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Tigers Notes: Meadows, Greene, Mize, Coaching Staff

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5:53pm: Detroit announced that Mize has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list. It’s a procedural move designed to free 40-man roster space for reliever Will Vest, who has returned from the COVID-19 IL.

The move isn’t indicative of a change in Mize’s timetable. He’s now out for 60 days from his initial placement on April 15, not two months from today. That means he’ll be eligible to return on June 14. After an absence of this length, Mize will surely need a couple rehab starts before returning to the big league rotation. Even though he’s seemingly making progress, he wasn’t going to be back on the mound at Comerica Park within the next two weeks.

12:16 pm: The Tigers’ outfield has been lambasted by injuries so far in 2022, with each of Austin Meadows, Robbie Grossman, Victor Reyes and top prospect Riley Greene landing on the injured list. There’s some welcome news on the health front for Detroit fans, however, as manager AJ Hinch revealed today that Meadows has been cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment (Twitter link via Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic). Meanwhile, Greene made his Triple-A debut last night after appearing in a couple of Low-A games as he continues to build toward a possible MLB debut.

Meadows has been out since May 16 due to vertigo-like symptoms that sidelined him for several games in the middle of the month. He attempted to return on May 15, only to exit the game early with continued symptoms, leading to his current IL stint.

Prior to landing on the injured list, Meadows had been productive from an on-base standpoint but had yet to show off his above-average power. The former Rays slugger was batting .267/.362/.347 through 116 plate appearances to begin the year. Meadows’ 10.3% walk rate to date would be the second-best mark of his career over a full season, and his 12.1% strikeout rate was far and away the lowest clip of his career. However, he’s yet to hit his first Tigers homer and was sitting on a tiny .079 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) — a far cry from the .229 clip he carried into the season. It may not be elite production, but it’s considerably healthier than what the Tigers have received from Derek Hill (.250/.288/.324), Daz Cameron (.156/.250/.156) and Willi Castro (.287/.333/.356) of late with so many outfield alternatives banged up.

As for Greene, it’s not clear just how long he’ll need before he’s deemed ready for his first big league look, but the 2019 No. 5 overall pick and consensus top-10 overall MLB prospect was seen as a favorite to break camp with the Tigers this spring. That changed when a fractured foot landed him in a walking boot — an injury that came with an expected recovery period of six to eight weeks. Greene indeed returned to game action in about eight weeks’ time, though he’ll now spend some time rehabbing in the minors to shake off some rust. The 21-year-old hit .301/.387/.534 between Double-A and Triple-A last season, however, and it could be a relatively short stay in Toledo if he can quickly round into that form.

Just as the organization is hopeful that Greene will eventually be a building block in the outfield, they’re hopeful that ailing righty Casey Mize will be a fixture in the rotation. Mize has been out since mid-April due to a sprained medial ligament in his elbow (not the same ligament that typically required Tommy John surgery), but he’s set to ramp up the intensity in his throwing program in the coming days, tweets MLB.com’s Jason Beck. The 2018 No. 1 overall pick played catch yesterday and reported no issues, and he’ll move to a long-toss program sometime next week.\n
Mize pitched in just two games this season, totaling 10 innings before landing on the shelf. The hope was that after a solid run in 2021 — 150 1/3 innings, 3.71 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate — he could join fellow top prospects Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning and offseason signee Eduardo Rodriguez to fill out the bulk of the Tigers’ rotation. Of that group, however, only Skubal has avoided the injured list so far in 2022. Manning (shoulder) and Rodriguez (ribcage) are both on the injured list, as are lefty Tyler Alexander (elbow strain) and righty Michael Pineda (fractured finger). Mize all but ditched his sinker in favor of more four-seamers prior to his injury but was shelved too early to glean much meaningful data from that experiment in pitch selection.

The Tigers’ injury bug has even spread to the team’s coaching staff, it seems, as MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery writes that first base coach Gary Jones won’t be on the field for at least four to six weeks. A line drive hit by Jeimer Candelario struck Jones on the leg this week and resulted in a fractured ankle. The injury will relegate Jones to some off-the-field work (e.g. outfield positioning, in-game strategizing with Hinch). Assistant hitting coach Mike Hessman will step into the coach’s box and assume that portion off Jones’ duties for the time being.

