Brewers Designate Tyson Miller For Assignment
The Brewers announced that right-hander Tyson Miller has been designated for assignment. Fellow righty Abner Uribe was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Uribe’s first appearance for the Brewers will mark his MLB debut. Reporter Hector Gomez initially had the news about Uribe’s promotion, including a touching video of Uribe calling his parents to inform them of the big news.
Miller has been back and forth between the majors and minors a couple of times this season, and Milwaukee just called up back up earlier this week, resulting in one appearance — two-thirds of an inning pitched in yesterday’s 7-3 Brewers victory over the Reds. Uribe was already on the 40-man roster so a DFA wasn’t exactly necessary to move Miller off the active roster, yet the Brew Crew have apparently decided to create some extra space at the risk of exposing Miller to the waiver wire.
Miller has already changed teams twice via waiver claim, going from the Cubs to the Rangers in June 2021 and then from Texas to Milwaukee last November. The right-hander has a 5.79 ERA over 9 1/3 innings of MLB work this season, and a 7.92 ERA over 25 innings in parts of three seasons with Milwaukee, Texas, and Chicago. He has a 4.75 ERA in 225 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level, but that includes an improved 3.86 ERA over 25 2/3 frames for Triple-A Nashville this year, as Miller has allowed only one homer. That is a promising development for a pitcher who has been often hurt badly by the long ball in past seasons.
The hard-throwing Uribe was added to the Brewers’ 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, as while Uribe missed most of the 2022 season due to meniscus surgery, the club still wanted to keep his promising arm away from other teams. Uribe returned to action in fine form, posting a 1.96 ERA over 23 combined innings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2023, with a huge 42.23% strikeout rate. However, Uribe’s career-long control issues have persisted, even if his 16.5% walk rate in the minors this year is actually an improvement over his past numbers.
MLB Pipeline ranks Uribe as the ninth-best prospect in the Brewers’ farm system, giving him an 80-grade for his blazing triple-digit baseball and a 60-grade for his plus slider. There is obviously plenty of potential here for the 23-year-old to develop into an elite bullpen arm if he can post even an average walk rate, and with such good results in a brief showing at Triple-A, Uribe is now getting an opportunity to show what he can do against big league hitters.
Reds Designate Henry Ramos, Select Michael Mariot
The Reds announced that outfielder Henry Ramos has been designated for assignment, and that righty Tony Santillan has been optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Both moves clear space on the 26-man and 40-man rosters for right-hander Michael Mariot, as the Reds have selected Mariot’s contract from Triple-A.
Ramos spent seven weeks on the injured list due to a hip strain, and has hit .242/.356/.306 over 73 plate appearances for Cincinnati and a scorching .318/.404/.568 in 152 PA at the Triple-A level. The Reds’ increasingly crowded roster made it hard for Ramos to find consistent playing time, and so the team has opted to perhaps move on, or just to try and sneak Ramos through DFA waivers. The 31-year-old’s big Triple-A numbers might attract the attention of another team interested in a waiver claim, or Ramos could control his future more directly by rejecting an outright assignment if he did clear waivers. Because Ramos has been outrighted before in his career, he has the ability to turn down any future outright assignments and become a free agent.
Ramos was a fifth-round pick for the Red Sox back in the 2010 draft, and his long stay in the minors finally resulted in 18 MLB games with the Diamondbacks in 2021. Before signing a minor league deal with the Reds last winter, Ramos’ career includes stints with the Red Sox, Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks, and a brief stint in the KBO League in 2022.
