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Phillies To Activate Bryce Harper From Injured List On Friday

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Reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper will return to the Phillies’ active roster prior to their game with the Pirates on Friday, Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including MLB.com’s Todd Zelecki).  The initial plan for Harper’s minor league rehab assignment planned for activation from the 60-day injured list on Monday, but Harper will instead return a bit earlier, as suggested by MLB Network’s Jon Morosi earlier today.

The Phillies first placed Harper on the 10-day IL due to his fractured left thumb back on June 26, so he’ll end up missing only slightly beyond the 60-day minimum.  Harper has been making steady progress with his recovery ever since undergoing thumb surgery, and he will now again get to contribute to a Phillies team that has become one of baseball’s hottest teams.

The firing of Joe Girardi and Thomson’s installation as interim manager was the obvious turning point in Philadelphia’s season, as the Phils went 22-29 under Girardi and are currently 47-26 under Thomson.  Not even losing one of the sport’s best hitters slowed down the Phillies, since they have a 31-20 record since Harper was sidelined.

Harper’s thumb was broken by a Blake Snell pitch on June 25, interrupting an unusual but still highly successful season for the 29-year-old.  Due to a small UCL tear in his right elbow, Harper hasn’t played a game in the field since April 16, but his bat hasn’t been impacted by his new role as a full-time DH.  Harper has 21 home runs and a .318/.385/.599 slash line over his first 275 plate appearances, with that .985 OPS standing as the fourth-highest of Harper’s career.

2022 will go down as another Harper season cut short by injury, but that will be a footnote if he is able to help the Phillies reach their first postseason since 2011.  Philadelphia holds the second NL wild card slot, well back of the Braves for the first wild card but with a 3.5-game cushion over the Brewers (the top team outside the playoff picture).

Twins Sign Billy Hamilton To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed veteran outfielder Billy Hamilton to a minor league contract, according to multiple reporters (including The Athletic’s Dan Hayes).  Hamilton elected to become a free agent earlier this month, rejecting an outright assignment to the Marlins’ Triple-A team.

Minnesota becomes the 11th different big league organization of Hamilton’s 10-year MLB career, and he has been action at the big league level with seven of those teams.  Hamilton’s stint in Miami lasted 20 games and consisted of 15 plate appearances, as the Marlins mostly used him as a pinch-runner and late-game defensive replacement.

It’s safe to assume that Hamilton will be utilized in similar fashion with the Twins if he reaches their active roster, and the 31-year-old will at least provide some center field depth now that Byron Buxton has been placed on the 10-day injured list.  Hamilton’s lack of hitting has turned him into a bench player in recent years, but he still brings plenty of his signature speed and excellent defense, making him a sought-after player by multiple teams.

Outfelders Buxton, Kyle Garlick, Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff, and Royce Lewis are all on Minnesota’s IL, with Garlick perhaps only a few days away from a return and Kirilloff and Lewis both already done for the season.  Max Kepler, Nick Gordon, Jake Cave, Gilberto Celestino, and utilityman Tim Beckham comprise the Twins’ outfield options on the active roster.

Angels Claim Rob Zastryzny From Mets

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The Angels have claimed Rob Zastryzny off waivers from the Mets, and the left-hander has been optioned to Triple-A.  New York designated Zastryzny for assignment earlier this week.

The Mets signed Zastryzny to a minors contract in May, and he made a single appearance for the Mets (tossing one inning in the Mets’ 4-1 loss to the Phillies last Sunday) before being designated for assignment.  While a brief stint, it was surely a welcome return to the bigs for Zastryzny, whose last MLB appearance came with the Cubs back in 2018.  The left-hander tossed 34 2/3 innings for Chicago in 2016-18 before bouncing around to multiple teams and eventually landing his next chance at the Show.

