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Archives for July 2020

Pirates Select Contracts Of Robbie Erlin, John Ryan Murphy

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The Pirates have selected the contracts of lefty Robbie Erlin and catcher John Ryan Murphy, per the team’s transactions page. Both had been assigned to the alternate training site but will now join the 40-man roster.

These moves were obviously made with an eye to structuring the Bucs’ Opening Day roster. With thirty roster spots to fill, the rebuilding club has quite a lot of openings to tinker with. These two players — both of whom are 29 years of age, were selected in the early rounds of the 2009 draft, and debuted in 2013 — are among the beneficiaries.

There was an especially clear need behind the dish in Pittsburgh. Murphy has never fully established himself as a MLB-caliber hitter, with a cumulative .219/.265/.357 slash line over 674 total plate appearances. But he’s trusted to handle backstop duties, having appeared with four different organizations over the past seven seasons.

Like most teams, the Pirates are likely to dedicate much of their added roster availability to pitching. Erlin will join a number of other arms hoping for their names to be called in on the bullpen phone. He could end up functioning as a situational lefty and/or long reliever. The 29-year-old carries a 4.57 ERA in 313 total MLB innings, all with the Padres.

Henderson Alvarez Signs With Indy Ball Club

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Former MLB right-hander Henderson Alvarez is hoping that an independent league stint will get his career back on track. He is joining the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association.

Alvarez says he is finally healthy and in good form. While MLB outfits obviously weren’t convinced, the 30-year-old says he intends to re-prove himself on the field.

In 2014, Alvarez spun 187 innings of 2.65 ERA ball. But he was derailed by injury in the ensuing season and has only made three MLB appearances over the past four campaigns.

Alvarez got a look at Triple-A last year with the Nationals, but couldn’t turn the corner. He pitched to a 5.94 ERA in 53 frames, recording 6.3 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 while surrendering 15 long balls in the supercharged offensive environment.

Stevie Wilkerson Suffers Broken Finger

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Orioles utilityman Stevie Wilkerson received an unfortunate diagnosis tonight, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was among those to cover on Twitter. Skipper Brandon Hyde says that Wilkerson has suffered a phalanx fracture in his left ring finger.

The expectation is that the injury will sideline Wilkerson for a “significant” period of time, according to Hyde. The precise anticipated timeline isn’t clear, but there obviously isn’t all that much season to work with — particularly given the lack of minor-league rehab opportunities.

Wilkerson, 28, appeared with the O’s in each of the past two MLB seasons. He carries a cumulative .219/.279/.365 slash line in the bigs. That wasn’t enough to maintain a 40-man spot — he was outrighted before Spring Training opened — but it seemed Wilkerson had a solid shot of earning his way back into the major-league ranks to open the 2020 season.

Cards Set Roles For Kwang Hyun Kim, Carlos Martinez

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The Cardinals have settled upon some pitching roles for the outset of the season, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was among those to cover on Twitter. Newly inked southpaw Kwang-Hyun Kim is headed to a high-leverage relief role, while right-hander Carlos Martinez will step back into the rotation.

This represented one of those good problems in need of resolution. Lacking any health issues to drive a decision, the Cards had to take their pick between two rather appealing choices to round out the starting staff.

Kim inked a two-year, $8MM deal under which the club also posted a $1.6MM fee to his former KBO outfit. Kim was sharp in Spring Training, throwing eight scoreless frames with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. While he made his mark as a starter in Korea, Kim will have to earn his way back into the rotation in St. Louis. Alternatively, he could etch out a prominent gig at the back of the pen, perhaps as a closer.

There’s a model to follow in Martinez himself, who was a high-quality MLB starter for years before health issues intervened. He ended up being shifted back into the pen, where he rung up saves in half of his 48 appearances in 2019. Now, the talented 28-year-old will get a chance to reestablish himself as a starter. It makes sense that the club elected to give him another crack at the rotation. Beyond his established ceiling in that role, Martinez is owed $11.5MM in 2021 with two high-priced club options to follow.

Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria To Open Season On Injured List

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Giants corner infielders Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria will open the season on the injured list, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). They’ll both be eligible for activation after ten days on ice.

Belt, who has dealt with numerous maladies in recent seasons, is still nursing a heel problem. Longoria has an oblique issue. In both cases, the timelines for a full return aren’t yet evident.