Mariot knows a few things about the career of a journeyman player, as the 34-year-old is set to make his first appearance in the majors since 2016. The righty posted a 5.98 ERA over 49 2/3 innings with the Royals and Phillies from 2014-16, and subsequently bounced around the minors to several different organizations (including a previous stint with Cincinnati in 2021). This long path back to the Show also included stops in independent baseball, the Mexican League, and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Beginning the season with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball, Mariot signed a minor league contract with the Reds last month and made a quick impression at Triple-A. Over four starts and 24 1/3 inning in Louisville, Mariot had a 2.59 ERA and a tiny 4.2% walk rate with only one home run allowed, though his 14.6% strikeout rate is far below average. It remains to be seen what Mariot’s role might be in Cincinnati, but with the Reds hurting for rotation depth, Mariot might get at least a spot start or perhaps some long relief work.
Cubs Place Dansby Swanson On 10-Day Injured List
The Cubs placed shortstop Dansby Swanson on the 10-day injured list due to a left heel contusion. The placement is retroactive to July 6. Miles Mastrobuoni was called up from Triple-A to take Swanson’s spot on the active roster.
Swanson made an early exit from Wednesday’s game due to the injury, which occurred while he was running the bases. The injury doesn’t appear to be particularly serious, as Cubs manager David Ross told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson) that Swanson might have been available if necessary in Chicago’s game yesterday. However, since Swanson had already decided to skip the All-Star Game due to his heel problem, the club has apparently opted for a 10-day IL stint to allow the shortstop to fully heal up. The All-Star break will automatically absorb four of the 10 minimum days Swanson must miss, helping minimize his absence from Chicago’s lineup.
The Cubs are an underwhelming 41-46 as the break approaches, and the club is seven games out of both the NL Central lead and a wild card berth. It certainly wasn’t what the Wrigleyville denizens were hoping for after the Cubs made some notable moves in the offseason, highlighted by their seven-year, $177MM free agent contract with Swanson. While a lot has gone wrong for the Cubs in the first half, Swanson has been living up to his end of the deal, hitting .258/.343/.409 with 10 homers over 367 plate appearances. Between his 108 wRC+ and his spectacular glovework at shortstop, Swanson has 2.9 fWAR, a total bested by only 18 position players in baseball.
Nico Hoerner has moved over from second base to shortstop in Swanson’s absence over the last two games, and will likely continue to fill in until Swanson returns. The hot-hitting Christopher Morel will probably get most of the second base action, with Patrick Wisdom getting more time at third base if Morel is at the keystone. Chicago is a little shorthanded in the middle infield since Nick Madrigal is sidelined with a hamstring strain, though with Swanson maybe missing only 10 days in total, the Cubs likely have enough to get by until the All-Star break.
Tigers Activate Riley Greene, Beau Brieske
The Tigers announced a quartet of roster moves in advance of this afternoon’s game with the Blue Jays. Outfielder Riley Greene was activated from the 15-day injured list and right-hander Beau Brieske was activated from the 60-day IL, while Jonathan Schoop was designated for assignment (as reported yesterday) and Alex Faedo was optioned to Triple-A.
Greene suffered a stress reaction in his left fibula in late May, interrupting what had been a breakout season for the 22-year-old. Greene was hitting .296/.362/.443 with five home runs and six stolen bases (in six chances) over his first 224 plate appearances. While his 28.6% strikeout rate is still high, Greene’s 9.4% walk rate is above the league average, and he is making a lot of hard contact. A huge .410 BABIP does hint that some regression is inevitable, yet Greene’s combination of solid contact and excellent speed makes him a candidate for better batted-ball results anyway.
Selected fifth overall in the 2019 draft, Greene is a key figure of the Tigers’ rebuild, especially given how the team is hurting so badly for any offensive production. If Greene can pick up where he left off, Detroit might be able to get a bit closer to contention before the trade deadline, and the Tigers might be able to avoid another deadline selloff. Despite the club’s 38-49 record, the relative weakness of the AL Central has kept Detroit on the fringes of the playoff race, as the Tigers are only six games back of the first-place Twins.