Zastryzny spent 2019 in the Dodgers farm system, and he’ll now head back to SoCal for an opportunity with Los Angeles’ other team.  He’ll provide the Halos with some relief depth in the minors, and with Jose Quijada increasingly getting some save chances, there could be room for the Angels to call up Zastryzny for more of a traditional lefty relief role.

Angels Place Jared Walsh On 60-Day Injured List

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1:16PM: Walsh has been placed on the 60-day IL, the Angels announced.  This officially ends the first baseman’s 2022 season.

10:06AM: The Angels announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game with the Rays, including the news that Jared Walsh has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to thoracic outlet syndrome.  Infielder Phil Gosselin was also designated for assignment.  Filling the two roster spots are catcher Matt Thaiss (called up from Triple-A), and first baseman Mike Ford, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a condition much more commonly seen in pitchers, making Walsh something of an outlier as a position player.  While Walsh drew some attention as a two-way player early in his career and during his time in the Angels farm system, he has only 26 2/3 professional innings pitched, and none since 2019.  Most pitchers who undergo surgery to correct TOS aren’t the same performance-wise after returning to the mound, but it remains to see if Walsh will indeed need surgery, or how such a procedure could impact his future production given that he isn’t pitching.

Even if Walsh opts for treatment without going under the knife, it would seem like the remainder of his 2022 season could be in jeopardy.  With the Angels out of contention, they would seemingly not have any reason to rush Walsh back into action.

Walsh hit .280/.338/.531 over 693 PA with the Angels in 2020-21, earning a seventh-place finish in 2020’s Rookie of the Year balloting and a slot on the 2021 AL All-Star team.  However, 2022 has been much more of a struggle, as the 29-year-old has contributed only 15 home runs and a .215/.269/.374 slash line.  Despite some decent defense at first base, this poor offensive production has resulted in an overall sub-replacement level performance for Walsh, who has -0.5 fWAR and -0.6 bWAR.

Even in 2020-21, Walsh has below-average walk and strikeout rates, but those numbers have sunk further downward in 2022 — Walsh’s 30.4% strikeout rate puts him in only the sixth percentile of batters.  He is also hitting with far less power, with an Isolated Power metric of only .158 (down from .354 in 2020 and .232 in 2021).  This decline has robbed the Angels of a key bat in their lineup, as Los Angeles has gotten very little from any players besides Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Taylor Ward, and the emerging Luis Rengifo.

Gosselin had enough MLB service time that he can reject an outright assignment to Triple-A, assuming that he clears waivers and the Angels don’t release him.  The Angels claimed Gosselin off waivers from the Braves in mid-July, and the veteran utilityman ended up playing 22 games with Anaheim, mostly as a third baseman.  Unfortunately, Gosselin provided very little offense, with only a .269 OPS over 51 plate appearances.

Gosselin has only sporadically delivered at the plate over his 10 Major League seasons, with a career .254/.305/.349 slash line over 1199 PA.  The 33-year-old has suited up for seven different big league teams, and this is his second stint with the Angels, after playing 104 games with the Halos in 2021.

Ford is in today’s starting lineup as the cleanup hitter, putting Ford on pace to see action for a fourth different Major League team this season.  The first baseman has appeared in 22 games combined with the Giants, Mariners, and Braves, with San Francisco and Seattle ping-ponging him back and forth between their rosters a few times earlier in the season and Atlanta releasing Ford earlier this month.  He signed a new minor league contract with Los Angeles in mid-August, and might now in line for some consistent playing time if Walsh does miss most or all of the remainder of the season.

In 2019, Ford burst onto the scene with 12 home runs and a .909 OPS over 163 PA as a rookie with the Yankees.  Since that initial breakout, however, he has scuffled to a .138/.267/.253 slash line in 206 PA since the start of the 2020 season, and the Yankees dealt him to the Rays in June 2021.  Ford also ended up heading to the Nationals on a waiver claim later in the 2021 season, making it quite a whirlwind of organizational change for the Princeton product in just 14 months’ time.

