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The Opener: Pitchers’ Duel, Drury, Rodriguez

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On the heels of an early-morning trade report, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Pitchers’ duel in Minnesota:

Two of the AL’s second-place teams will be sending front-of-the-rotation starters to the mound in Minneapolis today, as Twins ace Pablo Lopez takes the mound against young Mariners star Logan Gilbert. The 28-year-old Lopez has struggled a bit in terms of run prevention through seven starts this year, as his 4.30 ERA is actually just below league average by measure of ERA+. That being said, the right-hander’s peripherals are as strong as ever. He’s struck out an excellent 30.2% of batters faced this season while walking just 5.4%, giving him a strong 3.48 FIP with even better expected numbers.

Twins fans are surely hoping that Lopez’s results start catching up to his peripherals today, as Gilbert has been among the very best in baseball at stifling opposing offenses this year. Through seven starts, Gilbert sports an AL-best 1.69 ERA in 48 innings of work with a 3.24 FIP. Some of Gilbert’s run-prevention can surely be attributed to a microscopic .183 BABIP, but the right-hander has still struck out an impressive 28.2% of batters faced against a 7.3% walk rate. The two aces will clash at Target Field this afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 12:10pm local time.

2. Drury headed to the IL?

Angels infielder Brandon Drury may be poised for a trip to the injured list today. The 31-year-old was pulled from yesterday’s game in the sixth inning due to tightness in his left hamstring, and after the game told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that while he was going to be evaluated further today he wasn’t “feeling very good” in the aftermath of his departure. A trip to the IL could allow Drury time not only to heal, but to try and rediscover his 2023 form. While the infielder clubbed 26 homers in 125 games with the Angels last year, he’s hit just .173 with minimal power so far this season. It seems likely that infielder Luis Guillorme, reportedly acquired from the Braves this morning, would replace Drury on the club’s roster in the event that he requires a trip to the shelf.

3. Rodriguez awaiting MRI results:

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez underwent an MRI yesterday afternoon, GM Mike Hazen told AZSports yesterday. Rodriguez has yet to make his Diamondbacks debut, having instead spent the entire season to this point on the injured list nursing a strained lat. That could be set to change soon, however, as Hazen indicated that with favorable results on the MRI, the lefty will be cleared to start a throwing program.

Coming off an excellent 2023 season where he pitched to a 3.30 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 26 starts with the Tigers, Rodriguez would provide a boost to the reigning NL champions, who have struggled to a 17-20 record and have fallen into third place in the NL West, eight games behind the Dodgers for the division crown. Arizona has relied on young arms such as Slade Cecconi and Ryne Nelson in the rotation amid Rodriguez’s absence.

MLBTR Podcast: Luis Arráez To San Diego, Other Marlins Trade Candidates And Discussing A Potential Automated Strike Zone

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • When can we expect to see Paul Skenes called up by the Pirates and when do you think Jackson Holliday will be brought up again by the Orioles? (17:10)
  • I’m looking ahead at robo umps calling balls/strikes. Do you think it will dramatically affect counting stats for hitters while affecting pitchers stats negatively in the other direction? (20:55)
  • What measures can be implemented to stop teams like the Tigers from continually rebuilding and why do the Tigers hesitate to send struggling players to the minors? (31:50)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Pirates To Promote Paul Skenes

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The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft is on his way to the majors. Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes will make his highly anticipated MLB debut this Saturday in a home outing against the visiting Cubs, the the team announced.

The 6’6″, 235-pound Skenes is the embodiment of a prototypical, power-armed ace. He’s widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the sport — if not the top pitching prospect. Pittsburgh selected him with the top pick in last year’s draft after Skenes posted a 2.18 ERA and fanned more than 36% of his opponents in a three-year college career that included two seasons with the Air Force Academy and a third with the eventual national champion Louisiana State University Tigers. Skenes posted a comical 1.69 ERA over the course of 122 innings, striking out a hair over 45% of his opponents.

