Diamondbacks Option Alek Thomas
The Diamondbacks announced today that they have optioned outfielder Alek Thomas to Triple-A Reno, recalling right-hander Luis Frías in a corresponding move.
Thomas, 23, has been one of the club’s most notable prospects in recent years. He was selected in the second round of the 2018 draft and featured on Baseball America’s top 100 list in three straight years starting in 2020, with his speed and defense drawing particularly high praise.
He’s now been in the majors for roughly a full season of work, getting into 152 games between last year and this year. The speed and defense parts of his game have been apparent, with Statcast pegging his sprint speed in the 89th percentile among qualified position players this year, though he’s stolen just seven bases in 11 attempts in his career thus far. In terms of his glovework, he’s already accrued nine Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average in center field in his short career, as well as earning a grade of 3.7 from Ultimate Zone Rating.
The problem has been his work at the plate. Though Thomas hit very well in the minors, he hasn’t produced much in his 534 major league plate appearances thus far. He has 10 home runs but has walked in just 5.6% of his trips to the plate and has slashed .223/.270/.340 for a wRC+ of 68. That includes a paltry .195/.252/.327 line here in 2023. A career .257 batting average on balls in play likely suggests there’s a bit of bad luck in there, but it’s been a fairly uninspiring showing overall.
The Diamondbacks went into the winter with a surplus of young outfielders, including Thomas, Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy and Daulton Varsho. They felt good enough about the group that they were frequently rumored to be discussing those players in trades, eventually sending Varsho to the Blue Jays for Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. However, Thomas is now the second member of that group to wind up back in the minors after posting disappointing results, as McCarthy was sent down last month.
In addition to his own struggles, the demotion of Thomas seems to have been spurred by the ascendance of Dominic Fletcher, who was promoted a few weeks ago and has hit .377/.400/.604 in his first 15 games. He won’t sustain a .429 BABIP forever but it seems the D’Backs are riding the hot hand and will give Fletcher a chance to stretch his results over a longer sample of playing time. He figures to be the regular center fielder for now, flanked by Gurriel and Carroll with Pavin Smith in the fourth outfielder slot.
Thomas, meanwhile, will head to Reno and try to get back into a groove at the plate. From a service time perspective, he came into this season with 151 days and has already gone over the one-year mark, which is 172 days. Assuming he’s recalled at some point this season, today’s option won’t affect his free agency trajectory but it could impact his ability to reach arbitration after 2024 as a Super Two player, depending on the eventual length of time between now and his next recall.
Royals Select Mike Mayers
The Royals announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of veteran right-hander Mike Mayers from Triple-A Omaha. Lefty Amir Garrett was placed on the family medical emergency list in a corresponding 26-man roster move, while left-hander Ryan Yarbrough was transferred to the 60-day IL in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Yarbrough has been on the 15-day IL since May 7, when he was struck in the face by a comeback line-drive off the bat of A’s first baseman Ryan Noda. The Royals announced on May 9 that Yarbrough would not require surgery but had sustained multiple facial fractures and was entering concussion protocol. Today’s shift to the 60-day IL means he’ll be out until at least early July.
Mayers, 31, has seen big league time in seven prior MLB seasons — all split between the Cardinals and Angels. He posted strong numbers with the 2020-21 Halos, logging a combined 3.34 ERA with a 30.5% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate, 35.9% ground-ball rate and 1.11 HR/9 in 105 innings — picking up four saves and 22 holds along the way.
Unfortunately, Mayers’ 2022 campaign more closely mirrored his rough four-year stretch with the Cardinals; in 50 2/3 innings last year, Mayers was tagged for a 5.68 ERA with diminished strikeout abilities and fastball velocity. He also yielded a career-worst 2.66 homers per nine frames with lofty opponents’ exit velocity and hard-hit rate marks (91.2 mph and 48.1%).
The Royals inked Mayers to a minor league contract over the winter, and he’s spent the 2023 season in their Triple-A rotation, where he’s been hit hard. In eight starts, Mayers has lasted just 34 innings with a 6.88 ERA, a sub-par 18.1% strikeout rate and an elevated 10.6% walk rate.
Kansas City has an off-day today and, as such, won’t need a starter in the near future. They’re lined up with Zack Greinke, Jordan Lyles, Brad Keller and Brady Singer to make their scheduled turns Friday through Monday, so it seems likely that Mayers will step into the bullpen and provide some length. The Royals’ pitching staff as a whole has flopped in 2023, as their collective 5.32 ERA ranks 28th in the sport and leads only the White Sox (5.44) and Athletics (7.18).
Kevin Plawecki Opts Out Of Deal With Nationals
Veteran catcher Kevin Plawecki triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Nationals, reports Andrew Golden of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Unless Washington selects him onto the big league roster, he’ll return to the open market.
