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Reds Select Chase Anderson, Designate Max Schrock

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The Reds announced they have selected the contract of right-hander Chase Anderson, who will take the ball and start tonight’s game. Fellow right-hander Dauri Moreta was optioned to open a spot on the active roster, while utility player Max Schrock was designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man.

Anderson, 34, is a veteran who had his best seasons with the Brewers. From 2016 to 2019, he logged 590 innings with a  3.83 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 36.1% ground ball rate. It’s been a rough few years since then, however, with Anderson registering a 7.22 ERA with the Blue Jays in 2020 and then 6.75 with the Phillies last year.

This season, he signed a minor league deal with the Tigers, eventually opting out and signing with the Rays on another minor league pact. Between the two organizations, he’s thrown 80 Triple-A innings on the year with a 4.50 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. He opted out of his Rays contract last week and latched on with Cincy for his third minors deal of the year.

The Reds have placed four starters on the IL this month: Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, Robert Dugger and T.J. Zeuch. With all of those arms hitting the shelf, it’s created an opening for a veteran like Anderson to come in and eat some innings.

As for Schrock, 27, he’s changed jerseys a few times in his career. He was drafted by the Nats before being traded to the A’s and then the Cardinals. He was later claimed off waivers by the Cubs and then the Reds. He’s gotten into 77 MLB games so far, primarily with Cincy, hitting .256/.292/.393 in that time. The resulting wRC+ of 76 indicates he’s been 24% below league average, though he’s shown more promise in the minors. Between last year and this year, he’s hit .294/.336/.452 in Triple-A for a wRC+ of 109. He also brings defensive versatility to the table, having played all three non-shortstop spots on the infield, in addition to time in the outfield corners.

Schrock has been on the minor league injured list since early August due to a right patella fracture. Since injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers and the trade deadline has passed, the Reds will have no choice but to put Schrock on release waivers in the coming days.

Diamondbacks Promote Corbin Carroll

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Aug. 29: The Diamondbacks have officially announced Carroll’s selection, with Luplow being optioned in a corresponding move.

Aug, 28: The Diamondbacks are planning on promoting outfield prospect Corbin Carroll for Monday’s game, reports Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Carroll is not currently on the club’s 40-man roster, though they already have a vacancy there. A corresponding move will be required to get him onto the active roster.

This will be something of a belated birthday present for the youngster, who just turned 22 years old a week ago. Selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Carroll has been one of the most intriguing prospect in Arizona’s system ever since. Baseball America ranked him 5th in the organization and 90th in all of baseball in 2020, before Carroll jumped to Arizona’s #1 slot in 2021. He’s currently ranked 5th overall by BA, 3rd by FanGraphs, while ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic consider him the best prospect in the sport.

The fact that Carroll is so highly regarded is hardly surprising, given his tremendous performance on the field thus far in his career. After being drafted in 2019, at just 18 years of age, he got into 42 games between rookie ball and low-A, hitting .299/.409/.487 in that span. The pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020, but Carroll reportedly continued to impress at the club’s alternate training site that year. 2021 was a mostly lost season, as Carroll tore the capsule of his non-throwing shoulder, ending his campaign after just seven games.

Corbin Carroll

However, Carroll has gotten right back on track here in 2022, showing no ill effects from the shoulder surgery he underwent last year. Through 58 Double-A games, he hit 16 home runs, stole 20 bases and walked in 14.8% of his plate appearances. His .313/.430/.643 batting line was 66% better than league average by measure of wRC+. He was promoted to Triple-A and has played 33 games there thus far, hitting seven more long balls, swiping 11 more bags and hitting .287/.408/.535, wRC+ of 135.

Defensively, Carroll has primarily played center field in the minors, though with some time in the corners as well. It’s unclear where the Diamondbacks intend to play Carroll in the majors, but they will have an embarrassment of young talent in the outfield either way. Alek Thomas, himself a highly regarded prospect coming into the year, was promoted in May and has been getting the lion’s share of playing time in center. He’s hit just .243/.294/.369 through his first 92 MLB games for an 84 wRC+, though his glovework has been highly rated across the board.

