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Archives for March 2023

Braves Option Michael Soroka

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The Braves announced Thursday afternoon that right-hander Michael Soroka has been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. That was generally expected considering a hamstring injury knocked him out of the race for the fifth starter’s role out of camp.

An All-Star and Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2019, Soroka is looking to return to a big league mound for the first time in nearly three years. A ruptured Achilles tendon three starts into the 2020 campaign required surgery that came with a year-long recovery process. As he was nearing a return to game action, the Achilles blew out again and put his rehab back at square one.

Soroka was able to make it back at the tail end of last season but wasn’t in position to be thrust into the middle of a pennant race. The Braves gave him five starts in Gwinnett before shutting him down with some shoulder fatigue they attributed to the long layoff. He was generally seen as one of three candidates for the #5 starter role entering camp — Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder being the others — but hamstring soreness shut him down for the first couple weeks.

The 25-year-old returned to the mound yesterday, going through the Tigers’ batting order once in Grapefruit League play. It’s a positive step but certainly not the endpoint, as he’ll continue to build pitch counts in future appearances. Atlanta will send him back to Gwinnett to do so with an eye towards a potential midseason call.

Anderson and Elder have been healthy this spring but were outpitched in exhibition play by prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd. The Braves optioned both Elder and Anderson last week, leaving the #5 job to one of the hurlers who have yet to make their MLB debut. Manager Brian Snitker didn’t tip the organization’s hand on that camp battle this morning, praising both pitchers and noting the club still has yet to make that decision (link via Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Cubs Trade Esteban Quiroz To Phillies

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The Phillies acquired infielder Esteban Quiroz from the Cubs in exchange for cash, according to announcements from both teams. Philadelphia has assigned Quiroz to minor league camp.

Quiroz, 31, made his big league debut with Chicago last season and hit .275/.370/.275 in 47 trips to the plate. He’s a career .259/.385/.495 hitter in 776 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, where he’s played primarily second base but has also seen action at third base and in the outfield corners. The Cubs outrighted Quiroz off the 40-man roster back in November, but was in camp with them as a non-roster invitee this spring.

It’s a depth move for the Phillies, who’ll be Quiroz’s fifth organization in six years. The well-traveled infielder didn’t sign with an affiliated club until his age-26 season, when the Padres plucked him from the Mexican League. Quiroz is a left-handed bat who draws walks at a prolific rate (15.3%) and strikes out at a slightly below-average clip (21.1%) in the minors. He’s swatted 34 homers in 204 Triple-A games and can give the Phils some depth at multiple positions.

Tigers Sign Jose Alvarez To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have signed left-hander Jose Alvarez to a minor league contract, per the transactions log at MiLB.com. He won’t pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, though Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press writes that the club will help Alvarez oversee his recovery and rehabilitation with an eye toward the 2024 campaign. Alvarez is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

The 33-year-old Alvarez is a known commodity to Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, who was the Giants’ general manager during Alvarez’s two-year stint in San Francisco from 2021-22. He was outstanding for the Giants in ’21, pitching to a 2.37 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout rate but strong walk and ground-ball rates of 7.1% and 50.5%, respectively. His 2022 season was cut short by arm troubles that led to his subsequent Tommy John surgery, and prior to going on the shelf Alvarez was tagged for an ugly 5.28 ERA.

Alvarez actually made his Major League debut with the Tigers nearly a decade ago, in 2013, but he was tagged for a 5.82 ERA in 38 2/3 innings that season. The Tigers traded him to the Angels in exchange for Andrew Romine the following offseason, and Alvarez would eventually establish himself as a quality big league reliever in Anaheim.

From 2014-21, Alvarez racked up 366 2/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball with a 20.2% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate, 46.8% grounder rate, 70 holds and three saves. He’s held lefties to a .238/.288/.365 slash in his career, and while righties have posted a strong .270 average and .340 OBP against him, they haven’t hit for much power (.399 slugging, .129 ISO). Alvarez has always thrived in terms of limiting hard contact, yielding just an 86.3 mph average exit velocity and a feeble 30% hard-hit rate dating back to 2015, when Statcast first began tracking such measures. He’s never yielded an average exit velocity of even 87 mph. Last year’s league average was 88.6 mph.

