Red Sox Make Several Roster Moves
The Red Sox announced a slate of roster moves this morning, recalling left-hander Brandon Walter and selecting the contract of catcher Caleb Hamilton from Triple-A Worcester. In corresponding 26-man roster moves, Boston placed outfielder Alex Verdugo on the bereavement list and placed catcher Reese McGuire on the 10-day injured list due to a strained oblique. Additionally, infielder Yu Chang was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot for Hamilton on the 40-man roster.
The looming promotions of Walter and Hamilton were both reported last night, though the corresponding moves needed to get that pair on the roster weren’t clear until this morning. It’ll be the MLB debut for the 26-year-old Walter, who posted a 2.88 ERA with a ludicrous 68-to-3 K/BB ratio in 50 Double-A innings last year but has struggled so far in Triple-A — both in a late promotion there in ’22 and in a full season so far in ’23. Through his first 69 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, Walter carries a 6.49 ERA, although a .362 average on balls in play hasn’t helped his cause.
Hamilton, meanwhile, will be on the roster and possibly suit up against the team for which he made his MLB debut last year, when the Red Sox wrap up their series against the Twins in Minneapolis. The 28-year-old went just 1-for-18 in his debut season with Minnesota, though that one hit was a big fly. Hamilton also drew four walks and scored each time, giving him the rare distinction of having come around to score every time he’s reached base in the Majors. He’s hitting .180/.285/.310 through 116 plate appearances in Worcester this season.
The Red Sox haven’t yet revealed how long McGuire will be sidelined, though oblique strains tend to require absences greater than the 10-day minimum and can often last upwards of a month. The 28-year-old McGuire, acquired from the White Sox last year, earned a look at a prominent role in Boston when he hit .337/.377/.500 down the stretch following a trade. He’s fallen well short of that in 2023, however, batting .267/.313/.352 (80 wRC+) and throwing out just two of the 26 runners who’ve attempted to steal against him. Connor Wong will take on an even larger role in McGuire’s absence.
As for Chang, his transfer to the 60-day IL is a procedural move that doesn’t impact his eligibility to return to the club. The “60-day” minimum stay on that list is retroactive to his original placement on the IL, which happened back on April 25. He originally went out on a minor league rehab assignment earlier this month, but that was paused due to continued discomfort in his surgically repaired hand. He’ll likely need another rehab stint before he can return anyhow, and since he’s already spent 58 days on the injured list anyway, the move to the 60-day IL amounts to little more than a formality.
Red Sox To Select Caleb Hamilton
The Red Sox will select catcher Caleb Hamilton onto the big league roster, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). He’ll take the active roster spot of Reese McGuire, who is headed to the 10-day injured list after straining his right oblique tonight.
Hamilton will join the Sox in Minnesota. He’s no stranger to Target Field, as his only MLB experience to date has come in a Twins uniform. A former 23rd-round selection by Minnesota, he reached the majors for 22 games last year. Minnesota put him on waivers at the end of the season.
Boston claimed him and successfully passed him through waivers themselves a month later. They kept him in the organization without dedicating a spot on the 40-man roster. Hamilton has spent the season with their top affiliate in Worcester, struggling to a .174/.281/.306 line over 114 trips to the plate. The right-handed hitter had a much better .233/.367/.442 slash in Triple-A with Minnesota last year.
This season’s production isn’t eye-catching, but McGuire’s injury forced Boston’s hand. The Red Sox have only had two catchers on the 40-man roster all season. McGuire and Connor Wong have taken the entirety of the work. McGuire hurt himself on a swing this evening, necessitating a depth call-up from Triple-A.
Boston could’ve turned to Ronaldo Hernández, who has a more impressive .242/.327/.492 showing in Worcester this season. Hernández, a former top prospect, has yet to make his MLB debut. Boston will go with Hamilton, who has a bit of experience in a depth role. Both Sandy León and Mike Zunino were released Wednesday evening. The Red Sox make for a speculative fit for either player. León spent five years in Boston earlier in his career, while Zunino overlapped in Tampa Bay for a season with Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
For now, Wong ascends to the top of the depth chart. He’s hitting .245/.314/.447 in 53 games on the year. The Red Sox will need to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Hamilton, though that can be achieved by transferring Yu Chang to the 60-day injured list. The versatile infielder has already been out since April 25 after suffering a hamate fracture in his left wrist; his IL transfer would simply be a procedural formality.
