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Marlins To Move A.J. Puk Back To Bullpen

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Marlins left-hander A.J. Puk was in the Marlins’ rotation to start this year before landing on the injured list but he will be moved back to the bullpen when he’s healthy. Manager Skip Schumaker passed the news along to Christina De Nicola of MLB.com today.

It’s not necessarily a shock that the Marlins are making this decision since the plan to move Puk to the rotation got off to a horrible start. His first four outings resulted in 14 earned runs allowed over 13 2/3 innings. He struck out 12 opponents but gave out walks to 17 of them before landing on the IL over the weekend due to fatigue in his throwing shoulder.

There was some logic to the plan, as Puk was once a highly-touted prospect in the Athletics’ system who was seen as a future major league starter. However, he required shoulder surgery in 2020 and then also had some other health issues, including a strained left biceps and nerve irritation in his left elbow.

The A’s decided to move Puk to a relief role after those injuries and the initial results were good. In 2022, Puk tossed 66 1/3 innings out of their bullpen with a 3.12 earned run average, striking out 27% of batters faced. They flipped him to the Marlins for JJ Bleday prior to 2023, and Puk continued to have success as a reliever in Miami. His ERA ticked up slightly to 3.97 but his strikeout rate also jumped to 32.2%.

After two years of success as a reliever, it’s understandable why the Marlins thought the time was right for him to see if he could move back to the rotation. From a team standpoint, they had seen their rotation depth thinned out by the trades of Pablo López and Jake Eder, as well as the Tommy John surgery of Sandy Alcántara. Since moving Puk to the rotation, that depth was further thinned by Eury Pérez also requiring Tommy John, while Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett battled less-significant injuries.

But the poor results and Puk’s shoulder injury seem to have convinced the Marlins to give up on the experiment, at least for now. He’ll move back to the bullpen when he returns from the IL and will hopefully re-establish himself in that role.

The Marlins can control Puk for two more seasons beyond the current campaign. Given their poor start this season, they are trending towards being sellers at the deadline this summer. Puk could perhaps be made available but the extra years of control also mean that they could decide to hang onto him.

The Miami rotation currently consists of Cabrera, Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers and Ryan Weathers. Tonight’s starter is Sixto Sánchez but he’s unlikely to give the club much length since he’s mostly been pitching single-inning appearances this year and hardly pitched at all in the three previous years due to ongoing shoulder problems.

Schumaker seems open-minded about Sánchez taking the ball again, telling De Nicola it depends on how things go tonight, but Garrett is also nearing a return. Per De Nicola, the lefty is planned for four innings and/or 60 pitches in a Triple-A rehab start on Friday.

The Marlins’ Historically Feeble Catching Corps

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The Marlins have been searching for a long-term answer at catcher since trading J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies back in February of 2019. The organizational hope at the time was that Jorge Alfaro, acquired alongside righty Sixto Sanchez and lefty Will Stewart in that very trade, could step up and fill the role. That never really came to fruition, and the Fish have cycled through him, Jacob Stallings and a long list of veteran role players in an effort to hold things over at the position.

It’s never gone particularly well, but it’s also never been as bad as it is right now. The Marlins opened the season with glove-first Nick Fortes and trade acquisition Christian Bethancourt lined up to shoulder the workload behind the plate. The results are quite literally some of the worst in history. Through the Marlins’ first 25 games — more than 15% of their season — they’ve gotten exactly five hits from their catchers. All have come from Fortes, who has three singles and a pair of doubles on the year. He’s 5-for-46 at the plate. Bethancourt is hitless in 23 plate appearances. Jhonny Pereda, recently selected from Triple-A Jacksonville to replace Bethancourt when he  hit the IL due to a viral illness, is 0-for-5 to begin his big league career. (Miami reinstated Bethancourt from the injured list today and optioned Pereda back to Jacksonville.)

Overall, Marlins catchers own a staggering .068/.117/.096 slash line on the season. That obviously places them at the bottom of the league; by measure of wRC+, Miami catchers have been 138% worse than league-average (-38). Since Realmuto left the Marlins, their catchers have combined for a .223/.285/.345 batting line in 2734 plate appearances.

