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Archives for May 2022

Phillies Acquire Corey Oswalt From Giants

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The Phillies have acquired right-hander Corey Oswalt in a trade with the Giants, as noted by Oswalt’s MLB.com profile page on May 8 (hat tip to The Morning Call’s Tom Housenick).  Oswalt has been assigned to the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley.

San Francisco inked Oswalt to a minor league deal back in January, after the righty opted for free agency when the Mets outrighted him off their 40-man roster following the season.  Though he has a respectable 28.3% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate with Triple-A Sacramento this season, Oswalt has an ungainly 7.11 thanks in large part to six home runs over 12 2/3 innings.

This work with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate represents Oswalt’s first pro action outside of the Mets organization.  A seventh-round pick for New York back in 2012, Oswalt has appeared in each of the last four Major League seasons, though only 30 of his 94 2/3 career innings have come since the end of the 2018 campaign.  He has a 5.89 ERA as a big leaguer, with a 17.2K% and 7.3BB%, getting work as a starter and (more recently) as a multi-inning reliever or swingman.

The Phillies got a good look at Oswalt during his time with the Mets, and now they’ll see what he can do as an extra arm on the depth chart.  Considering that both Zack Wheeler and Zach Eflin are both on the COVID-related injury list, the Phils might turn to Oswalt for a spot start (or maybe in a piggyback or bulk pitcher role) as they try to figure out their rotation mix for the near future.

Tigers To Promote Joey Wentz

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Left-hander Joey Wentz is being called up to start the Tigers’ game against the A’s on Wednesday, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press).  It will be the first career Major League appearance for Wentz, the 40th overall pick of the 2016 draft.

The Braves selected Wentz in that draft, but dealt the southpaw to Detroit as part of the Shane Greene trade in July 2019.  Wentz had run into some struggles at Double-A that season, but the deal was still seen as a nice score for the then-rebuilding Tigers, as Wentz was a well-regarded young starter.  Baseball Prospectus even ranked Wentz as the 45th-best prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2018 campaign.

However, injuries took a toll, as Wentz underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020.  Returning to action in May 2021, Wentz logged a 4.50 ERA over 72 combined innings with the Tigers’ A-ball and Double-A affiliates.  Making his Triple-A debut this season, Wentz has a 4.12 ERA and a 33.8% strikeout rate in 19 2/3 innings for the Toledo Mud Hens, though his 13% walk rate and 25% homer rate are cause for concern.

Baseball America rates the 24-year-old Wentz as the ninth-best prospect in Detroit’s farm system, while MLB Pipeline has the left-hander 12th on its list.  Wentz’s changeup is considered to be his best pitch, with BA’s scouting report citing Wentz’s changeup a nice complement with a fastball that clocks in the low 90’s.  Control has been Wentz’s biggest issue throughout his minor league career, and BA feels his ceiling in the majors is as “a back-end starter who caps at five innings or a long reliever.”

Wentz hasn’t thrown more than 4 2/3 innings or 84 pitches in any of his five outings at Triple-A, so the Tigers figures to keep him on somewhat of a short leash on Wednesday.  That said, Detroit will obviously take anything they can get, as the club continues to try and fill innings within a rotation shorthanded from injuries.  A scheduling crunch is also in play — the Tigers have a doubleheader with the Athletics today, and are in the midst of a stretch of 17 games in 15 days.

As a result, Hinch said that Wentz or Alex Faedo (who starts the second game of today’s doubleheader) will remain in the rotation until some of the regular starters are available.  “Some of it depends on performance.  Some of it depends on matchup,” Hinch said of the criteria the team will use to evaluate between Faedo and Wentz.

Matt Manning, Casey Mize, and Tyler Alexander are all on the 10-day injured list, with Manning being the closest to a return.  Manning already has one Triple-A rehab start under his belt, and he’ll toss a bullpen session today at Comerica Park before making at least one more rehab outing.  Mize is also slated to start a rehab assignment this week.

While the Tigers aren’t going to do anything to rush their prized young hurlers, reinforcements are needed quick.  The pitching injuries and an almost team-wide lack of hitting has resulted in an ugly 8-20 record for Detroit thus far, and the team has lost its last six games.

Reds Sign Walker Lockett To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed right-hander Walker Lockett to a minor league contract, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports (Twitter link).  After working as a starter and a reliever during his MLB career, Lockett will be built up for rotation work for Cincy.