Nationals Select Jordan Weems, Designate Austin Voth

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The Nationals announced a series of roster moves this afternoon. Washington selected reliever Jordan Weems onto the big league roster, designating righty Austin Voth for assignment in a corresponding transaction. The Nats also optioned Andres Machado to Triple-A Rochester and recalled southpaw Francisco Pérez. Washington also announced that righty Aaron Sanchez has cleared outright waivers and elected minor league free agency.

Weems is headed to the majors for the third consecutive season. The right-hander broke into the big leagues with the A’s in 2020, then split last year between the Oakland and Diamondbacks organizations. He had some success during his debut campaign, posting a 3.21 ERA through 14 innings. Weems walked an alarming 12.1% of opponents, but he induced swinging strikes at a strong 13.1% clip and fanned more than three in every ten batters faced.

The following year proved a significantly greater struggle, however. Opposing lineups tagged the former third-round pick for ten runs in 5 2/3 innings, and he saw his swinging strike numbers dip precipitously. Arizona grabbed Weems off waivers from Oakland in July but outrighted him off their roster themselves a month later. He continued to struggle down the stretch in Triple-A and reached minor league free agency at the end of the season.

Washington brought the 29-year-old aboard via non-roster deal in Spring Training. Assigned to Rochester to open the season, he’s earned his way back with an excellent showing. Weems has a 3.38 ERA across 24 innings of relief for the Red Wings, showcasing the best underlying numbers of his career in the process. He’s punched out 33.7% of opposing hitters while walking batters at just a 5.3% rate — a marked improvement over his 11.4% career mark in the minors. Weems still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so the Nats can rotate him on and off the active roster without exposing him to waivers if they’re willing to keep him on the 40-man roster.

Voth has pitched in the big leagues for Washington in each of the last five years. A former fifth-round draftee, he reached the majors midway through the 2018 campaign. He’s worked as a swing option in the seasons since then, starting fairly frequently through 2020 but transitioning primarily into a multi-inning relief role over the past two years. Voth had a nice showing in 2019, posting a 3.30 ERA with quality strikeout and walk numbers through 43 2/3 frames, but he’s struggled in the trio of seasons since then.

The right-hander was a consistent member of the rotation during the abbreviated 2020 season, but he allowed more than six earned runs per nine innings while dealing with significant home run issues. The longball has continued to be a problem even after Voth’s bullpen transfer. Going back to the start of 2021, he’s allowed 1.7 homers per nine. Along the way, he’s posted a 6.51 ERA through 76 frames. That includes a 10.13 mark this season, with Voth allowing multiple runs in each of his last five outings.

Those struggles mounted to the point that Washington decided to move on. The 29-year-old is out of options, so a DFA was the only means for taking him off the active roster. He’ll now be traded or waived in the coming week.

Voth has more than three years of MLB service time, so he’d have the right to refuse a minor league assignment if he clears waivers. That’d require forfeiting the remainder of his $875K salary, however, making it likelier he’d accept an outright to Rochester if another club doesn’t take a shot on him.

Sanchez, meanwhile, was designated for assignment over the weekend. The right-hander was hit hard over seven big league starts after signing a minor league deal during Spring Training. He’ll presumably head out in search of another non-roster pact elsewhere. Sanchez has more than five years of service, so he’ll collect the remainder of his prorated $2MM salary in spite of his refusal of the outright assignment. Any signing team would only owe him the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum for time spent in the majors the rest of the season.

Blue Jays Designate Ryan Borucki For Assignment

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The Blue Jays have designated left-hander Ryan Borucki for assignment and recalled righty Trent Thornton from Triple-A Buffalo, per a club announcement.

Now 28 years old, Borucki is a 2012 fifteenth-rounder who bolstered his stock with strong minor league production and earned his way to a big league debut in 2018. He impressed during that rookie season, too, looking the part of a potential rotation piece for years to come. Through his first 97 2/3 frames, Borucki notched a a 3.87 ERA with solid walk (8%) and ground-ball (46.8%) rates. His 16.1% strikeout rate was well south of the league average, but Borucki at least looked like a possible fourth or fifth starter whom the Jays could control for the foreseeable future.