The Fish likely knew the catcher’s spot would be a weak point in the lineup. Fortes hit just .204/.263/.299 in 323 plate appearances last season but is a plus defender behind the dish who was credited as being five runs better than average by both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast in just 774 innings in 2023.

Bethancourt has more power (11 homers, .156 ISO last season) but hit just .225/.254/.381 thanks to a lofty 27.4% strikeout rate and paltry 3.9% walk rate. He’s a rocket-armed defender who’s thrown out one-third of attempted base thieves in his career and ranked in the 95th percentile of MLB catchers for his pop time behind the plate last season, however. True to form, he’s thrown out two of the three runners who’ve run against him this season.

Bethancourt is also likely a favorite of Miami president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who was the Rays’ GM when Tampa Bay acquired Bethancourt from the A’s last year and who quickly acquired Bethancourt in a trade after the Guardians claimed him off waivers from the Rays.

At the time of that trade, it appeared likely to be one of multiple additions for the Fish. Bendix said shortly after being hired that it’d be “ideal” to acquire multiple catchers over the course of the offseason, recognizing that it was an area of organizational weakness. In the most literal sense possible, the Marlins accomplished that goal; Bethancourt was acquired via trade, and the aforementioned Pereda was signed as a minor league free agent. It’s hard to imagine that a cash swap and a minor league signing were the goal at the time of those comments from Bendix, however.

Marlins ownership clearly didn’t give the front office much to work with in terms of financial firepower this offseason. The team’s only major league free agent signing was a one-year, $5MM deal for Tim Anderson. The Fish made little to no effort to re-sign Jorge Soler after he opted out of the final year of his contract — and that’s according to Soler himself. Even on the eve of Opening Day, the Marlins were still trimming payroll, shipping utilityman Jon Berti to the Yankees in exchange for a pair of minor league outfielders.

The Marlins clearly believe they’ll get more offense out of Fortes and Bethancourt — a low bar to clear thus far in the season — as they’ve made no effort to augment the position thus far. Veteran Eric Haase and his modest $1MM salary passed through waivers unclaimed in late March. When the Giants designated Joey Bart for assignment, the Pirates acquired him in exchange for a relief prospect they drafted in the eighth round last year. Veterans Francisco Mejia (Brewers) and Curt Casali (Cubs) both signed minor league deals with other clubs after the season began.

Outside of Bart (a long shot), none of those names was likely to emerge as a long-term option. They’re generally short-term stopgaps at best and future DFA candidates themselves at worst. But given the total dearth of production the Marlins have received from the catching position this year, even a short-term stopgap seems like a wise target — particularly since the farm isn’t likely to produce any immediate help.

None of Miami’s top-tier prospects are catchers. Will Banfield is the most highly regarded of the bunch, ranking 16th in their system at Baseball America and 23rd at MLB.com. Banfield, however, carries a similar profile to that of Fortes — a plus defender with questionable offensive skills. He’s off to a woeful .161/.203/.304 start in Triple-A and has struck out in an eye-popping 49.2% of his 59 plate appearances. Joe Mack, whom the Marlins selected 31st overall in 2021, is another glove-first option who’s further down the ladder. He hit just .218/.295/.287 in High-A last year, though he did rip through pitching at that same level this year (.347/.467/.561) and earn a promotion to Double-A in the process.

Fortes, Bethancourt and Pereda won’t keep floundering at this severe a level, but none of that trio is likely to emerge as a solid offensive contributor either. There was inherent risk in entering the season with a pair of backstops who sport career wRC+ marks of 69 (Bethancourt) and 70 (Fortes). Things have gone worse than anyone could’ve reasonably expected, but it was always a possibility that the Fish would be rostering one of the least-productive catching tandems in the sport — if not the worst. The lack of any meaningful effort to address the deficiency is perplexing but feels like something that can and will be addressed via the trade market — whether at this year’s deadline or in the offseason.

Miami isn’t going to go out and trade prospects for an established veteran — not when their season is all but lost before the end of April — but if and when the Marlins begin selling off veterans of their own, targeting some upper-level catching help wouldn’t be a surprising outcome.