You won’t find a scouting report on Skenes that doesn’t laud him as a potential perennial All-Star and front-of-the-rotation pitcher with Cy Young upside. His fastball sits in the upper 90s and can reach 102 mph. Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs all give him credit for a plus-plus (70-grade) fastball on the 20-80 scale, with MLB.com even pegging as an 80-grade pitch. His slider draws similar praise.

The Athletic’s Keith Law notes that Skenes’ four-seam/slider combo was so dominant in college that he needed to work on his seldom-used changeup and a two-seamer in order to reach his ace-level ceiling. He’s worked to incorporate both into his repertoire more regularly in Triple-A this year. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel lists Skenes alongside David Price, Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg as one of the four best pitching prospects in the past 20 years of the MLB draft.

To this point in his young career, Skenes has done nothing to suggest the hype is unwarranted. He’s made seven starts in Triple-A — the Pirates have limited his per-outing workload, leaving him at 27 1/3 innings on the season — and posted a 0.99 ERA with an over-the-moon 42.9% strikeout rate against a 7.6% walk rate. Skenes has kept the ball on the ground at a 51% clip and yielded just one homer all season. Though Pittsburgh has ramped him up in quite cautious fashion, he’s now been up to six innings in a start, so he should be able to work relatively deep into his debut effort if his performance dictates.

Skenes’ ascension to the Pirates’ rotation comes at a time when fellow rookie Jared Jones looks well on his way to becoming a high-end rotation arm himself. The 22-year-old Jones entered the season as a top-100 prospect himself and has raced out to a brilliant start: 2.63 ERA, 33.8% strikeout rate, 3.2% walk rate in 41 innings.

In an ideal setting, that electric young duo will join stalwart righty Mitch Keller, who signed a five-year extension during spring training, in forming the core of the Bucs’ rotation for years to come. Veteran Martin Perez is holding down one of the rotation spots behind that trio for now, but he’s only on a one-year contract. Fellow southpaw Marco Gonzales entered the season in the rotation as well, but he’s since gone down with a forearm strain. The Pirates are surely hopeful that some combination of Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler and Tom Harrington can break through in the majors and form a homegrown rotation that can thrust the team into perennial contention.

The timing of Skenes’ promotion comes at a point when enough time has elapsed that he can’t accrue a full year of big league service time — at least not by conventional means. There will only be 143 days remaining in the season by the time he debuts, leaving him well shy of the requisite 172 for a year of service. However, under the prospect promotion incentives in the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, Skenes could still gain a full year of service if he finishes in the top two of National League Rookie of the Year voting.

In the event that Skenes achieves that feat, he’d have five additional years of club control, meaning he wouldn’t be eligible for free agency until the 2029-30 offseason and wouldn’t reach arbitration eligibility until the 2026-27 offseason. If Skenes sticks in the big leagues but does not gain a year of service based on Rookie of the Year voting, he’d be under club control through the 2030 season. However, the timing of his promotion also leaves him as a surefire Super Two player in that scenario, meaning he’d still be arb-eligible following the 2026 campaign and would go through the arbitration process four times rather than the standard three.

Mets Notes: Bader, Megill, Gilbert, Williams

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Harrison Bader has been out of the starting lineup for three of the Mets’ last five contests. He was penciled back into center field today before their game against the Cardinals was postponed.

On Tuesday, Bader expressed some frustration with his somewhat sporadic playing time in a chat with Mike Puma of the New York Post. “I don’t handle it well, I can tell you that,” the outfielder said about a reduced role. “But I certainly don’t let it affect the way I prepare, the way I keep focused when I do get an opportunity to go in there and play, even if it’s later in the game. If anything, it lights more of a fire under my ass. I’m bothered by it for sure. But I respect what they view as giving us an opportunity to win. And at the same time whether my name is in there or not I prepare to play every single day of the season.”

