 ERA with a 5.85 FIP in 11 1/3 innings of work. Those top-line numbers are somewhat deceiving, however, as four of Raley’s six earned runs were allowed in a single appearance against the Brewers, with twelve scoreless outings in fourteen appearances total this season. Raley was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation at the end of April, and has been out of action ever since, leaving high leverage duties in the Mets bullpen primarily to David Robertson and Adam Ottavino. Raley seems likely to re-enter the late inning mix for the Mets going forward, if he can return to putting up scoreless outings going forward.

Luis Torrens Elects Free Agency

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that catcher Luis Torrens had cleared waivers and elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Torrens, 27, was a prospect in the Yankees organization when the Reds selected him in the 2016-17 offseason’s Rule 5 draft before trading him to the Padres. Torrens made his big league debut with San Diego during the 2017 season and stayed on the roster all year, batting .163/.243/.203 in 139 plate appearances as the club’s back up catcher. Torrens would spend the entire 2018 season and most of 2019 in the minors before returning to a regular role with the Padres in 2020. Torrens slashed .273/.333/.364 in 7 games during the shortened 2020 season with San Diego before he was traded to Seattle as part of the deal that brought Austin Nola to the Padres.

Torrens would stay with the Mariners through the end of the 2022 season, ultimately batting .239/.297/.388, good for a wRC+ of 93, over 609 plate appearances for the club before Seattle non-tendered him this past November. Torrens went on to sign a minor league deal with the Cubs, making the club’s Opening Day roster as a third catcher. Torrens stepped to the plate just 22 times in Chicago, however, prior to being designated for assignment and traded to the Orioles. He ultimately did not make it into a game for Baltimore before the club decided to DFA him as well.

Overall, Torrens has been a 92 wRC+ hitter since the end of the 2017 season, a perfectly solid mark for a catcher. As Torrens re-enters free agency, he figures to be an attractive option for multiple teams as catching depth, leaving him likely to latch on with another club in short order. In particular, the Angels are known to have explored catching additions recently as the club relies on Matt Thaiss and Chris Okey behind the plate with each of Max Stassi, Logan O’Hoppe, and Chad Wallach currently on the injured list.

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