Rhys Hoskins Carted Off Field Following Knee Injury

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1:55pm: Manager Rob Thomson said on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast that Hoskins was eventually able to walk under his own power in the clubhouse (Twitter link via Matt Gelb of The Athletic). That doesn’t rule out a significant injury, but it’s at least cause for some cautious optimism. The Phillies are still doing initial waves of testing and don’t yet have a formal diagnosis.

12:55pm: The Phillies confirmed that Hoskins has suffered a left knee injury. They’ll provide further updates after Hoskins undergoes testing.

12:35pm: Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins was carted off the field just minutes ago following what looked to be a significant, non-contact knee injury during today’s Grapefruit League game against the Tigers (video link via FOX’s Ben Verlander). Hoskins was backtracking a short-hop grounder off the bat of Austin Meadows when he collapsed in obvious pain. He was tended to by the team’s training staff and EMTs before being helped off the field.

It’s a potentially brutal injury for a Phillies club that’ll already be without Bryce Harper for a significant portion of the 2023 season as the 2021 NL MVP recovers from Tommy John surgery. President of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski said yesterday that Harper won’t be placed on the 60-day IL for now, leaving open the possibility that he could return before May 29 this year. (Of course, the Phillies can retroactively transfer Harper to the 60-day IL any time they need a roster spot without further delaying his potential return.)

That’s two of the Phillies’ top power threats possibly sidelined for notable periods of the season. Hoskins put together the second 30-homer season of his career in 2022, batting .246/.332/.462 while chipping in 33 doubles and a pair of triples as well. He hit just .159 with a .205 on-base percentage during 69 postseason plate appearances, but the majority of the slugger’s hits were max-impact blows; he belted six home runs during postseason play, including a four-homer NLCS. Hoskins’ three-run blast and subsequent bat spike against Spencer Strider in the National League Division Series is one of the lasting images from Philadelphia’s remarkable postseason run in 2022.

If Hoskins is out for an extended period of time, the Phillies will likely turn first base over to 27-year-old Darick Hall, who made his big league debut in 2022 and hit .250/.282/.522 with nine homers in just 142 plate appearances. Hall has a productive minor league track record but is generally seen as a platoon player and displayed worrying strikeout (31.5%) and walk (3.5%) rates during last year’s debut. Speculatively, the Phils could give right-handed-hitting third baseman Alec Bohm reps at first base when facing lefty starters, with Edmundo Sosa or Josh Harrison sliding in at third base on those days.

From a personal vantage point, Hoskins’ injury comes at one of the worst possible times. He’s sitting on five-plus years of Major League service time and is slated to become a free agent for the first time in his career following the 2023 season. He’s the youngest and arguably best first baseman on next year’s market (depending on Josh Bell’s opt-out status). It’s a generally light market for position players next offseason, and Hoskins stands as one of the top power bats available.

James Outman, Jason Heyward Will Make Dodgers’ Opening Day Roster

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Outfielders James Outman and Jason Heyward will both make the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster, manager Dave Roberts announced to the team’s beat this morning (Twitter link via Juan Toribio of MLB.com). The Dodgers will need to make a 40-man roster move to add Heyward, although that can be accomplished simply by transferring shortstop Gavin Lux — who suffered a pair of torn knee ligaments earlier in camp — to the 60-day injured list. Roberts added that right-handers Jimmy Nelson and Daniel Hudson are expected to open the season on the injured list (Twitter link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic).

Outman, 25, ranks among the Dodgers’ top outfield prospects and made his big league debut in 2022, going 6-for-13 with a homer and two doubles in a tiny sample of 16 plate appearances. He’s had a strong spring training, batting .268/.354/.512 with a pair of home runs, two doubles, a triple and a stolen base. The Dodgers will likely give him fairly regular looks in the outfield, perhaps pairing his powerful left-handed bat with the right-handed-hitting Trayce Thompson in center field.