Guardians Release Mike Zunino
The Guardians have released Mike Zunino, according to the catcher’s transaction log at MLB.com. That always seemed the likely outcome once Cleveland designated him for assignment last Friday.
Zunino signed a $6MM free agent contract over the winter. A little over half that salary remains to be paid out, making it a lock he goes unclaimed on release waivers. Once that process plays out, he’ll be a free agent. At that point, other teams could add him for the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum while leaving the Guardians on the hook for the rest of the money.
Cleveland bought low on the veteran backstop after his 2022 season was ruined by thoracic outlet syndrome. It didn’t pan out, as the 32-year-old struggled on both sides of the ball. He hit .177/.271/.306 with only three home runs in 140 trips to the plate. Zunino annually runs one of the sport’s highest strikeout rates, but this season’s 43.6% clip would be a career-high in a 162-game schedule.
Zunino has generally been a solid defensive catcher in his career. He had well below-average marks with the glove in Cleveland, however. He allowed a league-high five passed balls while throwing out 16.7% of attempted basestealers (a few points below the 20.6% league average). Defensive Runs Saved pegged Zunino as nine runs below average, tying for second-worst at the position.
Without much production on either side of the ball, Cleveland went in a different direction. The Guardians called up top prospect Bo Naylor on the heels of a .253/.393/.498 showing through 270 plate appearances with Triple-A Columbus. He’s the new starting backstop, with Cam Gallagher and David Fry on hand as reserve options.
Rangers Release Sandy Leon
The Rangers have granted catcher Sandy León his release, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The veteran backstop requested to be let go after losing his spot on the MLB roster last week.
It’s a quick turnaround. León accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock over the weekend after clearing waivers. He didn’t make another appearance there before looking for other opportunities instead. That León just went unclaimed makes it seem unlikely he has another MLB job lined up, but perhaps he’s receiving interest from a club with a clearer path to playing time than would’ve been available in Arlington.
León, 34, started the season in Round Rock. Texas called him up just four games into the season. He played in 22 MLB games as a depth option, struggling to a .146/.186/.195 line while striking out in 20 of 44 plate appearances. The switch-hitter obviously hoped for better than that, but he has rarely been an offensive threat. Aside from a BABIP-driven 2016 campaign with the Red Sox, León has been a well below-average MLB hitter. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a .168/.255/.245 mark in 431 plate appearances over four teams.
Despite the tepid offense, León has gotten plenty of opportunities on the strength of a strong defensive reputation. He’s well-regarded for his receiving skills and has thrown out a solid 29.5% of basestealers over the course of his career. He shouldn’t have any issues finding another minor league opportunity as a result.
Jonah Heim, Mitch Garver and Sam Huff comprise Texas’ 40-man catching group and are each on the major league roster. Neither Matt Whatley nor Miguel Ojeda Jr. — the two catchers on Round Rock’s active roster — has played in the majors. Grant suggests the Rangers could look for a veteran backstop willing to sign a non-roster deal to add some upper minors experience now that León is looking elsewhere.
Red Sox Recall David Hamilton For Major League Debut
The Red Sox announced that they have placed right-hander Corey Kluber on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. Infielder David Hamilton was recalled in a corresponding move.
Hamilton, now 25, was selected by the Brewers in the eighth round of the 2019 draft. He didn’t make his professional debut that year and then the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020. He finally got to play in the affiliated ranks in 2021, getting into 101 games between High-A and Double-A. He hit .258/.341/.419 between those two levels for a wRC+ of 110 while stealing 52 bases and playing both middle infield positions.
That showing was strong enough that the Red Sox took notice, acquiring him in the trade where they flipped Hunter Renfroe to the Milwaukee in exchange for Jackie Bradley Jr. Since Bradley was coming off a nightmare season, the Brewers threw a couple of prospects into the deal, including Hamilton.
Last year, Hamilton was in Double-A for the whole season. He hit .251/.338/.402 for a wRC+ of 104 while adding another 70 bases. At the end of the year, the Sox added him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He’s moved up to Triple-A this year and has continued to do his thing, hitting .255/.339/.486 for a wRC+ of 102 while swiping another 27 bags.