Lockett has a 7.67 ERA over 54 MLB innings, appearing with the Padres, Mets, and Mariners from 2018-20.  Primarily a groundball pitcher who didn’t generate many whiffs in either the minors or majors, Lockett had trouble keeping the ball on the grass in the big leagues, allowing 12 home runs over his 54 frames of work.

There were signs of improvement for Lockett in 2021, however, after he signed a one-year deal with The Korea Baseball Organization’s Doosan Bears.  The right-hander posted a 2.98 ERA, 20.74% strikeout rate, and only five homers allowed over 124 innings of KBO League action.

Lockett started all 21 of his games for the Bears, and he has worked primarily as a starter throughout his minor league career.  It makes sense that the Reds would keep him stretched out to see what he can provide as possible rotation depth for some point this season.  In what is already looking like a lost year for Cincinnati, some rotation vacancies could open up should the likes of Luis Castillo or Tyler Mahle be traded before the deadline.

Tigers Option Akil Baddoo To Triple-A, Recall Rony Garcia

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The Tigers optioned struggling outfielder Akil Baddoo to Triple-A today, the team announced. In a corresponding move, they recalled RHP Rony Garcia to take his spot on the roster.

While the demotion hardly writes the 23-year-old Baddoo out of GM Al Avila’s long-term plans, it does speak to the marked contrast between the outfielder’s start to the 2022 season, in which he’s slashed a meager .140/.218/.220, and the hot start to his 2021 rookie campaign, during which he logged a .271/.352/.462 triple-slash before fading down the stretch. Advanced statistics do suggest there’s at least some bad luck involved in his slow start, though that likely isn’t the whole picture. Baddoo has seen only a minor increase in his strikeout rate (from 26.5% in 2021 to 27.3 % in 2022) and a minor dip in his walk rate (from 9.8% to 9.1%), but his BABIP has fallen from .335 (against an MLB average of .290) to a mere .176. While some of this variance can likely be explained by his hard-hit rate (the percentage of balls in play with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher) falling from 32.3% to 22.9%, he’s also probably fallen victim to some poor batted-ball luck this year — and was perhaps the beneficiary of some good luck last year.

2014 first-rounder Derek Hill, who’s slashed .250/.273/.281 this year in limited action, is the likeliest candidate to take Baddoo’s spot in center, at least in the short term. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic notes that utility-man Willi Castro is also likely to see time there, though he’s only logged a handful of big-league innings as an outfielder — and all of them in left.

Though Baddoo is hardly the only culprit, he and second baseman Jonathan Schoop have been particularly unproductive for a Detroit squad that’s clearly underperforming expectations. After doling out $238MM in guaranteed money in free agency (to shortstop Javier Baez, starters Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Pineda, and reliever Andrew Chafin) and acquiring catcher Tucker Barnhart and outfielder Austin Meadows via trade (from the Reds and Rays, respectively), the Tigers have limped along to a collective 80 wRC+ (ahead of only the Royals, Red Sox, A’s, and Reds) that’s seen them fall nine games off the pace in AL Central.

Given the lack of outfield depth in Detroit — and particularly the shortage of options in center — it’s unlikely Baddoo will remain in the minors for long if he can regain his stroke in Toledo. Should he fail to find his form, however, he does run the risk of being overtaken by consensus top-ten prospect Riley Greene, who’s been sidelined by a fractured right foot but is expected to return to action around the end of May — and could well prove himself ready for the majors not long thereafter.

In what will be his second stint with the club this season, Garcia, owner of a career 6.39 ERA (6.42 FIP) across 31 big-league innings, will slot in at the back end of the Detroit bullpen. The righty was effective in limited action before he was optioned to Triple-A ahead of the late-April return of Chafin from injury, notching 6 1/3 innings of 2.84 ERA ball.

Mariners Outright Nick Margevicius

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The Mariners have announced that left-hander Nick Margevicius has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. The club designated him for assignment last week. He will remain with the organization but will no longer occupy a spot on the team’s 40-man roster.

Margevicius was a seventh-round selection of the Padres in the 2017 draft. He didn’t waste much time in making his way to the majors, debuting in 2019. He threw 57 innings for the Friars that year over ten starts and seven relief appearances. Unfortunately, his 6.79 ERA and 16% strikeout rate were a bit lackluster, leading the club to designate him for assignment in the offseason.