Cubs To Place Cody Bellinger On IL With Fractured Rib, Recall Pete Crow-Armstrong

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3:55pm: Bellinger technically has two cracked ribs, Counsell tells Jesse Rogers of MLB.com, though there’s still no timeline for his absence.

3:25pm: The Cubs are going to place outfielder Cody Bellinger on the injured list due to a fractured rib, per Robert Murray of FanSided, relaying words from manager Craig Counsell on 670 The Score. Fellow outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong will be recalled in a corresponding move.

Bellinger crashed into the wall at Wrigley Field last night while attempting to make a catch and was later removed. The club announced that he had a right rib contusion with Counsell saying after the game that the initial x-rays came back negative. It would appear that further testing has revealed a fracture and Bellinger will require a stint on the injured list to heal up.

It’s unclear at this point exactly how much time Bellinger will need to heal this fracture but the club will likely provide more information today or in the coming days. Either way, it’s an unfortunate blow for the club as Bellinger was just starting to heat up at the plate.

He hit .167/.270/.296 through his first 14 contests but his line in his past eight games was .333/.412/.700. Instead of building on that momentum, he’ll now have to sit out while dealing with this rib injury for some unknown amount of time.

For the Cubs, they already have several pitchers on the injured list and today’s news will leave them doubly shorthanded in the outfield. Seiya Suzuki went on the IL last week due to an oblique strain and is looking at an absence of about a month or so.

Those injuries will open the door for Crow-Armstrong to get another shot in the majors. He’s long been considered an excellent defender but with less certainty about his offense. He got his first taste of the majors late last year but hit just .000/.176/.000 through his first 19 plate appearances. He’s also been struggling in Triple-A so far this year, with a line of .203/.241/.392 in 83 plate appearances down there.

Despite the lack of offense lately, Crow-Armstrong might get a decent run of playing time in center while Bellinger is out. As mentioned, he should at least provide the Cubs with strong glovework, but the hitting will be more of a question mark. Ideally, he could get back to the form he showed prior to his promotion last year, when he hit .283/.365/.511 between Double-A and Triple-A. Some combination of Ian Happ, Mike Tauchman and Alexander Canario will also be in the mix for outfield playing time, with Patrick Wisdom heading out to the grass on some occasions as well.

For Bellinger personally, this injury will possibly put a dent in his plans to return to the open market in search of the long-term contract he didn’t find this winter. Though he hit .307/.356/.525 for the Cubs last year while also providing strong outfield defense, it seems that teams around the league were still hesitant about his injury-induced struggles in previous seasons. He required shoulder surgery after the 2020 season and hit just .193/.256/.355 over the two subsequent campaigns.

Even though his results were good last year, he also spent some time on the injured list due to a left knee contusion. Even when he returned from the IL, the Cubs kept him at first base for a while to limit the wear and tear on him, as opposed to running him out to the more demanding position of center field.

The bounceback in 2023 wasn’t enough to get Bellinger the mega deal he was likely hoping to secure, and he instead returned to the Cubs on a three-year deal that allows him to opt out after each season. After inking that deal, the ideal scenario would have seen Bellinger stay healthy and productive for the whole year, therefore casting aside some of the doubts about his health and long-term viability. Each day that he spends on the injured list this year will limit his ability to shift the narrative before deciding whether to trigger his opt-out at the end of the season.

Blue Jays Promote Addison Barger For Major League Debut

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The Blue Jays announced that outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has been placed on the 10-day injured list with left hip flexor inflammation. Infielder/outfielder Addison Barger was recalled in a corresponding move and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Johnny Giunta of the Gate 14 Podcast reported Barger’s promotion prior to the official announcement.

Kiermaier was removed from last night’s game with flexor discomfort in his left hip. He underwent surgery on that hip in July of 2022 while with the Rays, spending the rest of that season on the injured list.

He managed to bounce back from that procedure and stay largely healthy with the Jays in 2023. He got into 129 games last year, just the third time in his career that he hit that tally and only the second since 2015. That led him and the Jays to reconnect on yet another one-year deal, though his 2024 season has been rough so far. He’s hit .193/.246/.246 through 62 plate appearances and will now land on the shelf to rehab this injury. It’s unclear how long the Jays expect him to be out of action.