Impressive as his spring has been, Outman’s 15 punchouts in 48 plate appearances are worth noting, given his strikeout tendencies in the minor leagues. The hit tool has always been the biggest question mark among scouts for Outman, who has fanned in 26.4% of his minor league plate appearances — including a 27.2% clip between Double-A and Triple-A a year ago. Varying opinions on that hit tool make him one of the more divisive prospects you’ll come across. For instance, while The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Outman as the No. 89 prospect in all of baseball, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked him 26th in the Dodgers’ system alone.

It’s possible that Heyward will also see occasional time in center field, though he seems ticketed for a more traditional reserve outfielder role. He’s posted a .220/.304/.415 batting line with a pair of homers and doubles alike this spring, but Roberts was hinting that Heyward would make the roster very early in camp. He’ll cost Los Angeles only the league minimum, as he’s still technically playing out the final season of his eight-year, $184MM deal with the Cubs, who released him following the season. Any money paid to Heyward by the Dodgers will be subtracted from what the Cubs owe him, but they’re on the hook for the vast majority of this year’s $22MM salary.

The Dodgers’ outfield, in general, could be in a state of flux throughout the season. The aforementioned injury to Lux is likely to push utilityman Chris Taylor to the infield more regularly, and right fielder Mookie Betts could log around 20 games at second base this season, Roberts said earlier in camp (Twitter link via David Vassegh). That’ll create extra room to rotate Outman, Thompson and Heyward through the outfield alongside left fielder David Peralta, who’ll likely be in a platoon arrangement himself (be it with Thompson or Taylor). Top prospect Andy Pages figures to make his big league debut at some point in 2023 as well, and he’d add another righty-swinging corner bat to the mix.

Cardinals Notes: Montgomery, Barrera, Knizner, Bullpen, Motter

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Cardinals left-hander Jordan Montgomery, a free agent after the season, is open to an extension that’d keep him in St. Louis but suggests to John Denton of MLB.com that he prefers not to negotiate once the regular season has commenced (Twitter thread). It’s a common stance for players to take during spring training, which is typically the most active time of the year on the extension market.

Montgomery, 30, joined the Cardinals last summer in a deadline swap that sent center fielder Harrison Bader to the Yankees. The left-hander was excellent following the trade, working to a sharp 3.11 ERA with an improved 23.9% strikeout rate, a 5.4% walk rate and a 49.7% grounder rate that tops any mark he posted during his time in the Bronx. Montgomery missed nearly the entire 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery but has since returned and reestablished himself as a quality big league hurler. He’s made 62 starts over the past two seasons, recording a 3.65 ERA and identical 3.65 FIP in 335 2/3 innings. The Cardinals seemingly have some extra motivation to keep Montgomery, as Adam Wainwright will retire after the season while Montgomery, Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty are all free agents. Steven Matz is the only established starter that St. Louis controls beyond 2023.