Brieske’s return will also help a pitching staff that has been hit hard by injuries for the second consecutive season. Due to a right ulnar nerve entrapment that arose during Spring Training, Brieske has yet to pitch in 2023. The righty posted a respectable 4.19 ERA over 81 2/3 innings in his 2022 rookie season, though he didn’t pitch after July 12 due to a forearm strain. Brieske worked as a starter last year, but he has been used only as a reliever in the minors this season, perhaps as a way to slowly rebuild his arm strength after the long layoff.
Detroit might prefer Brieske as a multi-inning relief weapon if enough healthy options can be otherwise found for the starting five, but otherwise, it seems likely that Brieske will get some starts at some point. An opening in the rotation might already be available with Faedo optioned, and Detroit’s staff could look quite different if the team does trade away some notable veterans (i.e. Eduardo Rodriguez or Michael Lorenzen) at the deadline.
Tigers Designate Jonathan Schoop For Assignment
TODAY: The Tigers officially announced that Schoop has been DFA’ed.
JULY 7: The Tigers are designating veteran infielder Jonathan Schoop for assignment, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. The club has yet to announce the move.
Once official, it’ll close the book on a nearly four-season tenure in the Motor City. The Tigers first signed the former All-Star second baseman to a $6.1MM pact heading into 2020. Schoop put up a quality .278/.324/.475 line over 44 games during the abbreviated season. Detroit brought him back on a $4.5MM guarantee the next winter, and the right-handed hitter put together another strong season.
Schoop played in 156 games and hit .278/.320/.435 with 22 home runs. As an impending free agent on a rebuilding Detroit club, he looked a logical deadline trade candidate. Instead, Detroit held him past the deadline and extended him on a two-year, $15MM deal in August. That contract contained matching $7.5MM salaries for 2022-23 and allowed Schoop to opt out after the first season.
The third contract did not pan out. Schoop’s offense has cratered. He hit .202/.239/.322 across 510 trips to the plate last year. He made the obvious call to return to Detroit rather than testing the open market. Hopes of a rebound campaign have been dashed by a nightmarish first half. Schoop hasn’t connected on a single home run and carries a .213/.278/.272 batting line over 55 contests.
Between the two seasons, he’s a .204/.248/.311 hitter. Among the 203 hitters with 600+ plate appearances since the start of last season, Schoop ranks last in on-base percentage and third from the bottom (above Nicky Lopez and Myles Straw) in slugging. Detroit has pushed him from everyday second base work into more of a platoon capacity, giving most of the recent second/third base reps to Andy Ibañez and Zach McKinstry.
Schoop is due a little less than $3.5MM from now through season’s end. No team is going to take on that money given his offensive struggles. He’s likely to be released within the next few days. Once he clears waivers, the Tigers would remain on the hook for the bulk of that sum. Any team that adds Schoop would owe him just the prorated portion of the $720K minimum for whatever time he spends on their MLB roster.
While he might be limited to minor league offers at that point, he should be of interest to clubs seeking infield depth. Schoop is still just 31 and was a career .262/.301/.448 hitter through the end of 2021. He can cover either second or third base and remains an excellent defensive option at the keystone, in particular.
Statcast credited Schoop as a staggering 21 runs above average with the glove last season. Defensive Runs Saved wasn’t quite so bullish but still rated him among the league’s best at +8 runs. He’s not likely to repeat quite so exceptional a defensive season, but both DRS and Statcast have pegged him a few runs above par in 160 2/3 second base innings this year as well.
Nationals Outright Derek Hill To Triple-A
TODAY: The Nationals announced that Hill cleared waivers, and decided to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester.
JULY 5: The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve designated outfielder Derek Hill for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to fellow outfielder Alex Call, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Rochester.
Hill, 27, appeared in 13 games with the Nats and tallied 50 plate appearances. He slashed just .170/.220/.191 in that time, however, striking out in 22% of his plate appearances against a 6% walk rate. That marked the fourth straight season with at least some big league work for the former Tigers first-rounder (No. 23, 2014). He carries a tepid .229/.279/.314 batting line in 304 MLB plate appearances.