Thankfully for the Jays, they have another excellent defensive center fielder who can step in. Like Kiermaier, Daulton Varsho is known for his strong glovework out on the grass/turf but he’s been in good form with the bat this year. He’s hit six home runs in his last 11 games and is slashing .250/.325/.569 on the year overall. He’s spent more time in left field with Kiermaier in center but will now slide over and take the bulk of the playing time up the middle.

The injury will open up room for Barger to make his major league debut. Now 24, he was a sixth-round selection of the Jays back in 2018 but launched himself onto the prospect map in 2022. That year, he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, hitting 26 home runs and slashing .308/.378/.555. After that season, the Jays added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft and Baseball America ranked him the #4 prospect in the club’s system.

2023 was a bit of a setback, with Barger missing time due to an elbow injury. He only got into 88 Triple-A games and hit a diminished .250/.353/.403 in that time. He seems to be healthy and back on track here in 2024, as he’s currently slashing .314/.435/.586 for the year. He has three home runs and is walking almost as much as he’s striking out, a 16.5% rate of free passes compared to a 17.6% rate of punchouts.

Barger has played all around the infield but has also seen increasing time in right field over the past two seasons, a natural fit for him since he’s considered to have an excellent throwing arm. With Varsho in center, perhaps George Springer moves from right to left on occasion, or Barger simply helps out in left field. If players like Davis Schneider, Cavan Biggio, Ernie Clement or Isiah Kiner-Falefa spend more time in the outfield, Barger can factor into the infield mix instead.

The left-handed bat of Barger will also be a good fit for a fairly righty-heavy lineup. With Kiermaier on the IL, the primary lefties for the Jays are just Varsho and Biggio. Daniel Vogelbach is also on the roster but has been in a fairly narrow role due to his limited defensive value. With Justin Turner the primary designated hitter, Vogelbach has made just three starts as the DH this year, in addition to a few pinch-hitting appearances.

Nationals Place Lane Thomas On Injured List With Grade 2 MCL Sprain

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3:12pm: It’s a Grade 2 sprain, manager Davey Martinez announced to the Nationals beat (X link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). While not a worst-case scenario, that points to an absence of some note for the Nats’ everyday right fielder.

12:56pm: The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the 10-day injured list due to an MCL sprain in his left knee. Infielder Trey Lipscomb has been recalled from Triple-A Rochester in his place. Andrew Golden of the Washington Post first reported that Lipscomb would be called up if Thomas required a trip to the injured list after departing last night’s game with the injury.

Thomas sustained the injury last night on a steal of second base (video link). After a somewhat awkward feet-first slide into the bag, he rolled to his side in obvious discomfort. He tried to stand and was initially unable to put weight on the leg, though he eventually was able to stand and walk off the field with the team’s training staff. The Nats haven’t yet provided a timetable for Thomas’ recovery, nor have they specified the extent of the sprain.

The 28-year-old Thomas has had a rough start to his season at the plate, hitting just .184/.250/.253 in 96 trips to the plate — a far cry from last year’s career-high 28 home runs and breakout .268/.315/.468 showing. He’s actually cut his strikeout rate from 25.8% to 20.8% and upped his walk rate from 5.3% to 8.3% thus far. Much of Thomas’ struggle seems related to a .212 average on balls in play that sits 91 points shy of the career .303 mark he carried into the season, though it can’t all be chalked up to bad luck. He’s already hit seven infield flies this season, nearly halfway to last year’s total of 16. Those virtually automatic outs are naturally going to suppress his BABIP.

When Thomas has managed to reach base, he’s been exceptional. His 11 stolen bases (in 12 attempts) rank second in the majors, trailing only Milwaukee’s Brice Turang and Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz (both at 12). It’s an unexpected development from a player who has always had good speed but had never stolen more than 20 bags in a season, which he did just last season.

The injury to Thomas opens the door for more outfield reps for veterans Jesse Winker and Eddie Rosario. They’ll likely flank center fielder Jacob Young on a regular basis while Thomas is on the mend for a yet-to-be-determined period of time. Of course, all eyes will be on top prospect James Wood, who has crushed Triple-A pitching at a .303/.418/.474 clip through his first 91 plate appearances this season.