More on the Cards…

  • The Cardinals have a two-man race to back up newly signed catcher Willson Contreras, with incumbent backup Andrew Knizner and non-roster invitee Tres Barrera jostling for the role. To this point, Knizner has received more playing time during official spring games, but he’s just 4-for-42 and has yet to connect on an extra-base hit. Barrera has just 18 plate appearances, and while he’s gone 2-for-12 in official spring contests, one of those hits was a home run and he’s also drawn six walks (making for an odd .167/.444/.500 slash line). The Cardinals haven’t made a decision yet, but manager Oli Marmol acknowledged to Denton this week that, “In this short period of time, Barrera has clearly outperformed Knizner — I can’t disagree with that.” The Cardinals will factor more than a handful of at-bats from each player into the equation, but Marmol voiced a general desire to be able to get more offense from the backup catcher position. The 28-year-old Barrera has just 162 MLB plate appearances and is a .231/.317/.315 hitter in that time. He’s a .251/.332/.388 hitter in the minors. Knizner has slashed a combined .204/.292/.288 in 553 MLB plate appearances across parts of four seasons with the Cards. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat suggests that Knizner could be a candidate to be flipped elsewhere if another club in need of a backup reaches out to the Cardinals.
  • Left-hander Anthony Misiewicz was optioned to Triple-A Memphis today, the team announced. Following that cut, the Cardinals have Genesis Cabrera, Zack Thompson, Packy Naughton, JoJo Romero and non-roster invitee Andrew Suarez as possible lefties in Marmol’s bullpen. Thompson and Suarez have been outstanding this spring, with neither allowing a run through 9 1/3 innings and eight innings, respectively. Suarez isn’t on the 40-man roster, however, which could work against him early in the season. Cabrera is the most experienced of the bunch in terms of MLB service time and is earning a $950K salary this season, but he does have a minor league option remaining — as do Thompson (two), Naughton (one) and Romero (one). Suarez would also have one minor league option year left, if selected to the roster.
  • With Paul DeJong expected to begin the season on the injured list, it’s increasingly likely that veteran utilityman Taylor Motter will win a roster spot with the Cardinals, tweets Jones. As Jones writes at greater length, Motter’s solid spring, defensive versatility and remaining minor league option make him a candidate to win a spot on the Cardinals’ bench. The Cards have given Motter a hefty 55 plate appearances in Grapefruit League play thus far, and he’s responded with a .234/.345/.426 batting line, three homers, three steals and a 13-to-8 K/BB ratio. Top prospect Masyn Winn is still in camp and has turned plenty of heads, but he just turned 21 two days ago and has yet to play a game in Triple-A. The Cards surely want him to log everyday at-bats that probably wouldn’t be present at the big league level with a crowded infield mix.

Jed Lowrie Announces Retirement

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Former All-Star second baseman Jed Lowrie tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he’s retiring after 15-year Major League career and a professional career that spanned parts of 18 seasons. Lowrie tells Slusser that he’s “gotten to the point where I listen to my body and when I think about playing another 162, I don’t want to do that.” He adds that he’s looking forward to spending time with his young family and is already an assistant coach with his daughter’s softball team.

Now 38 years old, Lowrie was the No. 45 overall draft pick by the Red Sox back in 2005. The Stanford product reached the Majors three years after being drafted, hitting .258/.339/.400 in 81 games as a rookie with the Sox in 2008. He spent parts of four seasons in Boston before being traded to the Astros in exchange for reliever Mark Melancon.

That stop in Houston wound up being for just one year, as the Astros traded Lowrie to the A’s on the heels of a solid .244/.331/.438 showing and netted Brad Peacock, Chris Carter and Max Stassi in that swap. He’d spend the next two seasons in Oakland, performing at a high level (.272/.334/.405) before reaching free agency and signing back with the Astros. In a full deja vu sequence, Lowrie spent one season in Houston and was traded to Oakland a second time — this time in exchange for righty Brendan McCurry.

Lowrie spent the next three seasons in green and gold, culminating with a 2018 All-Star season that saw him club a career-best 23 home runs. That standout campaign helped Oakland secure a postseason berth, though the 2018 A’s fell to the Yankees in the one-game Wild Card format. Lowrie went on to ink an ill-fated two-year deal with the Mets, with whom he was limited to just nine games due to ongoing knee troubles. Lowrie reached free agency and once again signed with the A’s, making good on a minor league deal and reemerging as the team’s regular second baseman. He signed one final deal with Oakland for the 2022 season but was limited to just 50 games.

Overall, Lowrie spent parts of seven seasons in Oakland, four in Boston, two in Houston and two in New York (though he was on the injured list for the bulk of that time). He’ll retire as a career .257/.330/.406 hitter (103 wRC+) with 121 home runs, 292 doubles, 17 triples, 590 runs scored, 594 runs batted in and eight stolen bases. He made an All-Star team and reached the postseason in six of his 15 seasons as a big leaguer.