Beside Carroll and Thomas, the club has many options to fill out the remainder of its outfield picture. Daulton Varsho and Jake McCarthy are both having strong seasons as well and each comes with at least four years of club control beyond this one. Stone Garrett was also recently called up, having hit very well in a five-game showing so far. Jordan Luplow is also on hand due to his strong numbers against lefties. He’s slumped a bit in that regard this season but could be retained via arbitration for another two seasons if he still fits into Arizona’s plans. Assuming Carroll sticks with the big league club the rest of the season, he will earn just over a month of service time, putting him on track to reach free agency after the 2028 campaign, unless future optional assignments end up pushing that back.

It’s been a rough few years in the desert, with the D-Backs currently 59-67, likely to finish below .500 for a third straight season. However, they have already guaranteed themselves a record well ahead of last year’s 52-100 mark, with plenty of reasons to be excited about the future. Their stockpile of young, cheap and controllable outfield talent is perhaps the best reason to feel hopeful, with Carroll considered by many to be the most exciting of the bunch. Over the remaining few weeks of the schedule, the club will give him a chance to show his skills at the sport’s biggest stage and potentially lock down a place on the grass for years to come.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Red Sox Designate Hirokazu Sawamura, Austin Davis; Select Zack Kelly

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Aug. 29: The Red Sox have made these moves official, selecting Kelly, recalling Ort, while designating Sawamura and Davis.

Aug. 28: The Red Sox are evidently taking multiple steps to shake up their bullpen, with right-hander Hirokazu Sawamura designated for assignment, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. That’s the second such move of the night, as lefty Austin Davis is reportedly being designated as well. Chad Jennings of The Athletic tweets that Zack Kelly and Kaleb Ort will take the open roster spots. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe had previously mentioned Kelly as a possibility.

Sawamura, 34, had pitched in 10 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball before signing a two-year deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2021 campaign. Coming into today’s action, he had thrown in 103 games with a 3.16 ERA between last year and this year. His 22.5% strikeout in that time is around league average, though his 12.8% walk rate is definitely on the high side. He has been able to limit damage by keeping the ball on the ground, as evidenced by his 51.9% ground ball rate.

There are some reasons to be somewhat bearish on Sawamura, as his .267 career BABIP is below the .290 league average. That might be somewhat related to his ground ball tendencies, but he’s also been hit hard. His 45.9% hard hit rate is about ten points above league average and only in the fifth percentile among MLB pitchers. He’s also been trending in the wrong direction, having registered a 2.48 ERA through July 23 this year but a 5.40 mark since.

Between the Sawamura and Davis moves, it seems the club felt it necessary to make changes to a relief corps that has been fairly disappointing. The club’s combined bullpen has a 4.49 ERA that ranks 26th in the majors. Although some advanced metrics are a bit kinder, none of them view the group as elite.

Sawamura’s contract came with a split option for 2023, with various escalators in play. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently looked at that option, noting that the club option had already increase to $3.6MM. Since that writing, it has ticked up to $3.7MM and still had room to climb. If the club had declined that option, Sawamura would have had the ability to trigger a player option, which had reached $1.9MM as of today and could still have grown further. It seems the Red Sox didn’t intend to trigger their end of the deal and are cutting Sawamura loose.

Since the trade deadline has now passed, the Sox will have no choice but to put Sawamura on outright waivers or release waivers.  If he were to pass through waivers, the Sox would remain on the hook for the remainder of his salary for this season, as well as the $1MM buyout on the 2023 option. As Sawamura has less than three years of MLB service time and has not been previously outrighted in his career, he would not have the ability to reject an outright assignment.

Ort, 30, is already on the club’s 40-man roster, having thrown 15 innings this year with an ERA of 9.00. But as for Kelly, this will be the first addition to a big league roster for the 27-year-old. Having previously spent time in the systems of the Athletics and Angels, he was released and signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2021 season. This year, he’s spent the entire season in Triple-A, throwing 49 2/3 innings with a 2.72 ERA and excellent 34.4% strikeout rate, though a high walk rate of 12%. Boston will give him a chance to see if he can carry any of those strong numbers over to the majors.