It’s feasible that the 21-year-old Wood — widely considered to be among the sport’s 10 to 20 best overall prospects — could get a look in the big leagues sooner than later. That’ll be all the more tempting for the Nats if Thomas is slated to miss significant time. If he’s only expected to be on the shelf for a couple weeks, however, the Nats could give Wood everyday at-bats in Triple-A for a bit longer. Winker has been excellent in left field, although if the Nats wanted to free up playing time for Wood on the big league roster, it wouldn’t be that difficult. Rosario, Joey Gallo and designated hitter Joey Meneses have all struggled greatly at the plate thus far. Moving Winker to DH to clear a corner outfield spot could happen at some point even if Thomas is back in the fold in relatively short order.

Gavin Williams Shut Down After Experiencing Setback

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Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams, who’s been out all season due to inflammation in his right elbow, experienced continued discomfort after his recent throwing session against live hitters, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. He’ll receive an injection and be shut down for the next seven days before being reevaluated. The team is hopeful that’ll prove sufficient, but it’s an ominous development for the prized young right-hander.

Williams, 24, was Cleveland’s first-round pick in 2021 and debuted in 2023 with considerable fanfare. He entered last season ranked among the sport’s top 50 prospects — as high as No. 20 on Baseball America’s top 100 list — and showed why with an outstanding debut effort. In his first 82 MLB frames, spread across 16 starts, the East Carolina University product posted a strong 3.29 earned run average with a solid 23.5% strikeout rate. Williams’ 10.7% walk rate was higher than he and the team would’ve preferred, but walks weren’t an issue for him during the 2022 season in the lower minors.

Between Williams, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, the Guardians ushered in the next core of their rotation in one fell swoop last season. All three top-100 prospects hit the ground running, albeit to varying extents. But the outlook in Cleveland has changed considerably this season. Shane Bieber’s season is already over after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Triston McKenzie, whom doctors recommended for rest and rehab when he incurred a ligament injury of his own late last year, has seen a sharp velocity dip and hasn’t looked like himself at all. Bibee and Allen have both struggled thus far.

The Guardians have been banking on a healthy Williams returning to the fold to help fill out a rotation that currently includes Bibee, Allen, McKenzie, journeyman Ben Lively and old friend Carlos Carrasco, who’s back on a reunion tour after signing a minor league deal. Prior to today’s news, it looked as though Williams might be able to head out on a rehab assignment in the near future and rejoin the rotation in the middle of next month. That timeline has now been torn up and will hinge on how his elbow responds to the injection.

Cleveland develops pitching better than perhaps any organization in the game, but their ability to do so is being tested at a high level early this season. The Guards can ill afford another long-term absence for one of their key rotation members. Beyond injuries to Bieber and Williams and the previously mentioned struggles of the incumbent arms (McKenzie in particular), prospect Daniel Espino has already been lost for the season due to shoulder surgery — his second in as many years. Fellow prospect Joey Cantillo hasn’t pitched yet this season, as the left-hander suffered a torn hamstring that’ll sideline him for a total of eight to ten weeks. Right-hander Xzavion Curry is an option in Triple-A, but he profiles as a swingman or fifth starter.

The Guards have already added some depth with early acquisitions of righty Zak Kent from the Rangers, Wes Parsons from the Blue Jays and Pedro Avila from the Padres. Any of the bunch could be tasked with stepping into the rotation. However, if the Guards hope to continue at the torrid pace with which they’ve started the season (17-6, +55 run differential), they’ll need to get their current arms healthy and on-track or perhaps eventually look outside the organization.

Rangers Claim Kolton Ingram

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The Rangers have claimed left-handed reliever Kolton Ingram off waivers from the Mets, per a team announcement. The Rangers’ 40-man roster is now at capacity. Ingram was designated for assignment when the Mets selected Tomas Nido’s contract in the wake of Francisco Alvarez’s thumb injury. Ingram has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock for now.