With this news, the Giants will be looking to alternatives at both first and third base for a decent chunk of the regular season. Fellow veterans Wilmer Flores, Pablo Sandoval, and Donovan Solano represent the most obvious fill-in candidates. Darin Ruf and Zach Green are other 60-man player pool members with MLB experience in the corner infield.

Marlins Release Ryan Cook

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The Marlins have released righty Ryan Cook, per a club announcement. He had been in camp on a minor-league deal.

Additionally, the team announced that fellow righty relievers Josh Smith and Nick Vincent have been reassigned to the club’s alternative training site. It appears that they’ll both remain with the organization but fall shy of making the Opening Day roster.

Cook hooked on with the Fish in January after pitching in Japan for the 2019 season. The 33-year-old is a six-year MLB veteran but has only made 28 total appearances since the start of the 2015 campaign.

Braves Sign Matt Adams

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The Braves announced today that they have signed first baseman Matt Adams. It’s a minor-league arrangement.

Adams had recently opted out of his deal with the division-rival Mets. Though there just wasn’t room for him on the New York roster, it seems the left-handed hitter showed enough to earn a spot in the Atlanta 60-man player pool.

This isn’t the first go-round for Adams with the Braves. He had a productive part-season stint with the team in 2017 — so much so that Freddie Freeman lined up at third base to keep Adams in the lineup. While he was also effective at the plate in 2018, Adams limped to a .226/.276/.465 slash line in 333 plate appearances last year with the Nationals.

Mariners Reportedly Expected To Sign Bryan Shaw

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The Mariners are evidently closing in on a veteran bullpen addition. Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter), the Seattle club is expected to land recently released reliever Bryan Shaw. Contract details aren’t yet known.

Shaw, 32, was cut loose a few days ago by the Rockies, who’ll continue to owe him for the pro-rated portion of his $9MM salary along with a $2MM buyout in advance of the 2021 campaign. The Mariners would only be on the hook for the league-minimum rate if Shaw is able to crack the active roster.

After a long run of success with the Indians, Shaw struggled mightily over two seasons with the Rockies. It wasn’t just a matter of pitching at altitude, as he was actually better at Coors Field last year. Shaw dealt with a notable velocity drop-off and rise in the frequency of hard contact against him.

The M’s will undertake a bit of a reclamation effort, perhaps banking on the fact that Shaw still generates 80th percentile spin with his cut fastball. If he shows well at the team’s satellite location, there ought to be plenty of opportunity in a bullpen that’s short on sure things.

Mets Place Jed Lowrie, Walker Lockett On Injured List

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Infielder Jed Lowrie and pitcher Walker Lockett will open the season on the injured list, the Mets informed reporters including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links). The former will be placed on the 10-day list, while the latter will go on the 15-day list under the newly tweaked rules.

Lowrie’s left leg remains shrouded in both mystery and braces. The 36-year-old veteran has not yet contributed to the Mets since signing a two-year deal in the 2018-19 offseason. He has finally made some progress but obviously still isn’t in game shape.

As for Lockett, he’s said to be dealing with a lower back ailment. It’s not yet clear just how long he might be sidelined. Lockett has yet to fully establish himself in the majors but had seemed to be lined up for an active roster spot to open the year. He’s out of options, so will need to be moved onto the active roster or exposed to waivers once he’s healthy.

Brewers Place Brett Anderson On Injured List

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The Brewers have placed left-hander Brett Anderson on the injured list, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. Anderson’s dealing with a blister.

Anderson was one of the Brewers’ most important offseason acquisitions of the winter, when they signed him to a one-year, $5MM guarantee, and should play a key role in their rotation when he returns to health. But various injuries have troubled the 32-year-old Anderson since he debuted in the majors with the Athletics in 2009. He remained healthy for the most part last year, though, throwing 176 innings and registering a 3.89 ERA/4.57 FIP in Oakland despite a measly 4.6 K/9. Anderson helped his cause with an above-average 54.5 percent groundball rate and a 2.51 BB/9.

The Anderson IL placement is the latest setback for Milwaukee’s rotation, which will also begin the season without fellow southpaw Eric Lauer. As a result, it’s unclear how their rotation will look when the season starts. Brandon Woodruff, Adrian Houser and Josh Lindblom make for some of the Brewers’ most experienced healthy starting options. They’re in line for starting jobs, while Brent Suter, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and David Phelps have also opened games in their own right and could fill in thanks to the team’s health issues.

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