Nationals Claim Tommy Romero From Rays

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The Nationals have claimed right-hander Tommy Romero off waivers from the Rays, and assigned Romero to Triple-A.  Both Romero and Kevin Herget were designated for assignment by Tampa Bay on Tuesday, and the Rays announced that Herget been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers.

Romero has a 7.71 ERA over three appearances and 4 2/3 innings for the Rays this season, marking the 24-year-old’s first bit of Major League experience.  A 15th-round pick for the Mariners in the 2017 draft, Romero has been in the Rays organization since 2018, and posted some quality numbers down on the farm.  He has a 2.66 ERA and 25.91% strikeout rate over 473 2/3 career innings in the minor leagues, with some variance both well above and well below that K%.

Romero has started 80 of his 108 games in the minors, though some of those were rather abbreviated outings, as the Rays experimented with some opener/piggyback starter scenarios.  Most recently, Romero has been working only as a reliever, with Tampa eyeing him as bullpen depth rather than rotation help if he got another call later in the season.

The waiver claim now makes that a moot point, and it seems likely the Nationals will stretch Romero out again as a starting pitcher.  The Nats have been aggressive on the waiver wire (as noted by the Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty) in recent months, as the team has used the high waiver priority afforded to Washington’s low position in the standings to audition and check out several players.  There isn’t much risk for the rebuilding Nats in seeing if they can find a hidden gem amongst these waiver claims, and in Romero’s case, his age (25), solid minor league track record and his full set of minor league options make him an interesting candidate.

Yankees To Place Nestor Cortes On 15-Day Injured List

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The Yankees will place left-hander Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list prior to tomorrow’s game, according to The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler.  Cortes is suffering from a groin injury.  As reported earlier today, New York was preparing to place a then-unknown pitcher on the IL to make room for the promotion of minor league right-hander Greg Weissert.

While any pitching injury would’ve been a setback, losing Cortes for any amount of time is a tough blow to the Bronx Bombers.  “Nasty Nestor” has been arguably the Yankees’ best starter this season, and one of the better pitchers in all of baseball.  After surprisingly emerging as a rotation stalwart in 2021, Cortes has kept on rolling, posting a 2.68 ERA and above-average strikeout (25.9%) and walk (5.8%) rates over 131 innings of work.  Despite a low-velocity four-seamer, Cortes’ fastball has been extremely effective, and his cutter isn’t far behind in terms of sheer effectiveness.

Though Cortes’ 131 innings is a new career high for the 27-year old over any pro season, there hasn’t been much sign that Cortes is slowing down, and he was expected to be a big weapon for the Yankees in October.  This 15-day IL stint could perhaps serve as a bit of break in terms of keeping Cortes’ arm fresh, though naturally his groin issue is now a new concern.  The severity of the injury or a possible timeline for Cortes’ return isn’t yet known.

New York enjoyed a great run of pitching health over the first half of the season, but several injuries have cropped up in recent weeks.  The bullpen has taken the brunt of the injury woes, but the rotation hasn’t been immune, with Luis Severino out until mid-September due to a lat strain and now Cortes’ injury.  The Yankees acquired Frankie Montas from the A’s at the deadline but also moved Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals in another trade, plus Domingo German has been a little inconsistent (if generally solid) since making his season debut in July, after shoulder problems kept him on the sidelines.

Clarke Schmidt was recently called back up to the active roster, and the former first-rounder seems like the probable candidate to step into Cortes’ rotation spot.  Over 22 games and 45 2/3 career innings at the MLB level in 2020-22, Schmidt has only made three starts, but the Yankees have mostly been using him in long relief this season and were stretching him out at Triple-A.

Rockies Designate Robert Stephenson, Reinstate Chad Kuhl From 15-Day IL

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The Rockies have reinstated right-hander Chad Kuhl from the 15-day injured list.  To create roster space, the team also announced that righty Robert Stephenson has been designated for assignment.