Bader stopped short of outwardly criticizing the coaching staff. However, he acknowledged that playing less “has been a challenge, not what (he) expected” when he signed a one-year, $10.5MM free agent deal. “I want to win, but I want to play,” he added. “We all want to play, but it’s hard. We have got a lot of guys and I respect the position that everyone is in. … I don’t know who makes the lineup, but whatever we have got going on I respect that position.”

The Gold Glove outfielder has started 26 of New York’s 36 games on the season. Manager Carlos Mendoza has turned to more of an outfield rotation recently. That’s largely a credit to DJ Stewart and Tyrone Taylor, both of whom are hitting well. Stewart, who has been limited to facing right-handed pitching, has made up for a lowly .185 average by drawing 17 walks and hitting four homers over 85 plate appearances. Taylor has a more conventional .288/.312/.425 batting line in 78 trips.

Stewart worked as the designated hitter for the season’s first couple weeks. J.D. Martinez has stepped into that role. The Mets have Starling Marte locked in as the primary right fielder. If Mendoza wants to get either Stewart or Taylor into the lineup, that generally necessitates pushing Brandon Nimmo to center and sitting Bader.

Bader is hitting .280/.314/.340 with one homer through 105 plate appearances. That has made him the least productive of the Mets’ outfielders offensively, at least by measure of wRC+, yet it’s solid work overall. Considering that Bader is also the team’s best defensive outfielder, he certainly hasn’t played his way out of the lineup. As Mendoza pointed out to Puma, it’s more so that Stewart and Taylor have so far outperformed their anticipated roles.

That all falls under the category of good problem to have, as the solid contributions from five outfielders gives the Mets cover if anyone struggles or suffers an injury. Aside from Nimmo, there were questions about everyone in that group heading into the season. Marte and Bader had career-worst offensive showings in 2023. Stewart is a 30-year-old who has never played more than 100 games in an MLB season. Taylor has primarily been a depth outfielder whom the Brewers flipped to New York for a minimal return over the winter.

The Mets also brought in Adrian Houser in that deal, though his tenure in Queens has gotten off to a much rockier start. Houser was at least temporarily pushed to the bullpen after struggling to an 8.16 ERA over his first six starts. The Mets called up top prospect Christian Scott last week to join Luis Severino, Jose Quintana, José Buttó and Sean Manaea in the rotation. Mendoza indicated they could go to a six-man rotation with a challenging section of the schedule coming up, but they’re also not far from having to make another decision with the pitching staff.

Tylor Megill has been on the injured list since departing his first start with a shoulder strain. The right-hander has made a trio of rehab outings, including four hitless innings with seven strikeouts at Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday. Mendoza said Megill will make another start for Syracuse on Sunday before the team reinstates him (X link via Puma). It remains to be seen if he’ll reclaim a spot on the MLB staff. Megill still has a pair of minor league options, so the Mets could keep him in Triple-A even when he’s fully healthy.

In other injury news, prospects Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert are seeking a return to game action by the end of the month or early in June, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Williams has been delayed by a right wrist injury, while Gilbert suffered a right hamstring strain. Williams, the 14th overall pick in the 2022 draft, started the season at Double-A Binghamton. Gilbert, acquired in last summer’s Justin Verlander trade, opened the year in Syracuse after a huge finish in Double-A last season.

Guardians Outright Tyler Beede

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The Guardians sent right-hander Tyler Beede outright to Triple-A Columbus, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Beede, 31 this month, made it back to the big leagues after spending 2023 in Japan. He signed a minor league deal with the Guardians and cracked the Opening Day roster by throwing 13 innings in Spring Training with a 4.15 earned run average.

Unfortunately, the regular season results weren’t there for him, despite a strong 26.5% strikeout rate. He allowed 13 earned runs in 14 innings, leading to an ERA of 8.36. There was a bit of bad luck in there, as he wouldn’t sustain a .389 batting average on balls in play nor a 55.6% strand rate over a larger sample. But he also didn’t do himself any favors with a 13.2% walk rate. His 5.00 FIP was better than his ERA but still not great, though his 3.78 SIERA was quite optimistic.

