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Archives for June 2023

Pirates Outright Chris Owings

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Pirates utility player Chris Owings has gone unclaimed on waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. The veteran infielder has the right to decline the assignment in favor of minor league free agency; it’s unclear whether he’s done so.

Owings signed a minor league deal with the Bucs over the offseason. He got out to a strong .273/.360/.523 start in 13 games with Indianapolis. The Pirates selected his contract midway through May, marking the 11th consecutive year in which he reached the highest level. Owings saw only sporadic action, collecting just four hits (all singles) while punching out 12 times in 25 plate appearances. He was designated for assignment over the weekend.

An everyday middle infielder early in his career with the D-Backs, Owings has settled in as a well-traveled depth player over the past few seasons. He’s suited up for five clubs in as many years since leaving Arizona. Going back to the start of the 2019 campaign, he’s a .174/.254/.287 hitter in 131 big league contests.

Owings has never been a particularly imposing offensive threat. He’s made his mark with defensive flexibility and solid production in the upper minors. He carries a career .306/.347/.482 line over parts of eight Triple-A campaigns.

Injury Notes: Lowe, Paddack, Thompson, Suarez

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The Rays placed second baseman Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list earlier this week. While the club initially announced his injury as lower back inflammation, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Lowe has a disc herniation. Manager Kevin Cash said before tonight’s game Lowe will be shut down from all baseball activities for two to three weeks.

It’ll clearly be more than a minimal stay for the power-hitting infielder. Lowe will need some time to ramp up once he can again begin working out, and the absence is significant enough he’ll probably require a minor league rehab assignment. Given that timeline, it doesn’t seem out of the question Lowe is out of MLB action through the All-Star Break. It’s the second straight season in which his back has given him problems. Lowe’s 2022 campaign was cut short by a lower back issue in mid-September.

The Rays figure to rotate a number of players through the keystone in his absence. Vidal Bruján started the first two games there after Lowe’s IL placement. The Rays kicked Taylor Walls over from third base tonight, penciling Isaac Paredes in at the hot corner.

A few other health updates from around the game:

  • The Twins have been without Chris Paddack since he underwent a second career Tommy John procedure last May. The right-hander has maintained a goal of returning for the stretch run this season. That still seems to be on track, as Paddack began throwing off a mound last week (relayed by Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). He’s shooting for a big league return in September, though it’s possible that’ll have to be in relief to accelerate his build-up. Acquired from the Padres on the eve of Opening Day last year, Paddack has made just five starts as a Twin. Nevertheless, the organization guaranteed him $12.25MM to buy out his first year of would-be free agency (2025) over the offseason.
  • Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson landed on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain over the weekend. Manager Dave Roberts initially pegged his expected absence around a month, though it seems that was a bit optimistic. Roberts told reporters this evening that Thompson is likely to miss beyond 30 days (via Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). It’s not expected to be a season-ending injury but there wasn’t any further clarity on the timeline. It seems possible he’ll wind up on the 60-day injured list if L.A. needs a 40-man roster spot in the coming weeks. The Dodgers called up rookie Jonny DeLuca to take Thompson’s spot on the MLB roster.
  • The Angels have been without starter José Suarez for a month on account of a strain in his throwing shoulder. It doesn’t seem the southpaw is particularly close to a return, as Sam Blum of the Athletic wrote yesterday that Suarez had yet to begin throwing. There’s not a clear timetable for when he might start working off a mound, although Blum adds that he has been working out at the team’s Arizona complex. A reliable #4 starter for the past few years, Suarez has had a nightmarish 2023. He was tagged for a 9.62 ERA over six appearances before he landed on the shelf.

Nationals Outright Andres Machado

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Nationals reliever Andrés Machado has gone unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment this week, the club announced. Machado has the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency because he’s cleared waivers multiple times in his career. However, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets the right-hander will bypass the open market and join the Nats’ Triple-A club in Rochester.