Infielder Pablo Reyes has been dealing with an abdominal strain in recent days but feels he will avoid a stint on the injured list, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. Nonetheless, Hamilton will provide the club with another middle infield option for as long as Reyes needs to rest.
Guardians Designate Daniel Norris For Assignment
The Guardians have designated left-hander Daniel Norris for assignment, according to their transactions tracker at MLB.com. His roster spot will go to pitching prospect Gavin Williams, whose promotion was reported yesterday.
Norris, 30, was selected to the club’s roster just four days ago. He made one scoreless appearance of two innings but has now quickly lost his roster spot to make way for Williams. Prior to having his contract selected, he was pitching in Triple-A after signing a minor league deal with the Guards in March. He was serving as a swingman at that level, logging 37 2/3 innings over 14 appearances, nine of those being starts. He had a 6.93 ERA in that time, striking out 17.6% of opponents while walking 13.2%.
The lefty once seemed like a capable big league starter, finding himself on top 100 prospect lists while with the Blue Jays. He was traded to the Tigers as part of the 2015 deal that sent David Price to Toronto and he posted an ERA of 3.38 for the Tigers the next year. But injuries and underperformance gradually pushed him to the bullpen in subsequent seasons.
He’s shown flashes of promise at times but various clubs have tried to unlock it without much success. He’s bounced to the Brewers, Cubs, back to the Tigers, then the Reds and Guardians in recent seasons. But those opportunities have resulted in a 5.58 ERA dating back to the start of the 2021 season. He struck out 24.5% of batters in that time but walked 12.3%.
The Guards will now have a week to trade Norris or pass him through waivers. He has way more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency in the event that he clears waivers, so it’s possible he’ll be back on the open market in the coming days.
A’s Claim Angel Felipe
The Athletics have claimed right-hander Angel Felipe off waivers from the Padres, per a team announcement. Felipe has been optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The A’s transferred righty Zach Jackson from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Felipe, 25, joins the rebuilding Athletics as a power-armed righty reliever with questionable command. Baseball America ranked him 29th among Padres prospects just a few weeks ago, touting a four-seamer and two-seamer that could both reach triple digits, as well as a potentially plus slider and potentially above-average changeup. Felipe is still relatively new to pitching, having played shortstop in his teenage days before moving to the mound upon signing as an amateur with the Rays.
This had been Felipe’s second season with the Padres, with whom he signed a minor league deal in the 2021-22 offseason. He’s yet to make his MLB debut and has spent the entire season in Triple-A El Paso, where he’s posted an ugly 6.20 ERA in 24 2/3 innings. Poor command has contributed to those ugly run-prevention numbers, evidenced by a 14.9% walk rate, a pair of hit batters and seven wild pitches in his brief time on the mound this year. However, Felipe has also fanned 32.2% of his opponents and has a history of gaudy ground-ball rates — even if this year’s 46.7% clip is “only” a few percentage points above league-average.
The Athletics have virtually no stability in their big league bullpen at the moment, and given the bleak outlook on their current rebuild, it’s only logical that they’d roll the dice on a big arm even with command issues. Flamethrowers who struggle to locate the ball aren’t exactly uncommon in today’s game, but the A’s can afford a longer leash than most clubs given that they’re not close to competing. Felipe has an option year remaining beyond the current season, so Oakland doesn’t need to make any kind of decision on the right-hander’s future in the short term.
Twins, Mark Kolozsvary Agree To Minor League Deal
The Twins have agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Mark Kolozsvary, as first reported by Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North Radio (Twitter link). He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul to serve as catching depth. He rejected an outright assignment with the Orioles in favor of free agency late last week.
Kolozsvary, 27, made his big league debut with the Reds last summer and won a Silver Medal with the United States Olympic team a year prior. He went 4-for-20 with a homer and a pair of doubles in last year’s brief MLB cup of coffee but was removed from Cincinnati’s 40-man roster following the season. The Orioles claimed him off waivers and eventually succeeded in outrighting the catcher themselves. Baltimore selected Kolozsvary back to the big league roster eight days ago, but he appeared in just one game and didn’t make a plate appearance before being designated for assignment.