Elbow troubles torpedoed Borucki’s 2019 season, however, depriving him of the chance to really build on that strong debut campaign. He avoided Tommy John surgery but nevertheless endured a lengthy shutdown period following tightness in his elbow. Borucki eventually had a cleanup procedure to remove multiple bone spurs from that elbow, which ultimately ended his season.

Borucki made just two starts during that 2019 season, and those proved to be his final two starts with the team. He was moved to the bullpen in 2020, where he fanned 28.8% of his opponents through 16 2/3 innings but also issued walks at an alarming 16.4% clip. That walk rate dropped to a more manageable (but still elevated) 11.2% in 2021, and but Borucki’s strikeout rate also dropped precipitously, falling to 21.4%.

This season, Borucki has been rocked for seven runs in his first 6 1/3 innings of work. On the whole, since moving to the bullpen, Borucki has a 4.82 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate against an ugly 13.7% walk rate. He’s absolutely overwhelmed left-handed opponents since moving to the bullpen and has generally been effective against them his whole career (.204/.282/.288). Right-handed opponents, however, have mashed at a .281/.361/.477 pace against Borucki.

Toronto will have a week to trade Borucki, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. The fact that he’s out of minor league options and earning an $825K salary after avoiding arbitration this past winter give him a better chance to pass through waivers than the standard pre-arb lefty with options remaining. Still, left-handed pitching depth is always in demand, and a lefty with some success in the past plus a 95.2 mph average velocity on his sinker could well hold appeal as a change-of-scenery candidate.

Twins Place Carlos Correa On Covid IL

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May 31: The Twins announced that Correa has been placed on the Covid-related injured list. Shortstop Jermaine Palacios has been selected to the roster as a substitute player in his stead and will make his Major League debut in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader in Detroit. Minnesota also tabbed righty Cole Sands as the 27th man for that twin bill, and he’ll make the first start of his big league career in Game 2 today.

Palacios, 25, was signed by Minnesota out of his native Venezuela as an amateur free agent back in 2013. The Twins eventually flipped him to the Rays in the 2018 Jake Odorizzi trade with Tampa Bay, but Palacios struggled throughout the bulk of his two-plus years in the Rays organization. Upon being released in the 2020-21 offseason, Palacios returned to the Twins on a minor league deal and placed himself back on the prospect map with a solid 2021 showing. MLB.com currently ranks him 29th among Twins farmhands, while Baseball America tabs him as the best defensive infielder in Minnesota’s system. Palacios hit .259/.340/.439 in Triple-A last year and is off to a .262/.325/.379 start in 2022.

Sands, 24, was the Twins’ fifth-rounder in 2018 and made his MLB debut with a pair of relief outings earlier this season. The Florida State product has had a rough showing in Triple-A so far, albeit in just five starts. He’s widely considered to be among the Twins’ 15 best prospects, thanks largely to a 2.46 ERA and 28.7% strikeout rate in 80 1/3 innings of Double-A ball last year. Sands hasn’t pitched more than five innings in an appearance since April 13, so he may be in for a relatively short outing today. He did toss three scoreless frames in his last Triple-A appearance a week ago.

May 30: Carlos Correa didn’t play in the Twins’ 7-5 loss to the Tigers today, and after the game, Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters that it was learned mid-game that the shortstop had tested positive for COVID-19.  Correa will be placed on the COVID-related injury list at some point prior to the Twins’ doubleheader tomorrow in Detroit.

There have already been quite a few ups and downs over Correa’s first two months with the Twins, as he also spent 10 days on the regular IL due to a contusion on his right middle finger.  Correa also got off to a pretty slow at the plate, but is now hitting a lot more like his usual self, with an overall slash line of .279/.344/.407 with three homers in 154 plate appearances.  This works out to a 122 wRC+/123 OPS+, only a little below Correa’s career average.

However, Correa is now sidelined for a minimum of 10 days following a positive COVID-19 test.  As per league rules, Correa can make an earlier return if he goes 24 hours without a fever, tests negative twice, and gets approval from three physicians (the Twins team doctor, a league-appointed doctor, and an MLBPA-appointed doctor).