Machado opened the season in Triple-A. He tossed 12 1/3 frames of five-run ball to earn a call back to the majors at the end of April. He couldn’t carry that success over against big league hitters. Machado allowed 16 runs over 17 MLB frames, surrendering a staggering six homers in the process. He’s out of option years, so the Nats had to take him off the 40-man roster to send him back to the minors.

The 30-year-old Machado has pitched in each of the last three seasons for Washington. He posted a sub-4.00 ERA in both 2021-22 but never had the peripherals to match that decent run prevention. Machado fanned less than 20% of opposing hitters in both years while walking opponents at a slightly higher than average pace. That led to him going unclaimed on waivers over the offseason and again clearing this week.

Washington has made a couple changes in the bullpen in the last few days. The Nats also designated veteran righty Erasmo Ramírez for assignment this morning. The pair of moves has dropped their 40-man count to 38.

Tigers, Nationals Relievers Drawing Trade Interest

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Now that the calendar has flipped to June and the trade deadline is just over the horizon, teams will be starting to line up their plans for the deadline. Relief pitchers tend to always be in demand since just about every contender could squeeze another quality arm or two or three into their bullpen.

With the expanded playoffs, there are few obvious sellers at the moment, which puts a spotlight on those that do make sense to have players on the block. As such, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that clubs with bullpen needs are interested in the relievers of the Tigers and Nationals. He specifically mentions Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr., Alex Lange, Will Vest and Jason Foley as those being targeted.

It’s not terribly surprising to see either club being eyed up by competitors. The Nats have been firmly in rebuild mode for a few years now, trading away established players like Trea Turner, Max Scherzer and Juan Soto. Their 25-35 record this season has them in the basement of the National League East. The Tigers are a bit more murky, as they tried to come out of their rebuild last year but ended up at 66-96. Their 26-33 record this year isn’t great but that leaves them only four games back in a weak American League Central. Perhaps they could hang around for the next couple of months but they recently lost both their best pitcher and position player when Riley Greene and Eduardo Rodriguez hit the injured list. That doesn’t guarantee they will slide out further back in the coming weeks but the possibility is there.

Of course, each individual player will require a different calculus based on their performance, years of control, age, etc. Let’s take a look at all six of those names that were mentioned and see what the sellers and the buyers will be looking at. Most of these guys have multiple years of control, meaning the Tigers/Nationals don’t strictly need to pull the trigger on a trade this summer. However, relievers are often volatile from year to year and there’s the ever-present injury risk, meaning there’s always a temptation to sell high when the opportunity is there.

Alex Lange, Tigers

Lange, 27, is in his third major league season and is seemingly improving every time the calendar flips over. He posted a 4.04 ERA in 2021, 3.41 last year and is down to 2.55 this year. His strikeout rate has also ticked up at the same time, going from 24.1% to 30.3% to 35%. However, the same is true of his walk rate, which has grown from 9.9% to 11.4% to 13%. That’s a bit concerning but his overall results are still trending in a positive direction as he’s taken on a higher-leverage role. He earned 21 holds last year and has jumped into the closer’s role this year with 10 saves already. He likely won’t even reach arbitration after this season and he’s not slated for free agency until after the 2027 campaign.

Will Vest, Tigers

Vest, 28, is similarly improving year over year like Lange. He had a 6.17 ERA with the Mariners in 2021 as a Rule 5 pick before getting sent back to the Tigers in July. They are surely glad the M’s made that decision as he then had an ERA of 4.00 last year and is down to 2.74 this year. He’s striking out 27.5% of opponents this year while walking just 8.8% and getting grounders on half of the balls in play he’s allowed. He hasn’t been in as many high-leverage spots, only notching a couple of holds on the year. Much like Lange, he’ll likely come up short of Super Two status this winter and won’t be on path for free agency until the 2027-28 offseason.