Plawecki signed with the Nats on April 1. It was his second non-roster pact of the year, as he’d previously opted out of a deal with the Pirates after being informed he wouldn’t make the Pittsburgh roster in Spring Training. Plawecki has appeared in 24 games with the Nats’ top affiliate in Rochester. He hit .256/.354/.341 through 94 trips to the plate. The right-handed hitter homered just once but walked at a strong 11.7% clip against a manageable 16% strikeout rate.
Now 32, Plawecki is looking to reach the majors for a ninth straight year. He’s a career .235/.313/.341 hitter in 447 MLB games between the Mets, Indians, Red Sox and Rangers. He split last year between Boston and Texas, combining for a .220/.286/.286 mark over 186 trips to the plate. He had a very tough time controlling the running game last season, catching just five of 51 attempted basestealers. He’d been off to a better start in Rochester, cutting down 10 of 42 runners (a slightly below-average 23.8% rate) through 201 1/3 innings.
The Nationals have relied on a catching tandem of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams. The former has gotten the bulk of the playing time and is off to a .242/.308/.356 start through 146 plate appearances. Adams has struggled in seven games scattered over the season’s first six weeks.
White Sox Reinstate Garrett Crochet
The White Sox announced that left-hander Garrett Crochet has been reinstated from the injured list. Right-hander Nicholas Padilla was optioned in a corresponding move.
Crochet, 24 next month, will be pitching in the majors for the first time in about a year and a half once he makes his first appearance of the season. He required Tommy John surgery in early April of 2022, which wiped out that entire season for him and the early parts of 2023 as well.
Prior to that lost year, Crochet had quickly established himself as a viable major league arm. The Sox selected him 11th overall in the 2020 draft and added him to their 60-man player pool shortly thereafter, with the minor leagues having been canceled by the pandemic that year. He made his major league debut later in that campaign with five scoreless appearances in the regular season and another in the postseason. In 2021, he stuck in the big leagues and tossed 54 1/3 innings with a 2.82 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, 11.7% walk rate and 40.2% ground ball rate.
In the 2021-2022 offseason, the Sox seemed to give some consideration to stretching the lefty out as a starter, though those plans ended up getting pushed off the table by his surgery. It was reported in November that the club would keep him in a relief role in the 2023 season after the long layoff, with his health and performance this season perhaps dictating what role he will have in the future.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see if the Sox ever have any interest in reconsidering a move to the rotation. Both Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger are slated for free agency this winter, while the club has an $18MM club option on Lance Lynn with a $1MM buyout. With Lynn currently sporting a 7.51 ERA on the year, he’ll need a strong finish for the club to consider picking that up, meaning it’s possible three holes open up in that rotation next year. With only Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech currently lined up for jobs in 2024, there would have to be at least some temptation to give Crochet a shot at making the switch if they felt he were capable of it from a health and workload perspective.
For now, the Sox could use the extra southpaw in the bullpen after Jake Diekman posted a 7.94 ERA in 13 outings and was designated for assignment. Aaron Bummer is still with the big league club but has a 9.45 ERA so far this year. Sammy Peralta was with the Sox earlier this year but struggled in his one outing before getting optioned. Tanner Banks had a more palatable 3.38 ERA in his eight innings this year but struck out just 16.1% of opponents and also has been optioned to the minors.
Twins Select José De León
The Twins are going to select right-hander José De León to their roster, reports Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. He will take the active roster spot of fellow righty Jorge Alcalá, who is going on the 15-day injured list. The club already had an opening on their 40-man roster after losing righty Dereck Rodríguez off waivers to the Braves yesterday. The club has subsequently announced the moves, listing Alcalá’s ailment as a right forearm extensor muscle strain. His IL placement is retroactive to May 15.
De León, 30, was once one of the top prospects in the league. Originally drafted by the Dodgers in 2013, he impressed prospect evaluators enough to land on Baseball America’s top 100 list in both 2016 and 2017, placing in the top 30 both of those years. Unfortunately, he’s battled significant injuries since then and still hasn’t been able to carve out a lengthy stay in the big leagues.
He was traded to the Rays prior to 2017 but then required Tommy John surgery going into 2018. He returned in 2019 and was traded to the Reds after that season. He struggled in his time with that club and was released after 2021. He was with the Blue Jays on a minor league deal last year but got hurt in Spring Training and didn’t debut until August.
Through all of that, he has an 8.44 ERA in the big leagues through 48 innings that have been scattered across five different seasons with three different clubs. He signed a minor league deal with the Twins this offseason and is off to a good start. He’s tossed 27 1/3 innings across nine Triple-A appearances, four of them starts. He has a 3.62 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 41.6% ground ball rate.