Once a top prospect with the Giants, Beede struggled to cement himself in the big leagues from 2018 to 2022, exhausting his option years in the process. That means he is now out of options and can’t be easily sent down to the minors. He was bumped off the Guardians’ 40-man recently and the other 29 clubs all passed on the chance to grab him off waivers.

All players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to reject outright assignments, electing free agency instead. Beede qualifies on both counts and could head to the open market if he so chooses.

Rangers Sign Kyle Barraclough To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed right-hander Kyle Barraclough to a minor league contract, tweets Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today. He will head to Triple-A Round Rock, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Texas also granted veteran left-hander Danny Duffy his release from a minor league deal, Wilson adds.

Barraclough, who turns 34 later this month, has pitched in parts of nine major league seasons. He was a quality high-leverage reliever for a couple years at the beginning of his career with the Marlins. Barraclough has bounced around the league of late, though he has earned brief MLB looks in each of the last three years.

That included a three-game stint with the Red Sox in 2023. Barraclough gave out far too many free passes, walking six and hitting four batters in 7 2/3 innings. He allowed 11 earned runs along the way. Barraclough had more success with the Sox’s Triple-A team in Worcester, where he turned in a 3.65 ERA across 75 innings. Control was still an issue, as he walked more than 14% of opponents against a slightly below-average 20.4% strikeout rate.

Barraclough started 13 of his 14 Triple-A appearances last year. He has come out of the bullpen for all 291 outings of his big league career. Texas has taken some blows to its rotation depth — the latest came this afternoon when Dane Dunning hit the injured list — but Barraclough’s command suggests he’s better suited as a reliever.

Duffy, 35, returns to the open market. The former World Series winner never got to the majors with Texas and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since June 2021 when he was a member of the Royals. Duffy has spent the past couple seasons on minor league contracts with the Rangers. He had been working in relief at Round Rock, tossing 18 innings over 10 appearances. Duffy walked 17 of 82 batters faced en route to a 5.50 ERA.

Paul Goldschmidt’s Toughest Stretch As A Cardinal

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The Cardinals are back at the bottom of the NL Central through six weeks. At 15-21, they're ahead of only the Marlins and Rockies in the National League. St. Louis viewed their 2023 last-place finish as an anomaly. They invested in their rotation to try for a quick turnaround, but their current 68-win pace is below where they ended last season.

Their problems aren't quite the same as they were in 2023. Last year, the biggest issues were a starting rotation that couldn't miss bats and a defense that was surprisingly the worst in MLB at turning batted balls into outs. The Cards haven't been great in either area thus far in 2024, but the slight improvements they've made in those facets have been negated by a lifeless offense. At the center of those struggles: Paul Goldschmidt, who is amidst what is by far the worst stretch of his time in St. Louis.

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Giants Place Jorge Soler On Injured List

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The Giants put designated hitter Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 5, due to a shoulder strain. San Francisco recalled Heliot Ramos from Triple-A Sacramento to take the open roster spot. Ramos is in tonight’s lineup as the DH against Colorado righty Peter Lambert.

Soler inked a three-year, $42MM free agent deal in the middle of February. San Francisco hoped he’d add a needed power presence to the middle of the lineup after hitting 36 homers for the Marlins last season. That isn’t how things have played out thus far. While Soler is tied for the team lead with five home runs, he’s hitting .202/.294/.361 through 136 plate appearances overall. He fell into a particularly poor stretch in the week and a half leading up to the injury. Soler has just three hits in his last 10 games.