Jason Foley, Tigers

Foley, 27, made a brief debut in 2021 with a 2.61 ERA in 11 outings. He got a lengthier showing last year and his ERA jumped up but was still at a respectable 3.88. He’s cut that way down to 1.42 this year thanks to an incredible 61.4% ground ball rate. His 21.6% strikeout rate is a bit below average but his 5.2% walk rate is very good. He’s been moved into a setup role, earning 10 holds and a couple of saves on the year so far. Like his two teammates listed above, he’s yet to qualify for arbitration and isn’t scheduled for free agency until after the 2027 campaign.

Kyle Finnegan, Nationals

Finnegan, 31, moved into a high-leverage role with the Nats in recent years. He earned 22 saves and 27 holds over 2021 and 2022 with a 3.53 ERA in that time as well as a 24.6% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 47.9% ground ball rate. His ERA has ticked up to 4.56 this year, but that’s mostly due to one really bad outing early in the season. The Rays put a five spot on him on April 4 and he has a 2.11 ERA since. Every pitcher’s stats would look better if you took out their worst game, but his peripherals are fairly close to his career norms and it’s possible that he continues to even things out over time. He drew some trade interest a year ago but ultimately stayed in Washington. He came into this season with exactly three years of service time and is making a salary of $2.3MM. He’ll be in line for raises in the next two years before qualifying for free agency after 2025.

Hunter Harvey, Nationals

Harvey, 28, got some brief time in the big leagues with the Orioles earlier in his career but was put on waivers after the 2021 season. He was claimed by the Giants and then the Nationals on a second waiver claim. Last year, he got his first extended stretch in the big leagues and responded with a 2.52 ERA in 38 outings. He struck out 28.7% of batters faced while walking 7.6%. This year, his strikeout rate is up to 31.4% but some extra home runs have pushed his ERA to 3.33. He got six holds last year but is already up to 11 this season, along with a trio of saves. He’s making $870K this year and would be able to go through arbitration two more times before reaching free agency after 2025.

Carl Edwards Jr., Nationals

Edwards, 31, had some solid seasons with the Cubs earlier in his career but he didn’t pitch much over the 2019-2021 period due to various injuries. He signed a minor league deal with the Nats prior to 2022 and has been able to bounce back. He had a 2.76 ERA in 57 appearances last year and is at 3.28 this year. He’s only striking out 18.2% of opponents this season and is walking 12.7% but he’s getting grounders at a strong 48% clip. He had 13 holds and a couple of saves last year and is at 12 holds and one save already this year. Unlike the other names on this list, he’s a pure rental, making $2.25MM and slated for free agency this winter.

Yankees Select Billy McKinney

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The Yankees announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney. He will take the active roster spot of Aaron Judge, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right great toe sprain. That move was reported on last night and is retroactive to June 4. To open a spot for McKinney on the 40-man roster, right-hander Ryan Weber was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

McKinney, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees this winter and has been having a great season in Triple-A thus far. He’s walked in 13.8% of his plate appearances while striking out at a 20% clip. He has nine home runs and is slashing .274/.388/.511 for a wRC+ of 127.

However, minor league success is nothing new for McKinney. He has developed a pattern of raking in Triple-A and then scuffling in the majors, with various clubs around the league giving him chances that he’s failed to take advantage of. Dating back to 2018, he’s played for the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers and Athletics. He’s received 768 plate appearances in the big leagues but hit just .206/.277/.387 in those for a wRC+ of 77. His minor league slash line in that same time frame is .261/.359/.498 for a wRC+ of 123.

He’ll now get another shot to succeed in the show, which has been spurred on the Yankees’ outfield mix dealing with various injuries. Harrison Bader and Greg Allen were already on the injured list and now Judge is joining them, subtracting three options from the center field depth chart. McKinney is capable of playing all three outfield spots and first base, so will give them a bit of versatile depth alongside players like Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Giancarlo Stanton.