Correa joins Joe Ryan and Gilberto Celestino on Minnesota’s COVID list, one sub-section of an overall injured list that is worryingly long for the Twins.  Once Correa is officially added, he’ll be the 13th player on the Minnesota IL, and the club will also be short a few more non-vaccinated players for a series in Toronto on June 3-5.

Former first overall pick Royce Lewis had filled in at shortstop during Correa’s previous IL stint, but Lewis himself was just placed on the injured list today after suffering a bone bruise on his right knee after a collision with the center field wall in yesterday’s game.  This leaves utilityman Nick Gordon or regular second baseman Jorge Polanco as the likeliest candidates to cover shortstop in Correa’s absence, and third baseman Gio Urshela also has experience as a shortstop.

J.A. Happ Retires

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Veteran lefty J.A. Happ has retired after spending parts of 15 seasons in the Major Leagues. The 39-year-old discussed his career, his journey to pro ball and his decision to step away from the game in an appearance on the Heart Strong Podcast with Jessica Lindberg.

J.A. Happ | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Happ acknowledges that he went “back and forth for pretty much the whole winter” trying to determine whether he wanted to return for another season, going through his usual training regimen to be ready in case he felt a pull to return to the mound.

“It got to the point where it was Opening Day, and I turned the first game on, and I talked to my wife, Morgan, and I said ’What are you feeling?’ She just kind of looked at me and said, ’A little anxiety.’ I wanted to turn it on to see what I felt, too, and I didn’t maybe feel what I needed to feel in order to think I wanted to keep doing this. I felt like that was a sign, like ’OK, it’s time to go.’ Even though I had put the work in to be ready if the right situation came, I felt like it was time to move on and be a dad and dive into the kids. … It was emotional — something I didn’t expect. I called my agent that day, right after we turned that game on, and said, ’I think this is it.’ I told the people I feel like I needed to tell. I think I’m still processing it, but I do wake up feeling good about it, and I’m happy to start the process of being a full-time dad, for the time being, at the very least.”

Originally a third-round pick by the Phillies back in 2004, Happ made his MLB debut with Philadelphia in 2007, appearing in just one game. He pitched in eight games the following year, earning enough trust to make the team’s NLCS roster and turn in three sharp innings of relief. By the 2009 season, Happ not only established himself as a member of the Phillies’ rotation but took home a second-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting after logging a 2.93 ERA in 166 innings of work. He began that year in the bullpen but moved into the rotation in late May, going on to hurl shutouts against the Blue Jays and Rockies in just the seventh and fourteenth starts of his big league career.

Strong as Happ’s early work was, the Phillies couldn’t resist the temptation to include him as part of the return for right-hander Roy Oswalt — a three-time All-Star and regular Cy Young contender at that point in his career. That 2010 swap proved to be the first of several notable trades in which Happ was involved over the course of his career. The Astros included him in a massive 11-player swap with the Jays that saw Happ land in Toronto and a then fresh-faced prospect named Joe Musgrove among the most notable names sent to Houston. Happ was also swapped straight up for outfielder Michael Saunders in 2014, and after returning to the Blue Jays on a three-year, $36MM deal as a free agent, he was flipped to the Yankees for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney in the final season of that pact.

Happ was never a flamethrower or a perennial All-Star, but he carved out a lengthy career as a mid-rotation starter in the perennially dangerous American League East, spending six of his 15 years with the Jays and another three with the Yankees. From Happ’s peak in 2014-20, he notched 1058 2/3 innings of 3.81 ERA ball — a strong run that included an All-Star nod in 2018 and a sixth-place finish in 2016 American League Cy Young voting. His consistency netted him a trio of sizable free-agent contracts: his aforementioned $36MM deal with the Blue Jays, a two-year Yankees deal worth $34MM, and a one-year deal with the Twins that promised him $8MM just last season.