The southpaw was claimed by the Mariners in January of 2020 and has been with the organization since then. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he showed flashes of potential, throwing 41 1/3 innings with a 4.57 ERA. His strikeout rate jumped to 21.2% and he kept his walk rate below league average at 8.2%.

Unfortunately, he was only able to throw 12 innings in 2021 before some shoulder inflammation cropped up. This was later diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome, an injury that usually requires a major surgery with a lengthy rehab process. The rest of his 2021 was wiped out, with his last appearance coming on April 25.

He has been able to get back on the hill this year, making four starts in Triple-A. However, the return to action hasn’t been smooth, with his ERA sitting at 12.75 over a small sample of 12 innings. Still just 25 years old, Margevicius will continue trying to get back on track with the Tacoma Rainiers and work his way back into the big leagues.

Jose Urena Elects Free Agency

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The Brewers announced today that right-hander Jose Urena cleared outright waivers and has elected free agency. The 30-year-old will now head out onto the free market, able to pursue opportunities with all 30 clubs in the league.

Urena began his big league career with the Marlins, working primarily as a starter. He had some solid seasons in Miami, with 2018 arguably marking the high point of his career. In 174 innings that season, he managed an ERA of 3.98, along with an 18.3% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. In the estimation of FanGraphs, he was worth 1.6 wins above replacement that year. Things fell off from there, however, as his ERA went north of 5.00 in each of the next three seasons, two of those with Miami and then one in Detroit.

The Brewers signed Urena at the end of March, with only about a week until the season was set to begin. He appeared in four games this season, logging 7 2/3 innings. He got some decent results, with a 3.52 ERA in that small sample, but he managed only a 8.3% strikeout rate. Urena’s always been more of a ground ball guy, but that rate was low even compared to his previous work. His 13.9% walk rate was also higher than in any previous season.

That’s an exceptionally small sample size, but the Brewers evidently saw enough to move on, as Urena didn’t survive the rosters shrinking from 28 to 26 last week. He was designated for assignment but, as a player with more than five years of MLB service time, he had the ability to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, which he has now done. His fastball was averaging above 96 MPH in his brief action this year, which could lead another team to take a flier on him in some capacity.

Marlins Activate Dylan Floro

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The Marlins announced that they have activated right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro from the injured list. Infielder Joe Dunand was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move.

Floro has missed the entirety of the season so far, having been shelved during Spring Training with some arm soreness. This was later diagnosed as right rotator cuff tendinitis, which landed Floro on the injured list as the season began in April. Acquired from the Dodgers prior to the 2021 season, Floro somewhat quietly had an excellent campaign in Miami last year. In 64 innings out of the bullpen, his ERA was 2.81, along with a 23% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate. He notched 15 saves and 11 holds as a key piece of the team’s bullpen.

Without Floro in the mix, the club has turned to Anthony Bender as its primary closer this year. Although he’s notched six saves, he’s also blown a pair, putting up an ERA of 4.91 so far in the young season. His 28.7% strikeout rate from last year has dipped to 21.7% so far this year, though this is a small sample of just 11 innings. Regardless of how the roles shake out, if Floro is able to replicate his success from last year, he should be a boon to the team’s relief corps. As a whole, the Miami bullpen has a 3.05 ERA, placing them 7th in the league.

Cubs Make Series Of Roster Moves

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The Cubs made a flurry of roster moves today. Per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, the club optioned right-hander Adrian Sampson to Triple-A Iowa, recalled Frank Schwindel from Triple-A Iowa, selected left-hander Conner Menez onto the major league roster, and placed right-hander David Robertson on the IL without an injury distinction — generally a sign that the move is COVID-related. Presuming Robertson’s IL stint is indeed COVID-related, the Cubs would not have been required to add Menez to the 40-man roster in order to add him to the active roster, though Montemurro later clarified that the club has added him to the 40-man.