McKinney is out of options and can’t be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers first. Even in that case, he’d have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright. If he finally manages to break out against big league pitching, the Yankees could keep him around for quite a while via arbitration. He would cross three years of service time this year if he stays up and would be slated for free agency after 2026 if he continued to justify his roster spot.

As for Weber, he was placed on the injured list on the weekend due to a forearm strain. There’s still no official word on what’s next for him but the fact that he’s been transferred to the 60-day IL isn’t a good sign. He’ll now be ineligible until the first week of August at the earliest.

Brewers Option Brice Turang, Reinstate Willy Adames

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The Brewers announced today that shortstop Willy Adames has been reinstated from the seven-day concussion list, with infielder Brice Turang optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Adames had a scary incident over a week ago when he was struck in the head by a foul ball while sitting in the dugout. He was sent to hospital for testing but seemed to avoid any serious injuries as he didn’t suffer any fractures and resumed baseball activities a few days later, which has allowed him to return after an absence of under two weeks.

The roster casualty of his return is Turang. Now 23, the youngster has been considered one of the top 100 prospects in the league at times during his rise to the majors. Baseball America gave him the #88 slot going into 2021 but didn’t have him on their list in the past two years. FanGraphs was still bullish coming into 2023, giving him the #65 slot in their preseason top 100.

The Brewers traded away Kolten Wong this winter, which opened the door for Turang to take over the second base job next to Adames. Unfortunately, his first taste of the big leagues hasn’t gone well. He’s struck out in 27.1% of his plate appearances while walking at just a 6.2% clip. His .205/.254/.307 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of just 52. He does have nine steals in 12 tries and has solid defensive grades at the keystone, but that batting line is clearly untenable.

He’ll now get a chance to get back into a groove in the minors, which will likely delay his path to free agency and perhaps arbitration. Since he cracked the Opening Day roster this year, he was on track to get a full year of service time but will now fall short of that as long as he spends 20 days in the minors.

With Turang gone, the second base duties will likely fall to some combination of Luis Urías, Owen Miller, Andruw Monasterio and Abraham Toro. Urías was just activated from the injured list and Toro was just recalled from the minors a week ago but Miller is hitting .313/.350/.463 on the season while Monasterio is at .350/.435/.550 in his first eight major league games.

Mariners Keeping Bryan Woo In Rotation For Now

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Pitching prospect Bryan Woo’s debut with the Mariners didn’t go as either he or the team hoped earlier this week, as the 23-year-old righty was tagged for six runs in two innings by a formidable Rangers offense. However, with Marco Gonzales (flexor strain) and Robbie Ray (Tommy John surgery) sidelined, Woo will remain in the rotation for the time being, general manager Justin Hollander said last night (Twitter links via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and Daniel Kramer of MLB.com).

Woo is one of the more touted prospects in the Mariners’ system and showed why over the course of the nine Double-A starts that preceded his call to the big leagues. In that time, he pitched to a sterling 2.05 ERA with a 34.3% strikeout rate, a 7% walk rate, a 12.3% swinging-strike rate and just 0.41 homers per nine frames. Though he didn’t storm out of the gates like fellow rookie Bryce Miller, who also made the jump right from Double-A to the Majors, Woo will continue to start every fifth day for the time being.

To some extent, that’s largely due to lack of quality alternatives. Ray is done for the season, and while Gonzales’ injury is less severe — Hollander told Divish, Kramer and others that there’s no concern over his ulnar collateral ligament — he won’t be back anytime soon, either. Gonzales likened the injury to one that cost him about five weeks of the 2021 season, per Hollander. If this is indeed similar, he’ll likely be out beyond the 15-day minimum and require a minor league rehab stint before returning late this month or in early July.

Veteran righty Chris Flexen was a key member of Seattle’s rotation for much of the 2021-22 seasons, but he’s struggling through one of the worst seasons of his professional career. Currently pitching in long relief after four rough starts early in the year, Flexen has been rocked for a 7.13 ERA in 35 1/3 frames. His 16.8% strikeout rate is below average but right in line with his 2021-22 levels. However, his walk rate has spiked to 9.3% — his worst as a Mariner — and he’s been rocked for an alarming 2.04 homers per nine innings pitched.