Ingram, 27, made his big league debut with the Angels in 2023 but totaled just 5 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits and five walks in that tiny sample but did fan seven of his 30 opponents. He’s had far more success in the upper minors, logging 102 1/3 innings of 2.46 ERA ball in Double-A and 38 2/3 innings of 3.72 ERA ball in Triple-A. Broadly speaking, Ingram has shown a knack for missing bats throughout his career — evidenced by a sharp 30% strikeout rate in the minors. However, he’s also battled command issues, walking 11.1% of his opponents in addition to another 14 plunked batters (1.6%).

Primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, Ingram sits 92-93 mph with his heater and has proven to be a consistent headache for left-handed opponents. They mustered an awful .151/.245/.186 slash against him in 2023 and hit just .141/.243/.219 against him the year prior. Righties have had more success but primarily due to his sub-par command. Right-handed opponents still hit in the low .200s against Ingram, but they’ve walked at a 12.5% clip against him over the past several seasons.

With Brock Burke on the injured list, the Rangers’ lone lefty in the bullpen at the moment is rookie Jacob Latz. He’s been generally effective through 11 1/3 innings, recording a 3.97 ERA with a below-average 21.6% strikeout rate but a strong 7.6% walk rate. Antoine Kelly had been the only other left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster for Texas, however, so Ingram will give them another candidate to join the big league ’pen if the club wants to carry a second southpaw or in the event of an injury to Latz. Ingram is in the second of three option years, so he can freely be shuttled between Arlington and Round Rock both this year and next (if he sticks with the organization).

Red Sox Place Brayan Bello On Injured List Due To Lat Tightness

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The Red Sox announced that right-hander Brayan Bello has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 21, with right lat tightness. Right-hander Zack Kelly has been recalled in a corresponding move.

The news is unfortunate for both Bello and the Sox. He cemented himself in the club’s rotation plans last year by tossing 157 innings over 28 starts with a 4.24 earned run average. His 19.8% strikeout rate was subpar but he only walked 6.7% of batters and kept 56.2% of balls in play on the ground.

The Sox clearly have faith in Bello’s future and put their money on it by signing him to a $55MM extension back in March. Since Bello had generally had stronger strikeout numbers in the minors, the club likely hoped that there was still room for him to grow as a pitcher. He showed a bit of progress here in the early going of 2024, striking out 23.6% of batters faced through his first five starts.

Unfortunately, that progress will now be put on hold, as Bello is the latest in a line of Boston players to get hurt. Lucas Giolito required season-ending surgery back in the offseason and pitchers like Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock, Bryan Mata and Chris Murphy have also landed on the injured list.

Now that Bello is joining that group, the Boston rotation is down to Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski and they will have to figure out who is going to step up. Veteran Chase Anderson is with the club and has been throwing multi-inning stints out of the bullpen, so he would be one option. Naoyuki Uwasawa is on the 40-man roster and currently on optional assignment. The Sox recently acquired Vladimir Gutierrez, though he just made a one-inning bullpen appearance at Triple-A on Sunday, so perhaps they view him more as a reliever.

The club’s starters have a collective 1.80 ERA so far this year, which leads the majors. That’s a big reason why they’ve managed to keep pace in the highly competitive American League East. But the mounting injuries will obviously make it challenging to maintain that kind of performance going forward. The club hasn’t yet provided any estimates for how long they expect Bello to be out of action but more information should be forthcoming either today or in the days to come.

Reds Claim Peyton Burdick

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The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed outfielder Peyton Burdick off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Louisville. Left-hander Alex Young was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Cincinnati — or rather, Louisville for now — marks the latest stop in an eventful year for the increasingly well-traveled Burdick. The Marlins originally designated him for assignment back in February and traded him to the Orioles for cash. Baltimore subsequently designated Burdick themselves, losing him to the White Sox via waivers. When Chicago designated Burdick yet again, the O’s re-claimed him. He’ll now join a Reds organization that has been without center fielder TJ Friedl since spring training due to a broken wrist.