In parts of six minor league seasons, Kolozsvary is a .211/.320/.339 hitter, including a tepid .172/.250/.299 slash in 96 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in the Orioles’ system this year. He’s thwarted 31% of stolen base attempts against him in the minors, and his framing has improved throughout his career, per Baseball Prospectus’ framing runs metric. Baseball America ranked Kolozsvary 26th among Reds prospects a year ago, labeling him as a good defender, framer and blocker whose offensive skill set still needed refinement.
The Twins don’t have an immediate need for catching help on the big league roster, where Christian Vazquez and Ryan Jeffers have handled the entirety of the workload. Kolozsvary will join veteran Tony Wolters and 23-year-old Jair Camargo as catching options on the Saints’ roster in St. Paul for the time being.
Jon Singleton Elects Free Agency
Brewers first baseman Jon Singleton went unclaimed on waivers following his recent DFA and elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He’s now free to sign with any team.
Singleton, 31, returned to the Majors for the first time since 2015 this season but struggled in 11 games and 32 plate appearances for the Brewers. During that time, he slashed just .103/.183/.138 –a far cry from the more robust .258/.384/.483 line he delivered in 216 Triple-A plate appearances prior to his call to the big leagues.
Once one of baseball’s top-ranked prospects, Singleton was out of the game entirely from 2018-20 before resurfacing with a strong showing in the Mexican League back in 2021. He parlayed the .321/.503/.693 batting line (in a comically hitter-friendly setting) into a minor league deal with the Brewers, with whom he spent the entire 2022 season and the 2023 season until today’s decision.
Since returning to affiliated ball, Singleton has displayed plenty of power and a prodigious walk rate in Triple-A Nashville, batting a combined .230/.378/.448 with 34 home runs, 30 doubles and three triples in that time. Along the way, he’s walked at a gaudy 19.3% clip and punched out in 25.3% of his plate appearances — though he’s actually cut down on the strikeouts substantially this season (27.7% rate in 2022 compared to 19% in 2023). He obviously hasn’t put things together in the big leagues at any point in his brief MLB career, but Singleton’s power and plate discipline profile in his recent work at the Triple-A level could still intrigue a club hoping to add some left-handed pop to its depth chart.
Nationals Select Derek Hill, Place Victor Robles On Injured List
The Nationals have selected the contract of outfielder Derek Hill from Triple-A Rochester, per a team announcement. In a corresponding 26-man roster move, center fielder Victor Robles was placed on the 10-day IL due to lower back spasms. Washington already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move was not necessary in that regard. MASNsports.com’s Bobby Blanco noted prior to the announcement that Hill was in the Nationals’ clubhouse.
Hill 27, was the No. 23 overall pick by the Tigers back in the 2014 draft but has yet to deliver on that draft status and several years ranking among Detroit’s top farmhands. He spent parts of three big league seasons with the Tigers, appearing in 95 games and taking 254 plate appearances from 2020-22. The resulting .240/.291/.339 slash line was underwhelming and ultimately led to a DFA for Hill just prior to last summer’s trade deadline. The Mariners claimed him a few days later but outrighted him off the 40-man roster in October. Hill elected minor league free agency and caught on with the Nats.
It’s been a brilliant start to the season for Hill up in Rochester, where he’s turned in a .324/.381/.533 batting line with eight homers, 10 doubles, a pair of triples and 10 steals (in 11 tries). His 7.8% walk rate is a bit below average, but his 21.6% strikeout rate is also slightly lower than that of an average big league hitter. It’s Hill’s third season with time spent at the Triple-A level, and he now carries a .283/.344/.470 batting line at that level in an even 600 plate appearances. Hill is out of minor league options, so the Nats can’t send him back down unless they first designate him for assignment and pass him through outright waivers.
Robles, 26, will head to the injured list in the midst of his best showing since a 21-game cup of coffee with the Nats back in 2018. The longtime top prospect is hitting .299/.385/.364 in 126 plate appearances this season, with the uptick in production largely attributable to a career-low 14.3% strikeout rate. Robles’ 8.7% walk rate is also the second-highest mark he’s posted since his 2017 MLB debut and a far sight better than the career 5.9% mark he carried into the current season.
The Nationals haven’t yet provided a timetable for Robles’ return, but Hill figures to see plenty of time in center field while Robles is out. Hill is in the lineup hitting eighth and playing center this afternoon. Lane Thomas and Alex Call are the only other outfielders to log any innings in center this season, but Call is currently in Triple-A Rochester and Thomas has just 11 innings there.