That showing has impressed the Minnesota brass enough that the righty will get back to the majors. He is out of options and can’t be easily sent back to the minors later in the year, but he does have just two years and 95 days of major league service time. That means that he could be cheaply retained for future seasons via arbitration if he manages to hang onto his roster spot all year long.
Red Sox Select Ryan Sherriff
4:15pm: The Red Sox have now made these moves official, announcing Schreiber’s injury as a right teres major strain.
2:15pm: The Red Sox are calling up relievers Justin Garza and Ryan Sherriff, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Sherriff isn’t on the 40-man roster but the Sox already have an opening there after designating Ryan Brasier for assignment on the weekend. The corresponding moves to get Garza and Sherriff onto the active roster are righty John Schreiber going on the 15-day injured list and lefty Brennan Bernardino being optioned, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.
Sherriff, 33 next week, has 44 1/3 innings of major league experience but scattered across multiple seasons. The lefty tossed 20 combined innings for the Cardinals over 2017 and 2018 and then 24 1/3 for the Rays in 2020 and 2021. Tommy John surgery in between those stints wiped out the latter half of his 2018 and then all of his 2019. In all of those seasons combined, he has a 3.65 ERA in the majors along with an 18.7% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 56% ground ball rate.
The Rays put Sherriff on waivers at the end of 2021 and he was claimed by the Phillies. A shoulder strain limited him to just 14 minor league appearances last year and he was outrighted off the Philly roster in August. He became a free agent at season’s end and signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. Through 15 Triple-A appearances this year, he has allowed exactly 3.00 earned runs per nine innings, striking out 24.6% of opponents while walking 12.3% and getting grounders on 47.5% of balls in play.
Sherriff will give the Sox a fresh lefty arm after Bernardino has pitched in three of the past four days, including the last two. Richard Bleier is in the same situation while Joely Rodríguez has just come off the injured list, so the Sherriff-Bernardino swap makes their southpaw contingent a bit less weary. Sherriff still has options himself, allowing the Sox to perhaps reverse this lefty swap later in the year whenever the need arises.
As for Schreiber, he’s emerged as a key piece of the bullpen for Boston, posting an ERA of 2.22 last year while striking out 28.8% of opponents, walking just 7.4% and getting grounders at a 56.3% clip. He worked his way up the bullpen chart, earning eight saves and 22 holds on the season. This year, his walk rate has ticked up to 11.4% but he’s still managed to lower his ERA to 2.12 and pick up another six holds. He had departed last night’s game with lat tightness and manager Alex Cora said after the game that an IL stint was likely, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. His spot will go to Garza, 29, whom the Sox just claimed off waivers from the Angels last month. Between the two organizations, he has a 3.95 ERA in Triple-A this year.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Turf Toe
The Marlins announced to reporters, including Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, that outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. will be placed on the 10-day injured list due to turf toe. Manager Skip Schumaker says Chisholm will miss approximately 4-6 weeks, per Mish.
The news comes as an unfortunate blow to the Marlins, as Chisholm is one of the key players on their roster. He left Saturday’s game after colliding with the wall while attempting a catch and postgame X-rays were negative, but it was reported the next day that he would be sent to see a specialist. It seems that the issue was more serious than initially expected, as he will now miss a decent chunk of time dealing with the ailment.
Chisholm, now 25, had a breakout season with the Marlins last year. He hit 14 home runs and stole 12 bases in 60 games while hitting .254/.325/.535 for a wRC+ of 139. Unfortunately, a stress fracture in his back put him on the injured list in July and limited him to just those 60 contests.
The club then made the surprising decision to move Chisholm from second base to center field this year, installing Luis Arraez at the keystone instead. Defensive metrics have given Chisholm strong grades at his new position in the early going this year, though he hasn’t yet been able to get into a good groove at the plate, slashing just .229/.291/.403 in 2023 for a wRC+ of 91 thus far.
The timing of this injury is unfortunate for the Marlins as they already have a couple of other outfielders on the injured list. Jesús Sánchez just landed there on the weekend due to a right hamstring strain while Avisaíl García has been out for a couple of weeks with lower back tightness. García will begin baseball activities in the next few days, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, but doesn’t seem especially close to a return.
The club will now have to spend the next stretch of their schedule triply shorthanded in the outfield and without their primary center fielder for more than a month, in all likelihood. Garrett Hampson has played center on Sunday and is in there again tonight, though he’s a career .236/.296/.373 hitter. He’s off to a stronger .262/.294/.431 start this year but he’s currently riding a .364 batting average on balls in play while striking out in 29% of his plate appearances and walking just 2.9% of the time.