Miami selected Burdick with the No. 82 overall pick back in 2019, and he posted huge numbers up through the Double-A level as he climbed the ranks in their system. His bat has stalled out in Triple-A and the big leagues, but Burdick’s blend of easy right-handed pop, speed and an ability to play all three outfield positions still make him an intriguing depth pickup for the Reds at a time when bench outfielders like Stuart Fairchild and Bubba Thompson have failed to produce. Cincinnati’s bench, in general, has been a weak spot; utility infielder Santiago Espinal and backup catcher Luke Maile have both been well below-average at the plate as well.

Burdick is just a .200/.281/.368 hitter with a huge 38% strikeout rate in the majors, although that comes with a notable small-sample caveat, as he’s tallied just 139 plate appearances. He’s hit for a low average but shown power and plate discipline in the upper minors, slashing .212/.324/.426 in 1021 Triple-A plate appearances. Burdick has gone down on strikes in 33.2% of his Triple-A plate appearances as well, but scouting reports have long been enamored of his plus-plus power and above-average speed. He batted .182/.333/.455 in 69 plate appearances with the Orioles’ Triple-A club in 2024.

Giants Place Blake Snell On Injured List Due To Adductor Strain

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The Giants scratched Blake Snell from his scheduled start today and will place the reigning NL Cy Young winner on the 15-day injured list with a left adductor strain, retroactive to April 23, per a team announcement. Reliever Landen Roupp is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take his spot on the active roster. Right-hander Ryan Walker will open a bullpen game for the Giants in his place.

The news is the latest bump in what has been an incredibly frustrating year for Snell so far. He lingered in free agency for an extended period of time, not finding the mega deal that he was surely looking for. Instead, he pivoted towards a short-term deal and got one from the Giants, but that pact wasn’t agreed to until March 18.

He wasn’t able to get into any official Spring Training games, instead pitching in some simulated games before quickly making his debut for the Giants on April 8. But he has shown some clear signs of rust so far, with his first three starts resulting in 11 2/3 innings pitched with 15 earned runs allowed. He has only struck out 20.7% of the batters he has faced so far this year, well south of the 31.5% rate he had last year and his career rate of 29.6%.

Snell was being victimized by a .410 batting average on balls in play and 39.6% strand rate that were both unsustainably lucky. His 4.62 FIP and 3.95 SIERA both suggest he was due for a correction just based on normalized luck going forward. It also would have been fair to expect him to just get better results as he got further removed from his truncated Spring Training and into midseason form.

Unfortunately, all of that will now be put on hold for a while. The club hasn’t yet provided a timeline of how long they expect Snell to be out of action but the IL placement suggests they expect him to miss at least a couple of turns through the rotation.

Snell now joins Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb and Tristan Beck in the group of Giant starters on the injured list. Cobb and Ray each underwent surgery last year and are still working towards getting back on the mound. Beck underwent vascular surgery in March to address an aneurysm in his upper right arm and has been on the injured list all year as well.

With Snell now joining them, the rotation is left with Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks and Keaton Winn. It seems they are planning a bullpen game today and may be able to wait before deciding on a fifth starter. They have an off-day tomorrow and then another on Monday, meaning they could potentially get by with a four-man rotation until next weekend.

Roupp has starting experience in the minors and could be an option. Mitch White was just acquired from the Blue Jays recently and he would be another option. Sean Hjelle was just activated from the injured list a few days ago but has started in the past. Kai-Wei Teng and Daulton Jefferies are on the 40-man roster and currently on optional assignment. One of the club’s top prospects is Carson Whisenhunt, who is throwing in Triple-A. However, he has an 8.79 ERA on the year and isn’t yet on the 40-man.

For Snell, the length of his absence and how it impacts the rest of his season could perhaps influence his opt-out decision. The deal he signed with the Giants comes with a $62MM guarantee, though with some money deferred. He gets $32MM for the 2024 season, in the form of a $15MM salary and $17MM signing bonus that isn’t paid out until January 2026, regardless of whether he opts out or not. If he decides to stay for 2025, he’ll get $30MM, with half of that money deferred until 2027.

Snell won the National League Cy Young last year when he posted a 2.25 ERA for the Padres and it would have been an easy decision for him to opt out if he performed anywhere close to that level again this year. But now that he’s off to a slow start and is set to miss some time, the decision becomes more murky and his future health and performance will be in the spotlight in the months to come.

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