Stephenson is in his second season in Colorado, after being acquired from the Reds back in November 2020.  After being a top prospect during his time in the Cincinnati farm system, Stephenson never caught on as a starting pitcher but showed promise as a reliever in 2019.  He built on that production in 2021, when he posted a 3.13 ERA, 26.4% strikeout rate, and 9.1% walk rate over 46 innings out of Colorado’s bullpen.

The 2022 season has been a different story, as Stephenson has struggled to a 6.04 ERA over 44 2/3 frames.  While his 97mph average fastball velocity still puts him among the game’s hardest throwers, opposing batters have been crushing Stephenson’s four-seamer to the tune of a .379 batting average.  With only average secondary pitches and a lot of hard contact being allowed, Stephenson’s production has fallen off, especially in the last few weeks.  The righty has allowed at least one earned run in seven of his last nine appearances, with an ugly 10.24 ERA over his last 9 2/3 innings.

Since Stephenson is out of minor league options, the Rockies had no choice but designate him for assignment in order to move him down to Triple-A.  Since Colorado already had an open 40-man roster spot to accommodate Kuhl’s return, the club didn’t strictly have to DFA Stephenson, so it is possible the Rox might be parting ways with him altogether.  A waiver claim from a rival team is a distinct possibility, as Stephenson’s velocity and fastball spin rate could interest other clubs.

For Kuhl, he hasn’t pitched since August 3 due to a hip strain.  The right-hander pitched well over the first three months of the season, but had a 10.17 ERA in the 25 2/3 innings and six starts prior to his IL placement.

Chase Anderson To Opt Out Of Rays Contract

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Right-hander Chase Anderson signed a minor league deal with the Rays a month ago, and is now going to exercise an opt-out clause in that contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (Twitter link).  Anderson came to Tampa Bay after opting out of another minors pact with the Tigers.

A veteran of the last eight MLB seasons, Anderson has yet to see any big league time in 2022, instead tossing a combined 80 innings at Triple-A.  His work with the Rays’ affiliate in Durham (3.60 ERA in 10 innings) has been better than his 70 frames (4.63 ERA) with the Tigers’ top affiliate in Toledo, with Anderson delivering improved strikeout and walk rates over his short time in the Rays organization.

However, it would seem as if this performance didn’t put Anderson on Tampa Bay’s radar for a call-up to the majors, and so Anderson will hit the open market again in search of another opportunity.  Anderson’s track record as a starting pitcher would theoretically provide some use to a team in need of rotation depth.  In hindsight, it’s a little surprising that Detroit (crushed by pitching injuries all season long) didn’t call Anderson up to fill any of its many rotation vacancies.

Of course, recent results haven’t favored the 34-year-old, who posted a 6.94 ERA over 81 2/3 innings in the majors with the Blue Jays and Phillies in 2020-21.  Hitters mashed 21 homers off Anderson in those 81 2/3 frames, and he has continued to have trouble with the long ball at the Triple-A level this year.  Anderson has surrendered 16 homers in his 80 innings with Durham and Toledo.

Nationals To Promote Cade Cavalli

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The Nationals are calling up top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli for his Major League debut on Friday, per a club announcement. Grant Paulsen of 106.7 FM The Fan first reported Cavalli would be getting the call to the big leagues. The 2020 first-rounder will need to have his contract formally selected to the Major League roster before Friday’s game.

Cade Cavalli

Cavalli, 24, was the No. 22 overall selection in 2020. The Oklahoma native and former Sooner star has enjoyed a solid season in Triple-A Rochester, where he’s notched a 3.71 ERA with a 25.9% strikeout rate, a 9.7% walk rate and a 43.1% grounder rate. Cavalli has gotten more comfortable in Triple-A and gotten stronger as the season wears on; after some rocky outings throughout his first 13 trips to the hill, he’s now rattled off a 1.47 ERA with a 43-to-12 K/BB ratio (29.7 K%, 8.7% BB%) in his past seven starts — a total of 36 1/3 innings.