Sampson’s demotion and Schwindel’s return to the majors mark something of an abrupt about-face for the Cubs, who’d selected Sampson’s contract (to replace Marcus Stroman, who also went on the IL without an injury designation) and optioned Schwindel to Triple-A only yesterday. Sampson did pitch in his one game with the big-league club, covering the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the Dodgers, while Schwindel did not enter a game during his (extremely) brief stint in the minors. Both players had success for the Cubs in 2021: Sampson, who’s also pitched for the Mariners, Rangers, and the KBO’s Lotte Giants in his career, posted a 2.80 ERA over 35 1/3 innings for Chicago (albeit with a 5.72 FIP), and Schwindel posted a world-beating .342/.389/.613 across 239 plate appearances (albeit with an unsustainable .364 BABIP). In 2022, Sampson has served as minor league depth outside his single inning on Sunday, while Schwindel has posted a far more pedestrian 209/.250/.308 batting line in 96 trips to the plate.

The 37-year-old Robertson, who signed with the Cubs in March for a $3.5MM guarantee, was off to a strong start to what’s been an otherwise disappointing first month on Chicago’s north side. In 12 innings, he’s notched a 1.50 ERA while striking out 37.8% of the batters he’s faced and converting all five of his save opportunities. Presuming his trip to the IL is COVID-related, he’s unlikely to be out for more than a week or so, though his absence in the bullpen could well prove costly for a club hoping to contend but already nine games adrift in the NL Central.

Menez, who arrived in Chicago via the minor league phase of the 2021 Rule 5 draft, has actually had some success in the majors in a limited sample, notching a serviceable 4.04 ERA (if a less sightly 5.01 FIP) across 42 1/3 innings in parts of the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons, all spent with the Giants. He’s primarily been a starter in the minors (and has started four games in the majors) and was off to a strong start in Triple-A, pitching 16 2/3 innings of 2.16 ERA ball while striking out better than a batter an inning. His time in the majors may be short (perhaps only until either Robertson or Stroman returns from the IL), but he could also slot in as a long relief/swingman option if he can continue to miss bats in the majors. The fact he’s been added to the 40-man roster when he could have been selected without the addition could signal that GM Carter Hawkins hopes to see him stick around for a while.

Rays Recall Calvin Faucher, Option Ralph Garza Jr. To Triple-A

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The Rays have recalled right-hander Calvin Faucher from Triple-A Durham, the team announced today. In a corresponding move, they optioned fellow righty Ralph Garza Jr. — who’d been recalled only two days prior — back to Durham.

It’ll be the first taste of the bigs for Faucher, whom the Rays acquired last July in the deal that also brought Nelson Cruz to Tampa. After pitching well last year in 25 innings between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham following the trade, Faucher has hardly lit Triple-A on fire this season, posting a 5.02 ERA (and 1.535 WHIP) in 14 1/3 innings. Garza, who spent time in the majors with both the Astros and the Twins in 2021, has a career 3.96 ERA in 36 1/3 big-league innings — six of them this season.

The corresponding moves likely come less as a result of either player’s performance than the need for a fresh arm. Garza had pitched in both games the Rays had played since his Saturday activation, including two innings in Saturday’s victory over the Mariners, while Faucher hasn’t pitched since Friday. The Rays three-game set against the Angels, which begins tonight, marks the end of a stretch of sixteen consecutive games without an off-day.

Padres Claim Sergio Alcántara

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The Padres have claimed infielder Sergio Alcántara off waivers from the Diamondbacks, both teams announced this afternoon. Though he’s still only 25, the Friars will be Alcántara’s fourth big-league team. Arizona had designated him for assignment on Friday to make room for the return of Josh Rojas from injury. To clear 40-man roster space, San Diego placed Pierce Johnson on the 60-day injured list.

Though Alcántara doesn’t pack a ton of punch at the plate — he’s slashed at just a .197/.280/.330 clip in 335 trips to the plate across three seasons in the majors — his defensive versatility has significant value. He’s spent most of brief career at shortstop (including 44 starts there for the Cubs in 2021), but he’s also logged significant time at both second and third. He had served as the D-backs primary third baseman prior to Rojas’ return.

Given the presence of high-end glove-man Ha-Seong Kim in San Diego, the acquisition of another versatile infielder is at least a bit curious. It could signal an as-yet unannounced injury (or player in COVID protocol) requiring time on the IL, of course, but it could also may spell the end of top prospect C.J. Abrams’ first taste of the majors. Currently the youngest player in the NL (among active players, only Wander Franco and Julio Rodriguez are younger), Abrams has struggled a bit in his first taste of The Show, playing solid defense at short but slashing only .182/.270/.273 in 65 plate appearances.

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