All in all, Happ steps away from the game with a lifetime 133-100 record, a 4.13 ERA, 1661 strikeouts, four complete games and three shutouts compiled while suiting up for eight teams: the Blue Jays, Phillies, Yankees, Astros, Twins, Mariners, Pirates and Cardinals. He reached the postseason six times, winning a World Series ring with the 2008 Phillies and pitching well in four of those six playoff runs. (He made one start with the Yankees both in 2018 and 2020, neither of which went particularly well.) Between the three previously referenced free-agent deals and his arbitration seasons, Happ earned more than $97MM in a career pegged at 21.5 wins above replacement by Baseball-Reference and 21.8 WAR by FanGraphs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images/Imagn.

Brewers Place Brandon Woodruff On IL With High Ankle Sprain

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The Brewers have placed right-hander Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day IL with a high ankle sprain (retroactive to May 28th), reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The severity of the injury is not yet known, but it will come as a blow to a team already dealing with the long-term absence of Freddy Peralta. Right-handed reliever Peter Strzelecki has been selected from Triple-A Nashville to take his place on the active roster.

Woodruff left in the fifth inning Friday’s game against the Cardinals with what was then termed ’right ankle irritation,’ though it now appears the injury is somewhat more serious. In words that will hardly come as comfort to Brewers fans, manager Craig Counsell described the injury (per Hogg) as “very similar” to Peralta’s, but it isn’t clear if he’ll need as long to “calm [the injury] down” as does his teammate.

Among the best pitchers in the National League since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, Woodruff had gotten off to a comparatively weak start to 2022, posting a 4.74 ERA (against a career mark of 3.36) and 3.82 FIP (career 3.23). The underlying metrics disagree a bit as to the cause. He’s allowed a .315 BABIP this season (against .264 in 2021 and .289 for his career) and 3.8% home run rate (2.5% in 2021 and 2.7% career) — both largely explicable via a rise in hard-hit percentage (the percent of batted balls leaving the bat with an exit velocity of 95 mph or greater) from 32.7% in 2021 (33.9% career) to 42.6% — but his strikeout rate of 28.5% (against 29.8% in 2021 and 28.3% for his career) and walk rate of 7.0% (6.1% in 2021, 6.5% career) remain largely unchanged.

Regardless of the cause of Woodruff’s regression, his absence presents an immediate difficulty for the first-place Brewers. With a rotation anchored by Woodruff, Peralta, and 2021 NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes alongside the unheralded but consistently solid Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser at the back end, the Brew Crew entered 2022 with a solid case for the best rotation in the game. Former top prospect Aaron Ashby has already shifted from swingman to rotation to take Peralta’s spot, but it’s less clear who’ll take Woodruff’s turns.

Left-hander Ethan Small — the club’s top pitching prospect since Ashby’s graduation — has already been called up and will likely get the first crack, but he’s less of a proven commodity than Ashby. The 25-year-old Mississippi State product is off to a hot start at Triple-A Nashville, posting a 1.88 ERA in 38 1/3 innings across eight starts, but he’s still a bit green (he’s only logged 136 2/3 innings in the minors) and has had some issues with control. While his 32.5% strikeout rate across those minor league innings is top-notch, his 12.1% walk rate isn’t.

Small is set to make his major league debut today, in the first game of Brewers’ double-header against the Cubs. Should he struggle and Woodruff remain out of action for an extended period, the next option may be 35-year-old Josh Lindblom, who struggled to a 6.39 ERA in 62 combined innings with Milwaukee between 2020 and 2021 but is off to a strong start at Nashville, logging a 2.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 46 2/3 innings.

Strzelecki, a 27-year-old former undrafted free agent out of South Florida, has never started a game in the minors and will likely serve back-end cover for the bullpen for the time being. He has, however, been fairly consistent in his minor league career, posting a 3.73 ERA in 156 2/3 innings across all levels, including a 3.80 ERA in 21 1/3 innings at Triple-A. Never a heralded prospect, he’s nonetheless shown the ability to miss bats (with a 31.1% career strikeout rate in the minors) and keep the ball in the zone (7.6% walk rate).

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/30/22

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Wrapping up some minor moves from around the game…

  • The Angels announced that Jose Rojas has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.  The utilityman was designated for assignment a week ago to clear space for other players returning from the injured list.  Rojas had only a .348 OPS over 23 plate appearances this season, after hitting .208/.277/.399 in 184 PA during his 2021 rookie season.  During his brief MLB career, Rojas has already seen time at five different positions, playing mostly right field but also getting time as a left fielder, second baseman, third baseman, and a couple of games at first base.