Diamondbacks Release Chris Devenski

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Aug. 29: Devenski has been released, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

Aug. 26: The Diamondbacks have designated right-hander Chris Devenski for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the active roster will go to righty Reyes Moronta, whom the D-backs claimed off waivers earlier this week.

Devenski, 31, was once one of the American League’s best relievers, dominating with the Astros in 2016-17 and earning the nickname “The Dragon” as he ripped through opposing lineups with lofty strikeout totals and tidy walk rates. Injuries have taken their toll in the seasons since, however, and he’s managed just 21 2/3 Major League frames dating back to the 2020 season.

That includes 10 2/3 innings with the Snakes in 2022, during which time he’s been tagged for nine runs on 14 hits and a walk with nine punchouts. After seeing his average fastball velocity dip to a career-worst 91.5 mph in 2021, Devenski did restore some zip on that heater in 2022, averaging 93.9 mph. That’s roughly in line with the velocity from his peak, but the right-hander’s swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates are nowhere near his heyday, and he’s allowed hard contact in droves during this year’s small sample. Opponents have posted a 91.8 mph average exit velocity against him, and 51.4% of the balls put into play against Devenski have been hit at 95 mph or harder.

The Diamondbacks will have a week to place Devenski on outright waivers or release him, now that this year’s trade deadline has passed.

Dodgers Place Tony Gonsolin On IL With Forearm Strain

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The Dodgers announced that they have placed right-hander Tony Gonsolin on the 15-day injured list due to a right forearm strain, retroactive to August 26. Fellow righty Michael Grove has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. Gonsolin was set to start tonight’s game against the Marlins but Grove will now take the mound instead.

It is always somewhat alarming when a pitcher is diagnosed with an injury to their throwing arm, but it’s especially worrisome in the case due to Gonsolin’s excellent season, the short amount of time remaining in the season and the club’s injuries elsewhere.

The 28-year-old hurler had pitched for the Dodgers in each of the previous three seasons in a swingman capacity, pitching out of the rotation but also out of the bullpen. He pitched very well in those seasons but was often squeezed out of a permanent rotation job due to the tendency of the Dodgers to keep excess starting pitching on hand. This year, Gonsolin grabbed a spot in the rotation and ran away with it, registering an incredible 2.10 ERA through 23 starts and a career-high 128 1/3 innings. That elite level of run prevention probably wasn’t totally sustainable given his .201 batting average on balls in play, well below the .290 league average. However, he’s in the 77th percentile in the league in terms of missing barrels and the 74th percentile in terms of limiting hard contact, meaning he could probably be expected to keep his BABIP below league average, even with some regression.

Caveats aside, there’s no denying that Gonsolin is having an excellent season, which has been huge for the Dodgers. The club has been without Dustin May until very recently, weathered extended absences to Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Heaney, and lost Walker Buehler in June, with Buehler eventually requiring Tommy John surgery. Despite all of those ailments, the club has an incredible 88-38 record, the best in baseball, thanks in no small part to Gonsolin stepping up and excelling in the rotation.

Forearm strains are often the first listed injury in what eventually leads to Tommy John surgery, meaning it’s understandable if some fans are now dreading that worst-case scenario. However, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times tweets that the team believes they caught this issue early enough that they can have Gonsolin back on the mound this season. That would surely be a much more welcome path forward, though it remains to be seen if the club is correct in that assessment.

There are just over five weeks remaining on the regular season schedule, though the Dodgers are almost guaranteed to receive a bye past the first round of the playoffs. This season’s 12-team postseason format allows the top two division winners in each league to skip the first round. The Dodgers are currently 7 1/2 games ahead of the NL East-leading Mets and 15 games ahead of the Central-leading Cardinals.