Given his obvious talent, he’d surely have further padded those totals had he been able to avoid the injured list with more regularity, but health troubles followed him throughout his career. Lowrie most notably was plagued by a torn ligament in his thumb, a capsule tear in his knee and a broken finger in his right hand, amid several other nagging injuries. It’s easy to wonder what might have been with better health, but Lowrie’s career was still valued nearly 20 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, and just shy of 16 WAR per Baseball-Reference. He was regularly an average or better hitter when healthy, peaking with particularly big showings at the plate in 2010, 2013 and 2017-18. All told, he banked more than $60MM in salary over the course of his career and will be remembered particularly fondly for his time in Oakland.

What’s next for Lowrie isn’t clear, but he tells Slusser that he “loves the game too much” to simply ride off into the sunset. Lowrie adds that he has a “deep-rooted obsession with seeing the game continue to evolve, continue to get better, continue to promote participation and see it thrive because it’s the best game in the world.” Best wishes to Lowrie in whatever path he takes in the next step of what sounds like a lifelong baseball journey.

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By MLB Catcher Ryan Lavarnway

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Ryan Lavarnway played parts of 10 MLB seasons as a depth catcher. One day after announcing his retirement, he chatted live with MLBTR readers. Click here to read a transcript of the chat.

Ryan Lavarnway entered the professional ranks in 2008. A sixth-round draftee by the Red Sox out of Yale, he was in the majors within three years. Lavarnway debuted in August 2011, appearing in 17 games. He’d get into 46 contests the following season, tallying what would end up being a career-high 166 plate appearances. Lavarnway didn’t hit well that year but contributed a .299/.329/.429 line over 25 games for Boston’s eventual World Series winning club in 2013.

After one more season in Boston, he’d start to move around the league as a third/fourth catcher. Lavarnway split the 2015 season between the Orioles and Braves. He’d appear at the big league level with a different team for five more years, suiting up with the A’s, Pirates, Reds, Marlins and Indians through 2021. Lavarnway’s games played tally was in the single digits in all five seasons. That he got opportunities, however brief, with nearly a third of the league was a testament both to his strong clubhouse reputation and a quality .267/.360/.432 line in more than 2500 Triple-A plate appearances.

The California native ultimately appeared in 165 big league games over parts of ten seasons. He hit .217/.272/.345 with nine home runs, 30 doubles and 50 RBI over 486 plate appearances. He also represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics and twice in the World Baseball Classic. Lavarnway won Pool A MVP honors at the WBC in 2017 after collecting eight hits in 18 at-bats to help the team to a second-round berth that surprised most observers.

Lavarnway played in three games for Israel during this year’s World Baseball Classic to officially wrap up his playing career. Once the tournament ended, he announced his retirement in a thoughtful piece for The Athletic that’s well worth a read in full. Lavarnway conceded he didn’t have a great collection of physical tools but pointed to perseverance, love for the game, and strong support from coaches and teammates for helping him to a 15-year professional career.

Ryan graciously agreed to chat with MLBTR readers this morning. Click here to read a transcript.

Braves To Place Raisel Iglesias On Injured List

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Braves closer Raisel Iglesias will open the season on the injured list due to what the team announced as “low-grade” inflammation in his right shoulder (Twitter link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com). He won’t throw for at least the next seven days, and he’ll be reevaluated at that point.

Acquired in a last-minute deadline deal last summer, Iglesias was overwhelmingly dominant following his trade to Atlanta, yielding just one earned run on 17 hits and five walks with 30 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. With Kenley Jansen handling the bulk of ninth-inning duties, Iglesias recorded just one save with the Braves, but he was slated to serve as the team’s primary stopper in 2023. That’ll still likely be the plan, assuming this indeed proves to be a minor setback in his readiness for the season, but a clearer picture of his timetable to return to the roster won’t be gleaned until he’s completed this weeklong no-throw period.