Hampson figures to be flanked by Bryan De La Cruz and Peyton Burdick in the corners until García or Sánchez can return. Jorge Soler could get in the mix from time to time but he’s been serving as the designated hitter most days.
Mets To Select Josh Walker
The Mets have optioned left-hander David Peterson, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. His active roster spot will go to fellow lefty Josh Walker, who was not previously on the 40-man roster, though the club already had a vacancy in that regard and won’t need to make a corresponding move.
This is the first time that Walker, 28, has been on a major league roster and he will be making his debut as soon as he’s put into a game. A 37th round selection of the Mets in the 2017 draft, he got some work in the lower levels of the minors in the 2017-2019 stretch before the minor league were canceled by the pandemic in 2020.
In 2021, he shot through three levels, going from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A. He tossed a combined 115 2/3 innings with a 3.73 ERA, striking out 21.5% of opponents against a 6.4% walk rate. Last year, he was limited by injury to just 13 1/3 innings over 13 appearances and has been working exclusively in relief here in 2023. He has tossed 13 1/3 innings over nine Triple-A outings with a miniscule 0.68 ERA, 34% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 32.1% ground ball rate. He’ll give the Mets a second left-handed relief option alongside Brooks Raley.
As for Peterson, he was called on to join the rotation as the Mets were dealing with injuries to Carlos Carrasco, José Quintana, Justin Verlander and the sticky stuff suspension of Max Scherzer. Unfortunately, he’s been lit up so far this year, currently sporting an 8.08 ERA through eight starts. There’s likely a bit of bad luck in there as Peterson actually has strong strikeout and walk rates of 24.7% and 7.7%, respectively. A .404 batting average on balls in play and 58.8% strand rate have helped some extra earned runs across the plate, but so have the eight homers Peterson’s allowed so far.
With Verlander and Scherzer both now back and Carrasco expected to rejoin the club in the near future, Peterson will head down to the farm and try to get things back on track for whenever the club needs reinforcements again.
Guardians Recall Brayan Rocchio
The Guardians announced to reporters, including Zack Meisel of The Athletic, that they have recalled infield prospect Brayan Rocchio. He’ll take the roster spot of third baseman José Ramírez, who has been placed on the bereavement list. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base had previously reported on Rocchio’s promotion.
Rocchio, 22, actually joined the big league club once already, but he was optioned the next day without getting into a game. Both Amed Rosario and Tyler Freeman were dealing with some minor injuries at that time but ultimately didn’t need to go on the injured list. As such, Rocchio is still looking to make his major league debut, despite that brief trip to the big leagues last month.
Signed as an amateur out of Venezuela, he has continued to impress prospect evaluators as he’s risen up the minor league ladder. Coming into this year, he was placed on lists of the top 100 prospects in the league by Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, ESPN, FanGraphs and Keith Law of The Athletic.
Those outlets generally praise Rocchio’s infield defense and his bat-to-ball skills as he doesn’t strike out or walk much. Last year, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 18 home runs and striking out at just a 17.5% clip. That led to a batting line of .257/.336/.420 and wRC+ of 106 between the two levels. This year, he’s been struck out in just 12.8% of his trips to the plate at Triple-A while hitting .338/.396/.486 for a wRC+ of 126.
Rocchio has split his time between shortstop and second base this year but has also seen some time at third base in the lower levels. He’s not in the lineup tonight, as the Guardians have Gabriel Arias at third while the usual middle infield tandem of Rosario and Andrés Giménez are still in place. It’s possible that Rocchio is only up to serve in a reserve capacity for a few days until Ramírez returns, but he will hopefully get a chance to make his debut this time.
Brewers Designate Gus Varland For Assignment
The Brewers have designated right-hander Gus Varland for assignment, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His roster spot will go to righty J.B. Bukauskas, per Hogg.
Varland, 26, was selected from the Dodgers in the most recent Rule 5 draft. He made Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster and was able to make six appearances by the middle of April, with a 2.70 ERA in that time. Unfortunately, the last of those appearances saw him get struck by a comebacker off the bat of Manny Machado. Although X-rays were negative, Varland was placed on the 15-day injured list the next day with a right hand contusion.
He was reinstated from the injured list last week but his most recent appearances haven’t gone well. His first stint off the IL saw him walk three batters, hit another and allow one hit across 1 1/3 innings but he managed to escape without any earned runs crossing the plate. He wasn’t so lucky last night, as he was torched for nine earned runs in two thirds of an inning, spiking his season ERA to 11.42.
Now that he’s been designated for assignment, the Brewers will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If any other club were to acquire him, they would still be bound by the Rule 5 framework, meaning they have to keep Varland in the majors or on the IL all season long in order to retain his future rights. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, he will be offered back to the Dodgers.