A .351 average on balls in play hasn’t helped Flexen’s cause, and his 20.5% homer-to-flyball rate figures to drop off, given his career 10.8% mark in that regard. Still, his performance of late hasn’t justified another look in the rotation. After beginning his time in the bullpen with eight shout innings, Flexen has yielded runs in three straight outings, yielding a combined seven runs on ten hits (three of them homers) and three walks in his past six frames.

Further depth options for Seattle are also banged up. Right-hander Easton McGee underwent Tommy John surgery last month, and Hollander noted that veteran Tommy Milone and journeyman Jose Rodriguez are both on the minor league injured list at the moment. The same is true of prospect Taylor Dollard, who hasn’t pitched in Triple-A since mid-April. Former first-rounder Emerson Hancock is healthy in Double-A but has been wildly inconsistent this season; he’s sitting on a 5.44 ERA, though nearly all of the damage against him has been done in three starts that have seen him yield nine, seven and six runs. He has a 1.45 ERA in his other eight appearances — including six shutout frames with seven strikeouts last night — but it’s understandable if the Mariners feel Woo’s Double-A consistency makes him the better option at the moment.

As things stand, Seattle’s rotation is still on generally solid ground. Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert have ranged from good to dominant thus far, and the aforementioned Miller’s career began in historic fashion through five starts before he was clobbered in his sixth and seventh outings. The club can also harbor some optimism that Gonzales will be able to return in relatively short order, though the veteran lefty has had his own struggles with consistency in 2023, leading to a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings.

If there are further injuries and setbacks on the pitching staff, however, that could prove to impact the team’s direction at the trade deadline, which is now fewer than eight weeks away. The Mariners are currently sitting on a 30-30 record, placing them a hefty 10 games back of the first-place Rangers in the AL West but a more manageable five games out of a Wild Card spot. They’ve recently seen key bats like Julio Rodriguez, Ty France and Teoscar Hernandez come to life after extended slumps, but those surges have come in conjunction with alarming swoons from early contributors like Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh.

Phillies Outright Cal Stevenson

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The Phillies announced that outfielder Cal Stevenson, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Stevenson, 26, has already been a part of a half dozen organizations in his short career. Drafted by the Blue Jays in 2018, he went to the Astros in the 2019 Derek Fisher trade, then to the Rays as part of the 2020 Austin Pruitt deal and to the A’s in the Christian Bethancourt trade. The A’s added him to their roster last season but designated him for assignment in mid-April of this year. He was then flipped to the Giants for cash but put on waivers a couple of weeks ago and landed with the Phillies.

Amid all of those transactions, Stevenson got into 29 major league games, 23 with the A’s last year and 6 with the Giants this year. He walked in 13.3% of his 83 plate appearances but also struck out in 30.1% of them and slashed just .145/.259/.188. But he continued to draw interest based on his strong work in the minors. In Triple-A last year, split between different organizations, he had a 14.7% walk rate and 17.6% strikeout rate while hitting .284/.389/.412. He also stole 16 bases and played all three outfield spots.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t gotten into a groove this year while bouncing from club to club, hitting .208/.344/.273 in 93 Triple-A plate appearances in 2023 so far. That production likely helped him pass through waivers unclaimed. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he won’t have the ability to elect free agency. That will allow the Phils to retain him as a bit of non-roster outfield depth as he tries to earn his way back to the big leagues.

Nationals To Designate Erasmo Ramirez For Assignment

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The Nationals are designating veteran righty Erasmo Ramirez for assignment, reports Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Cory Abbott, who is being recalled from Triple-A Rochester, as first reported by Talk Nats. Ramirez is the Nationals’ second reliever to be designated for assignment in as many days; righty Andres Machado was designated for assignment just yesterday.