White Sox Place Dallas Keuchel On Release Waivers

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TODAY: The Sox announced that Keuchel has been placed on unconditional release waivers.

MAY 28: The White Sox announced that veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel has been designated for assignment.  Infielder Danny Mendick was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

The move all but certainly ends Keuchel’s stint on the South Side after 51 games and 257 1/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season.  It doesn’t seem likely that another team would claim Keuchel off waivers, since such a move would put that new team on the hook for the roughly $14.1MM Keuchel is still owed for the remainder of the 2022 season.  Should Keuchel clear waivers and then be released, the White Sox would pay the remainder of that salary, and a new team who signed Keuchel could only owe the lefty the prorated MLB minimum salary.

Keuchel signed a three-year, $55.5MM free agent deal with Chicago in the 2019-20 offseason, one of several notable moves made that winter to signal that the Sox were now aiming to win following a rebuilding phase.  The initial returns on the signing were great, as Keuchel posted a 1.99 ERA over 63 1/3 innings during the shortened 2020 season and finished fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting.

Only some flashes of that good form continued into 2021, however, as Keuchel finished with a 5.28 ERA over 162 largely inconsistent innings with Chicago last year.  The decline continued over Keuchel’s first eight starts of 2022, as he has a 7.88 ERA and as many walks (20) as strikeouts over 32 innings.

Never a big strikeout pitcher even during his prime years with the Astros, there were plenty of questions about how well Keuchel’s low-velocity, grounder-heavy approach would hold up as he got older.  Between these concerns and a qualifying offer, Keuchel’s previous free agent bid in the 2018-19 offseason resulted in the southpaw having to wait until June (after the draft) to sign a prorated one-year deal with the Braves.  Keuchel pitched well enough over his 112 2/3 innings with Atlanta to then earn a longer-term commitment from the Sox that offseason, with Keuchel also no longer eligible for the QO.

Batters have a .364 BABIP against Keuchel this year, so there is some amount of misfortune baked into his recent results.  However, hitters are also making some serious contact (as per Keuchel’s barrels and barrel-rate metrics) against the left-hander’s offerings, and his sudden lack of control also isn’t helping his run-prevention efforts.  Keuchel’s 50.8% grounder rate is also the lowest of his career, though still an above-average mark league-wide.

Even with these struggles, it stands to reason that Keuchel’s track record will earn him some attention from one of the many teams looking for rotation help.  A strong defensive team would be a particularly good fit for a groundball pitcher like Keuchel — speculatively speaking, a Cardinals team that has lost Steven Matz, Jordan Hicks, and Jack Flaherty to the injured list could have interest in Keuchel’s services.

The White Sox have been no strangers to pitching injuries themselves this season, and their rotation picture wasn’t helped by Keuchel’s lack of success, even though he remained healthy.  With Keuchel now in DFA limbo, the Sox have Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, and veteran Johnny Cueto making up the rotation, and Lance Lynn is beginning a rehab assignment in his recovery from knee surgery.  Vince Velasquez could continue to make starts until Lynn is ready, but with off-days coming up on May 30, June 6, and June 16, the Sox will get some flexibility in figuring out their upcoming slate of pitchers.

In the bigger picture, it would certainly seem like starting pitching will be a target area for Chicago heading into the trade deadline.  Giolito, Kopech, and Cease have all been very good, Cueto has yet to allow a run over 12 innings of work, and the White Sox certainly hope that Lynn can return to his usual form once his rehab assignment is over.  However, depth is certainly still a concern, as Kopech’s innings will be managed and the Sox can’t know what to really expect from Cueto over the course of a full season.

As well as Keuchel performed in 2020, the signing still has to be considered a misfire for GM Rick Hahn’s front office.  Keuchel was owed $18MM in salary this season, as well as a $1.5MM buyout of a $20MM club option for the 2023 season.  That option was set to vest if Keuchel pitched at least 160 innings this season, but that threshold no longer seems a possibility, even if it never seemed particularly likely that the White Sox would let that option vest.