The 6’4″, 240-pound Cavalli, in addition to his lofty draft status, currently ranks as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects. He checks in at No. 20 on FanGraphs’ most recent prospect rankings and is also featured prominently on the latest leaguewide lists from Baseball Prospectus (No. 29), Baseball America (No. 52) and MLB.com (No. 58).

Cavalli made the Futures Game roster in each of the past two seasons, though he was a late scratch from this year’s game due to a blister issue on his pitching hand. Fans who tuned into the 2021 game saw Cavalli touch 102 mph on the radar gun with a powerful heater that generally draws 70 grades on the 20-80 scale. Command issues, stemming in part from a violent delivery that gives some scouts concerns he’ll ultimately move to the bullpen, have been the big knock on Cavalli. He also works with a slider, curveball and changeup, each drawing praise as anywhere from an above-average to potentially plus pitch. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs writes in his scouting report that while there’s relief risk, “…if things click, Cavalli is going to be a monster.”

For the Nats, the hope is that Cavalli can achieve that top-of-the-rotation ceiling and join left-hander MacKenzie Gore and righty Josiah Gray as the nucleus of the team’s rotation for years to come. Because he’s being called up this late in the season, Cavalli can’t earn a full year of Major League service time and is also well past the point at which Super Two status is attainable. That means he’ll be controllable for six more seasons beyond this one — all the way through 2028 — and won’t be eligible to reach arbitration until after 2025 season. Of course, future demotions back to the minors could push back either of those trajectories.

Brewers Outright J.C. Mejia, Activate Adrian Houser

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The Brewers announced that reliever J.C. Mejía has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Nashville. The club hadn’t previously announced he’d been designated for assignment, but they apparently quietly placed him on waivers in recent days. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for Jake Cousins, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Nashville. Milwaukee also activated starter Adrian Houser from the 15-day IL to take the ball tonight against the Dodgers, optioning Trevor Kelley to clear a spot on the active roster.

Mejía made his big league debut with Cleveland last season. The right-hander logged 52 1/3 innings across 17 appearances (11 starts), but only managed an 8.24 ERA during his initial MLB action. He also struggled quite a bit in Triple-A, but he’d previously had strong minor league production. When the Guardians designated him for assignment after the 2021 season, the Brewers added him in a trade for a player to be named later (eventually announced as David Fry) with an eye towards converting him to relief.

That experiment never really got off the ground, as Mejía has pitched in just two big league games with Milwaukee. He tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol and was hit with an 80-game suspension in May. He returned from that ban last week, but the club evidently no longer felt they wanted to carry him on the 40-man roster.

Having never previously been outrighted nor not having eclipsed three years of major league service time, Mejía doesn’t have the right to refuse an outright assignment. He’ll remain in Nashville — where he’s only allowed four runs in 14 2/3 innings — and try to pitch his way back to the big leagues before the season is out. The 25-year-old (26 on Friday) would qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if Milwaukee doesn’t add him back to the 40-man roster before then.

Cousins hasn’t pitched since April, as he’s missed nearly four months with an elbow effusion. The right-hander has been on a rehab assignment since late July and fared quite well, allowing only three runs over nine innings in Nashville with 13 strikeouts against five walks. The club will give him a bit more time in the minors with his allowed 30-day rehab window wrapping up, but it seems likely he’ll be back in the MLB bullpen before too long. Cousins debuted in the majors last year and impressed, striking out a whopping 35.2% of opponents while working to a 2.70 ERA in 30 games.

Houser, meanwhile, is back after nearly two months on the shelf. The righty suffered a flexor strain in his forearm in late June, but he managed to rehab without requiring surgery. The veteran ground-ball specialist owns just a 4.72 ERA through 15 starts this season, but he worked to a 3.22 mark in 28 outings last year. He’ll reassume his rotation role for the stretch run as Milwaukee looks to erase a one-game deficit in the National League Wild Card standings.

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