It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action. The Giants could rotate a few players through the DH spot in his absence. Wilmer Flores got a couple starts there while Soler was day-to-day. Ramos, 24, should also get some run now that he’s back in the majors. The former first-round pick has seen his stock fall in recent years because of continued strikeout issues in the upper minors. He’s out to a strong start in Sacramento, though, hitting eight homers with a .296/.388/.565 slash over 134 trips. He’s still striking out at an elevated 27.6% clip, but he’s drawing walks and hitting for power.

While the Giants lose one of their biggest offseason pickups, they could welcome back another in the near future. Blake Snell has been out since April 23 with an adductor strain. The defending NL Cy Young winner will throw a bullpen session tomorrow and is scheduled for a rehab start at Low-A San Jose this weekend, tweets Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Snell has struggled over his first three starts with the Giants. The left-hander has surrendered 15 runs through 11 2/3 innings. He has fanned 12 but allowed 18 hits and issued five walks.

Angels Release Zac Kristofak

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The Angels have released right-hander Zac Kristofak, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment last week when the Angels selected Willie Calhoun’s contract.

There’s no clear indication as to why Kristofak was released rather than passed through outright waivers, although speculatively speaking, it’s possible there’s an injury at play. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers and thus must be traded or released if removed from the 40-man roster by way of a DFA.

The 26-year-old Kristofak made his big league debut earlier this season, pitching two innings and yielding three unearned runs on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts. A 14th-round pick back in 2019, Kristofak struggled early in his pro career, posting ERAs north of 6.00 in the low minors in his first two seasons (2019 and 2021). He’s since posted a combined sub-4.00 mark while climbing to the upper tiers of the minor leagues and, earlier this season, to the majors. In 18 2/3 frames of Triple-A work this year, he’d turned in a 3.38 earned run average — albeit with a shaky 10-to-5 K/BB ratio (13% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate).

If Kristofak indeed has encountered an injury that prevented him from being placed on outright waivers, it’s quite possible he’ll simply re-sign with the Halos on a minor league contract. That’s a common outcome for injured players who are released on the heels of a DFA, though certainly not a universal one. Kristofak will have the opportunity to hear from other clubs upon clearing release waivers.

Mariners Select Kirby Snead

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The Mariners announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of left-hander Kirby Snead and reinstated right-hander Eduard Bazardo from the injured list. In corresponding moves, left-hander Tayler Saucedo was placed on the 15-day IL due to right knee hyperextension and right-hander Emerson Hancock was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. To open a 40-man spot for Snead, righty Matt Brash was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Snead, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the winter. He reported to Triple-A and has made 12 appearances at that level so far this year with a 2.92 earned run average. That’s supported by a 27.7% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate and a huge 63.3% ground ball rate.

The southpaw has had some encouraging results in the minors before, but has struggled in the majors. He currently has a career ERA of 5.20 in the big leagues, tossing 64 innings over the previous three seasons between the Blue Jays and Athletics. He was outrighted by Oakland in October, which led to his deal with the Mariners.

With Saucedo going on the IL, Snead will step in as the club’s second lefty reliever alongside Gabe Speier. Snead is out of options and can’t be easily sent back down to the minors down the line. However, he has less than two years of service time and could therefore be cheaply retained into the future if he holds onto his roster spot all year.

Hancock, 25 this month, came into the year as the club’s sixth starter behind Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. But Woo began the year on the injured list due to right medial elbow inflammation, which opened a rotation spot for Hancock.

Through seven starts, Hancock has a 5.24 ERA with a tepid 15.4% strikeout rate. Woo has been on a rehab assignment of late, having already made three starts with the most recent one being a five-inning outing on Saturday. Hancock’s option appears to pave the way for Woo to be reinstated at some point in the near future.

As for Brash, he’s been on the 15-day IL all year due to right elbow inflammation. This transfer is backdated to his initial IL placement, meaning he can’t be reinstated until late May. That doesn’t seem to be a possibility anyway, as he was shut down at the end of April and there haven’t been any substantive updates on his condition since then.

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