Cubs Place Seiya Suzuki On 10-Day Injured List

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The Cubs placed outfielder Seiya Suzuki on the 10-day injured list due to a sprain in the ring finger on his left hand.  As well, right-hander Robert Gsellman has been designated for assignment, and left-hander Brandon Hughes will join the Cubs after his contract was selected from Triple-A.

Suzuki’s placement is retroactive to May 27, as the outfielder hasn’t played since the injury forced to make an early exit from the Cubs’ 20-5 loss to the Reds on May 26.  After a few days of monitoring Suzuki’s condition, there wasn’t enough improvement to avoid an IL trip, and Chicago’s busy schedule likely also played a factor.  The Cubs have nine games within a seven-day span, including today’s doubleheader with the Brewers and another doubleheader Saturday against the Cardinals.

Signed to a big five-year, $85MM deal in the offseason, Suzuki’s first 163 PA in MLB have gone well overall, as his .245/.344/.432 slash line translates to a 116 wRC+ and 119 OPS+.  However, it certainly seems like pitchers have gotten a book on Suzuki, as he had a whopping 1.090 OPS over his first 72 PA but only a .545 OPS in his last 91 trips to the dish.  Suzuki’s paycheck and lengthy resume of success in Japan can obscure the fact that he is still a player seeing Major League pitching for the first time, so there are inevitable going to be some ups and downs as he adjusts.

The sprained finger adds another obstacle for Suzuki to overcome, though given that the team was still hopeful that he could return as early as today, he might not miss more than the minimum 10 days.  Clint Frazier (just back from the IL himself) and rookie Nelson Velazquez will probably get the bulk of time in right field until Suzuki or Jason Heyward return from the injured list.

Gsellman signed a minors deal with the Cubs during the offseason, and posted a 5.02 ERA over 14 1/3 innings for Chicago since his contract was selected earlier this month.  Never a big strikeout pitcher even his best years as a reliever and swingman with the Mets, Gsellman has only a 13.5% strikeout rate over 57 MLB innings since the start of the 2020 season.

Hughes rejoins the Cubs after making history in his Major League debut earlier this season, striking out the first five Pirates batters he faced on May 17.  This made Hughes the first pitcher in modern (since 1901) baseball history to record at least five outs all by strikeouts in his first big league appearance.  Overall, Hughes had a 2.57 ERA over seven innings and five appearances.

Brewers Select Luke Barker, Option Ethan Small To Triple-A

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The Brewers have made some transactions in between games of today’s doubleheader with the Cubs.  Left-hander Ethan Small (the starter in the first game) was optioned to Triple-A, while right-hander Luke Barker had his contract selected.  Righty Justin Topa was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room for Barker on the 40-man roster.

Small allowed two runs on four hits and four walks over 2 2/3 innings in Game One, as Milwaukee earned a 7-6 win over Chicago.  It was Small’s first career MLB game, and he got the call to fill the spot left in the rotation by Brandon Woodruff’s ankle injury.  While not a stellar debut, Small could potentially still be in the running for future starts depending on how long Woodruff is out, and Small’s demotion could just be so the Brewers can free up a roster space while they figure out their next step.

From one Major League debut to another, as the 30-year-old Barker has made it to the Show after being undrafted out of Chico College.  A season of indy ball in 2016 led to a contract with the Brewers, and Barker has a 2.36 ERA, 27.48% strikeout rate, and 6.33% walk rate over 255 1/3 relief innings in Milwaukee’s farm system.  The Brewers have shown a knack for turning unheralded pitchers into viable relievers at the big league level, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Barker is the latest hurler to come out of seemingly nowhere to help out the relief corps.

Topa was one of those pitchers himself in 2020, as the former 17th-rounder tossed some important innings for the Brewers in the regular season and in the playoffs.  However, Topa has been plagued by elbow problems ever since, and threw only 18 totals innings in the majors and minors in 2021.  The right-hander had recently started facing live batters, and since the clock on the 60-day IL placement begins when Topa was first placed on the shorter IL at the start of the season, he wasn’t going to be back by the first week of June anyway.

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