So far in 2023, Hill’s work in Triple-A has been outstanding. He’s batted .324/.381/.533 in 204 plate appearances, boosting his career rates at the top minor league level to .283/.344/.470 in an even 600 trips to the plate.
Hill is a plus runner with good defensive tools but mixed defensive ratings in limited MLB action in the outfield. He’s a natural center fielder and has experience at all three slots in the outfield.
Hill is out of minor league options, meaning any team that wants to place a waiver claim or acquire him in a small trade would need to commit to carrying him on its own 40-man roster (or else immediately attempt to pass him through waivers themselves). The Nats will have a week to pass him through waivers, trade him or release him.
Mariners Outright Jose Rodriguez
The Mariners announced this afternoon that right-hander José Rodríguez was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle apparently placed him on waivers this week without formally announcing the move.
Rodríguez signed a minor league pact with Seattle over the winter. They selected his contract during the season’s second week, bringing the 27-year-old up to the big leagues for the first time in three years. Rodríguez pitched once, tossing three innings of three-run ball, before being optioned back out.
He has otherwise spent the season working out of Tacoma’s starting rotation. Rodríguez has pitched to a 7.53 ERA across 55 innings in the Pacific Coast League. He’s inducing grounders at a solid 47.3% clip but has a well below-average 15.3% strikeout rate.
Since Seattle had not previously designated Rodríguez for assignment, the outright clears a spot on the 40-man roster. After Tommy Milone’s recent DFA, the 40-man count is at 38. Rodríguez has been outrighted on multiple occasions in his career, so he’ll have the ability to test minor league free agency if he doesn’t want to stick as a non-roster player in Tacoma.
Pirates Place McCutchen, Hayes On Injured List; Designate Rob Zastryzny
The Pirates made a number of moves before tonight’s game in Arizona. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes were both placed on the 10-day injured list. To take the active roster spots, Pittsburgh reinstated first baseman Ji Man Choi from the 60-day IL and recalled right-hander Cody Bolton. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Pittsburgh designated reliever Rob Zastryzny for assignment after activating him from his own IL stint.
McCutchen’s placement is retroactive to July 6 and on account of right elbow inflammation. He’d been nagged by elbow soreness dating back a few weeks, and the club apparently decided to give him some time to rest it completely. Next week’s All-Star Break means McCutchen could miss as few as five games if he’s able to return when first eligible.
Signed to a one-year deal over the winter, the former MVP has had an excellent return season in Pittsburgh. He’s hitting .268/.383/.425 with 10 homers across 316 trips to the plate. He’s walking at an elite 15.5% clip while striking out only 20.3% of the time.
Hayes is dealing with lower back inflammation. The same issue sent him to the IL on June 28. He was reinstated last night but evidently isn’t fully healthy after all. The Pirates used Jared Triolo as their primary third baseman while Hayes was out, so the rookie infielder figures to draw back into the starting lineup.
Choi will try to get his first Pittsburgh campaign rolling heading into the Break. Acquired from the Rays over the offseason, the lefty-hitting first baseman only appeared in nine games before a strained Achilles tendon in his left foot put him on the shelf. Choi was ice cold in the season’s first couple weeks but reached base at a quality .341 clip for Tampa Bay last year. With Carlos Santana at first base, Choi draws into the starting lineup tonight at designated hitter. He’ll hit fifth against Arizona ace Zac Gallen.
With Choi coming back from the 60-day IL, Pittsburgh needed to clear a 40-man spot. That’ll be at Zastryzny’s expense. The 31-year-old lefty cracked the Opening Day roster after an offseason minor league deal. He made 18 appearances, working to a 5.29 ERA through 17 frames. Zastryzny had as many walks as strikeouts (13 apiece) and twice landed on the IL.