It’s been a tough season for the veteran Ramirez, who has been tagged for a 6.33 ERA in 27 innings out of Davey Martinez’s bullpen. The 33-year-old right-hander is only a year removed from logging 86 innings of 2.92 ERA ball for the Nats, but after re-signing in D.C. over the winter, he’s seen his strikeout rate, walk rate, home-run rate, ground-ball rate and fastball velocity all trend in the wrong direction.

Ramirez’s 2022 season always appeared to have benefited from some degree good fortune. His .267 average on balls in play was well south of league average (and a bit shy of his own career mark), and an 81% strand rate is difficult to sustain over a larger sample — particularly with a below-average strikeout rate.

Still, the wheels have come off far more than last year’s numbers might have suggested. Ramirez’s 10.3% strikeout rate and 6% swinging-strike rate in 2023 rank as the third-lowest and fourth-lowest of any MLB pitcher (min. 20 innings pitched). After yielding just an 88.7 mph average exit velocity in 2022, he’s been torched for an average of 92.2 mph off the bat in 2023. Ramirez’s sinker sat at 93.1 mph last season but is down to 92.1 mph so far this year.

The Nats will have a week to trade Ramirez, pass him through outright waivers or release him. As a veteran with more than five years of big league service time, he can reject on outright assignment in favor of free agency without forfeiting the remainder of his $1MM guaranteed salary. Any team could sign him at that point, owing only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.

Abbott, 27, was with the Nationals earlier this season and tossed four innings of one-run ball across a pair of relief appearances. He also logged 48 innings for the 2022 Nats, yielding a 5.25 ERA. Abbott has been tagged for a 5.71 ERA across 41 Triple-A frames, operating exclusively as a starter in the minors. He’s likely ticketed for a bullpen role with the Nats, where he’ll replace Ramirez. In 69 1/3 career innings at the MLB level, Abbott has a 5.45 ERA with an 18.7% strikeout rate against a 12.1% walk rate.

Rangers To Release Rafael Ortega

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The Rangers are granting veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega his release from their Triple-A club, MLBTR has learned. The 32-year-old will head back to the open market in search of a better opportunity with a clearer path to big league playing time.

Ortega, 32, drew some attention in Yankees camp this spring and was viewed as a candidate to make the Opening Day roster late in camp. That didn’t happen, as the Yankees pivoted and signed Franchy Cordero while releasing Ortega, who quickly caught on with Texas.

Through 44 games and 199 plate appearances with Triple-A Round Rock this season, Ortega is hitting .226/.333/.381 with five home runs, 11 doubles and eight stolen bases. After a poor first month of the season, he’s logged a more palatable .247/.349/.427 slash with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) over the past month (107 plate appearances). Overall, Ortega has walked at a hefty 13.6% clip against a better-than-average 17.1% strikeout rate.

Even with that recent uptick, the overall results haven’t been strong enough to compel the Rangers to find room for Ortega on the big league roster. That’s understandable, given a huge performance from right fielder Adolis Garcia, a breakout year at the dish for center fielder Leody Taveras, and solid contributions from a combination of Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski, Josh H. Smith and Ezequiel Duran in left field.

Ortega’s overall performance this year in Triple-A doesn’t stand out much, but he had a productive 2021-22 run with the Cubs, batting a combined .265/.344/.408 with 18 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 701 Major League plate appearances. He paired that slash with a strong 10.6% walk rate and a 20.5% strikeout rate that clocked in a couple percentage points lower than the average MLB hitter.

Ortega has ample experience at all three outfield spots both in the big leagues and in the minors. He’s lined up in all three spots with Round Rock this season but most frequently slotted in as the center fielder for the Express. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average and Ultimate Zone Rating agree that Ortega has been a solid corner option in recent seasons at the MLB level but was below average (-5 DRS, -2 OAA) in 944 innings of center field work.

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