Even without Gonsolin, the rotation should be in good shape, with Kershaw expected to return from the IL this week. He will join a rotation that also features Heaney, May, Julio Urias and Tyler Anderson. Anderson’s 2.69 ERA on the year is actually the highest of that group, though some of them have done that in small samples due to injury absences. With Gonsolin now out for at least a few weeks, the depth will be a bit thinner until he can return. Grove’s appearance tonight will be just his third MLB game of the year, though he has a 3.48 ERA in the minors for the season. Ryan Pepiot has made seven starts for the Dodgers this year with a 4.02 ERA and could be an option if needed. He just threw five Triple-A innings on Saturday, however, which likely ruled him out of taking the ball today.

Rockies Sign Logan Allen To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Logan Allen over the weekend. It was never formally announced by the club, but the signing appears on MLB.com’s transactions log, and Allen in fact made his debut with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate last night, pitching three innings and allowing three runs.

Allen, 25, was an eighth-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2016 and at times ranked among the better pitching prospects in multiple organizations. Heading into the 2019 season, he ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects on the lists published by each of Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus.

Things haven’t panned out for Allen in the Majors, however. He’s appeared in 33 big league game — 15 of them starts —  between San Diego, Cleveland and Baltimore but pitched to an unsightly 5.89 ERA in 96 1/3 frames. He’s punched out 15.5% of his opponents, walked 9.6% of them and kept 46.5% of batted balls against him on the ground. That’s a solid ground-ball rate, but both the walk rate and particularly the strikeout rate are well worse than the league average.

Allen posted sharp numbers all the way through the Double-A level but hasn’t found much in the way of continued success thereafter. The Rox are his third organization of the 2022 campaign, as he began the year with the Guardians before being designated for assignment and claimed by the Orioles in early May. Baltimore passed Allen through waivers after just three appearances on the big league roster, and he was released from the Orioles organization a week ago. He’s surrendered five runs in 7 2/3 Major League innings this year (5.87 ERA) and 23 runs in 24 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level (8.26).

Allen will give the Rockies some experienced depth in the upper minors and could eventually emerge as a big league option for an injury-depleted staff. Veteran righty Chad Kuhl recently returned from a hip injury, but the Rockies lost Antonio Senzatela to a torn ACL last week and also have Ryan Rolison and prospect Helcris Olivarez on the Major League 60-day injured list. Righty Peter Lambert, meanwhile, is on the minor league injured list and hasn’t pitched since June after experiencing renewed discomfort in his surgically repaired elbow.

Red Sox To Designate Austin Davis For Assignment

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The Red Sox are going to designate left-hander Austin Davis for assignment before Monday’s game against the Twins, according to Chad Jennings of The Athletic.

Davis, 29, spent time with the Phillies and Pirates before coming over to the Red Sox last year in a deadline deal that sent Michael Chavis to Pittsburgh. After that trade, Davis pitched adequately, registering a 4.86 ERA in 16 2/3 innings, along with a 22.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 47.1% ground ball rate.

As Jennings points out, 2022 started out well for Davis, as he held a 2.55 ERA through July 8. Since that time, however, he’s been rocked to an ERA of 11.12. His 24.7% strikeout rate in that time is slightly above the 23.5% league average for relievers. However, his 12.9% walk rate is well beyond the 9.1% average.

Given that extended slide, it seems the Sox have decided to move on and cut Davis from the roster. It’s not known what other moves will be made in conjunction with this one, but a spot will be opened on Boston’s active roster as well as its 40-man roster. Given that we are in the post-deadline part of the season, the Red Sox will have no choice but to put Davis on outright waivers or release waivers. Davis began the year with his service time at 2.098, meaning he’s beyond the three-year mark at this point of the year, as 172 days are required to fulfill a “year” in this department. By getting beyond the three-year threshold, he’s earned the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency.

Braves Outright Ryan Goins

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TODAY: Goins cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, the Braves announced.

AUGUST 22: The Braves announced Monday morning that infielder Ryan Goins has been designated for assignment. His removal from the roster clears a path for infielder/outfielder Ehire Adrianza, who has been activated from the 10-day injured list.