The more recent of those stints came three weeks ago, when forearm inflammation put him on the shelf. Zastryzny is apparently now healthy, but the Bucs elected not to carry him on the roster. He’s out of minor league option years, so Pittsburgh needed to either plug him back into the MLB bullpen or take him off the 40-man.
Within the next week, Pittsburgh will trade him or put him on waivers. Zastryzny has cleared outright waivers in the past, so he’d have the ability to test free agency if he goes unclaimed again.
D-Backs Select Dominic Canzone, Designate Konnor Pilkington
The Diamondbacks announced a number of roster moves heading into tonight’s matchup against the Pirates. Arizona selected corner outfielder Dominic Canzone and recalled reliever Justin Martinez from Triple-A Reno. Outfielder Dominic Fletcher was optioned, while reliever Drey Jameson landed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. To clear a 40-man roster spot for Canzone, the Snakes designated lefty Konnor Pilkington for assignment.
Canzone, 25, reaches the majors for the first time. Arizona selected the lefty-swinging outfielder in the eighth round of the 2019 draft out of Ohio State. He has consistently posted big numbers in the minors but progressed relatively slowly up the ladder. He first reached Double-A late in 2021 and got to the Triple-A level for the first time last season.
Baseball America ranked him the #25 prospect in the D-Backs’ system over the winter. The outlet praised his power upside and statistical track record but suggested some scouts have expressed trepidations about his hit tool and athleticism. Canzone has continued to post excellent numbers over the past few months, hitting .354/.431/.634 with 16 home runs through 304 trips to the plate.
Even in an extremely hitter-friendly environment in Reno, Canzone’s production stands out. He’s walking at a 12.8% clip and has only struck out 13.2% of the time. Among Pacific Coast League hitters, he ranks eighth in on-base percentage and tops the circuit in slugging. He’ll add some short-term outfield depth with Corbin Carroll day-to-day after reinjuring his shoulder last night.
Canzone isn’t the only Diamondback hoping to make his MLB debut. This is Martinez’s second promotion, but he was optioned a few days after his first without appearing in a game. The 21-year-old righty has a 3.77 ERA over 31 innings in Reno. He replaces Jameson in the relief corps for now.
The D-Backs acquired Pilkington in a cash transaction from the Guardians in May. The 25-year-old has spent his entire time in the organization on optional assignment to Reno. Over 11 starts there, he’s been tagged for a 9.53 ERA with a below-average 18% strikeout rate and a huge 16.1% walk percentage.
Pilkington tossed 58 innings for the Guardians last summer. He posted a decent 3.88 ERA but with worse than average strikeout and walk numbers over his initial MLB look. The Mississippi State product has struggled at the Triple-A level but posted a 3.04 ERA in 100 2/3 Double-A frames. Arizona will trade him or put him on waivers within a week.
Padres Select Alek Jacob
The Padres announced they’ve selected reliever Alek Jacob onto the big league roster. San Diego optioned José Castillo to Triple-A in a corresponding move. They already had an opening on the 40-man roster after designating Nelson Cruz for assignment a few days ago.
San Diego selected Jacob in the 16th round of the 2021 draft. A $75K senior sign out of Gonzaga, Jacob moved quickly up the ladder thanks to strong minor league performances. He traversed three levels last season. He struggled at year’s end in Triple-A but was dominant in High-A and Double-A.
Over the winter, Baseball America named the 6’3″ righty the #23 prospect in a relatively shallow San Diego farm system. The outlet praised a plus changeup and excellent control but noted well below-average fastball velocity that sits in the mid-upper 80s.
Despite lacking overpowering stuff, Jacob has thrived with Double-A San Antonio this year. Over 27 1/3 innings, he carries a 1.32 ERA. He’s striking out just under 30% of opponents and has induced grounders at a huge 56.1% clip. Already 25, Jacob is older than the standard Double-A prospect. Still, there’s little arguing with that kind of production, and he’s earned his first MLB look as a long relief option for skipper Bob Melvin.