Even with Iglesias sidelined, the Braves aren’t lacking for high-leverage options in what should be one of the league’s deeper bullpens. The previously mentioned Minter, who posted a 2.06 ERA while fanning nearly 35% of his opponents in 2022, is perhaps the favorite to take over as the closer for however long is necessary. However, the Braves also have several quality arms, including Collin McHugh, trade acquisition Joe Jimenez and lefty Dylan Lee, who has quietly broken out as one of the NL’s better lefties over the past couple seasons.

The Braves took on the entirety of Iglesias’ remaining contract as part of the deal, which also sent lefty Tucker Davidson and the since re-signed (by the Braves) Jesse Chavez to Anaheim. As such, they’re on the hook for a $16MM salary not only for the 2023 season but also the 2024 and 2025 campaigns — Iglesias’ age-33 through age-35 seasons. Over his past three big league seasons, Iglesias has pitched to a 2.61 ERA (2.58 FIP, 2.29 SIERA) with a 34.8% strikeout rate, 5.1% walk rate and 39.9% ground-ball rate in 155 innings.

Adam Wainwright To Open Season On Injured List

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Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright will open the season on the injured list due to a groin strain, manager Oli Marmol announced to the team’s beat this morning (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Wainwright was healthy enough to toss four innings of one-run ball for Team USA in its semi-final victory over Cuba in the World Baseball Classic earlier this week, but he suffered this new injury in the weight room two days later. Rule 5 pick Wilking Rodriguez will also open the year on the injured list due to tightness in his right shoulder, tweets Ben Frederickson of the Post-Dispatch.

There’s no precise timeline for Wainwright, though Marmol indicated that the right-hander is likely to miss “several weeks,” John Denton of MLB.com tweets. Wainwright has pitched seven innings thus far in Grapefruit League play and tossed another eight frames in the WBC. Were it not for this weight room incident, Wainwright would’ve had time to get in another Grapefruit League outing, and he was then expected to serve as the Cardinals’ Opening Day starter in what will be the final season of his Major League career.

With Wainwright out for the next few weeks, right-hander Jake Woodford is expected to step into the rotation alongside Jordan Montgomery, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Jack Flaherty. Woodford was likely ticketed for a long-relief role to begin the season and is plenty stretched out already, having pitched 17 2/3 innings over five appearances this spring. He’s posted a terrific 2.04 ERA with an 18-to-5 K/BB ratio in that time.

The 26-year-old Woodford has seen action with the Cards in each of the past three seasons, starting a total of 10 games in addition to another 55 relief appearances. He’s recorded a 3.61 ERA in that time, including a 2.23 mark in 48 1/3 innings just last season. Woodford carries one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates (15.9% career, 12.8% in 2022) but also possesses well above-average command, highlighted by last year’s 5.9% walk rate. In 2022, he used both his sinker and slider at career-high levels, and the resulting 52% ground-ball rate played right into one of the Cardinals’ greatest team strengths: infield defense. He’ll look for a similar outcome in 2023.

As for the 33-year-old Rodriguez, he’s something of a remarkable story. It’s been eight years since he last pitched in affiliated ball with the Yankees and nine year since his lone MLB cup of coffee with the Royals. The right-hander has been pitching regularly in the Venezuelan Winter League and, more recently, in the Mexican League. Over his past two seasons in Mexico, he’s tossed 73 innings of 2.71 ERA ball with gaudy strikeout totals, including a 2.01 ERA and 43.2% strikeout rate in 44 2/3 innings in 2022. The Yankees signed him to a minor league deal in August, but due to his prior minor league service from 2007-15 (with the Rays, Reds, Royals and Yankees), he was Rule 5-eligible and selected by the Cardinals.

Rodriguez will need to last the entire season on the Cardinals’ roster or injured list or else be placed on waivers and (if he clears) offered back to the Yankees. He’ll need at least 90 days on the active roster, as well, or else his Rule 5 status will roll over into the 2024 campaign and remain intact until he reaches that (cumulative) 90-day mark on the active roster.

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