Goins, 34, had his contract selected to the Major League roster last week and was on the team for five days but did not appear in a game. The veteran infielder has spent the 2021-22 seasons with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, hitting .233/.305/.330 there last season and .221/.250/.272 there so far in 2022 (250 plate appearances).

Rough as those numbers are, Goins is a versatile defender capable of playing solid defense all around the infield. He’s also a known commodity for Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, who was an assistant GM in Toronto when the Jays drafted Goins in 2009. Anthopoulos was elevated to GM just months after that ’09 draft and was in that position for the first several seasons of Goins’ big league career.

Overall, Goins has appeared in 556 Major League games and tallied 1690 plate appearances, hitting a combined .228/.278/.333 between the Jays, Royals and White Sox in the Majors. He’s also posted plus defensive grades at each of second base, shortstop and third base. Now that he’s been designated for assignment, the Braves will place Goins on outright waivers or release waivers in within the week.

Yankees Sign Chasen Shreve To Minors Contract

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The Yankees have signed Chasen Shreve to a minor league contract, according to the club’s official MLB.com transactions page.  Shreve hinted on his Instagram page Friday (hat tip to Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune) that he was headed for a return stint with the Yankees organization.

The left-hander previously pitched for the Yankees from 2015-18, until he and Giovanny Gallegos were dealt to the Cardinals for Luke Voit and $1MM in international bonus pool money in July 2018.  Shreve also returned to New York in two separate stints with the Mets, both in 2020 and earlier this season.

The Mets released Shreve in July, after the lefty posted a 6.49 ERA over 26 1/3 innings.  This tenure ended in particularly disastrous fashion, as Shreve was crushed for 10 runs over the last 5 1/3 of those frames.  Opposing batters have hit six home runs off Shreve in those 26 1/3 innings, a resurgence of the homer problem that has periodically hampered him during his nine years in the majors.

Between the homers and some command issues, consistency has often hard to come by for Shreve, but he has been quite effective when at his best.  It was just last season that Shreve had a 3.20 ERA over 56 1/3 innings with the Pirates, as despite mediocre strikeout and walk rates, Shreve was one of the league’s best at limiting hard contact.

Shreve had a 3.92 ERA over his 174 2/3 previous innings with the Yankees, exhibiting some of those same ups and downs that have defined his career.  He is the second experienced left-hander added by the Bronx Bombers in two days, with Anthony Banda signed to a Major League deal today.  The Yankees look to be adding southpaw depth in advance of the postseason, and in the wake of Aroldis Chapman’s placement on the 15-day injured list yesterday.

Yankees Sign Anthony Banda

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1:23PM: The Yankees officially announced that Banda was signed to a Major League contract.  To create roster space, right-hander Luis Gil (who underwent Tommy John surgery in May) was recalled from the minors and moved to the 60-day injured list.

1:01PM: The Yankees have agreed to a deal with left-hander Anthony Banda.  ESPN’s Marly Rivera was among the reporters to note earlier today that Banda was present in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

With Aroldis Chapman going on the 15-day injured list yesterday, New York quickly filled that void with another left-handed reliever.  Banda joins Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge as the southpaw options in an injury-plagued bullpen, though Chapman and Zack Britton are expected to be back at some point in September.

The Yankees will be the ninth different organization of Banda’s career, and he has been action at the MLB level with five of those teams.  That includes a combined 26 innings with the Pirates and Blue Jays this season, with a 5.88 ERA to show for Banda’s 2022 resume.  Advanced metrics paint a much more favorable picture of Banda’s performance than his ERA, as a gigantic .446 BABIP might be to blame for many of Banda’s struggles.

Banda was a notable prospect early in his career before he was waylaid by injuries, and the second act of his career has seen the left-hander now convert to full-time relief pitching.  He has a 4.98 ERA over 59 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 season, though a 3.90 SIERA in that same span is perhaps a better reflection, given Banda’s lack of batted-ball luck.

Toronto acquired Banda from Pittsburgh in early July, and Banda than chose free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A in early August.  That led to a new minors deal with the Mariners, but he made only four appearances with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate before enacting an opt-out clause earlier this week.

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