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Cubs Sign Julio Teheran To Minor League Deal

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April 15: It’s a minor league deal for Teheran, tweets ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

April 14: The Cubs have signed right-hander Julio Teheran, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link).  After the Mets designated Teheran for assignment earlier on Tuesday, he opted for free agency after clearing waivers, and has now quickly landed with a new team to complete a whirlwind week.

Teheran’s time in New York lasted all of one start, as he allowed four runs over 2 2/3 innings in an 8-7 win over the Braves on April 8.  Since the Mets signed Teheran to a Major League (albeit non-guaranteed) contract, one imagines that the team would’ve given him a longer look if he had pitched well, but the Mets chose to move one once roster technicalities allowed them to recall Jose Butto.

Since the Cubs are also trying to deal with some injuries within the rotation, Teheran looks like he’ll again be in line to cover a few starts until the team gets healthier.  Jameson Taillon might be close to returning from the 15-day injured list but Justin Steele will still be out until sometime in May, leaving the Cubs with a current rotation mix of Kyle Hendricks, Shota Imanaga, Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad, and Ben Brown.  There isn’t much MLB experience within that group apart from Hendricks, so between Taillon’s return and Teheran’s signing, Brown seems like the odd man out, and the Cubs can then decide on whether Wicks or Assad will remain as the fifth starter.  It is also possible that Teheran could pitch as a depth option at Triple-A, if Chicago wants a longer look at any of their younger arms.

Teheran pitched for Milwaukee last season, meaning Cubs manager and ex-Brewers skipper Craig Counsell is very familiar with the veteran righty.  Teheran’s 71 2/3 innings with the Brew Crew represented his highest Major League workload since the 2019 season, and he delivered a respectable 4.40 ERA while starting 11 of his 14 games for Milwaukee.  A two-time All-Star during his heyday with the Braves, Teheran moved from front-of-the-rotation arm to durable mid-rotation starter to journeyman, as the Cubs are now his seventh different organization since the start of the 2020 campaign.

The Opener: Lorenzen, MLB Debuts, Busch

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Happy Jackie Robinson Day to baseball fans everywhere! With 10% of the MLB regular season already in the books, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Lorenzen to make season debut:

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen signed a one-year deal with the Rangers last month and has spent the season to this point building up in the minor leagues. Recent reporting has indicated that will end today, however, as Lorenzen is expected to be called up to start tonight’s series opener in Detroit, which is slated to begin at 6:40pm local time, opposite Tigers righty Reese Olson. On top of being Lorenzen’s first start in a Rangers uniform, today will mark the right-hander’s first time returning to Detroit since he was shipped to the Phillies ahead of last summer’s trade deadline. Lorenzen found a great deal of success during his brief time with the Tigers, pitching to a 3.58 ERA and 3.86 FIP in 105 2/3 innings of work prior to the trade.

2. Mariners, Nationals to promote youngsters ahead of debuts:

In addition to Lorenzen’s debut in Texas, today is also expected to mark the major league debuts of youngsters in both Seattle and the nation’s capital. Nationals lefty Mitchell Parker and Mariners outfielder Jonatan Clase will be promoted to the majors for the first time today. No corresponding 40-man moves will be necessary for either player; the Nationals added Parker to the 40-man roster back in November ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, while the Mariners did the same with Clase the year prior.

Parker, 24, is slated to take the ball opposite right-hander Tyler Glasnow and the Dodgers in L.A. at 7:10pm local time this evening. The Nationals’ fifth-round pick in 2020, Parker pitched to a 4.20 ERA in 25 appearances at the Double-A level last year. Clase, meanwhile, made his pro debut with the Mariners at 17 years old back in 2019 and has gotten off to a hot start at the Triple-A level this season, slashing .311/.396/.622 in his first 53 trips to the plate at the level. Should he make his debut this evening he’ll be facing off against the Reds in Seattle, where right-handers Frankie Montas and George Kirby are set to face off at 6:42pm local time.

3. Busch nearing franchise record with Cubs:

Rookie first baseman Michael Busch has been on a heater to open the 2024 campaign. The 26-year-old has slashed an incredible .327/.393/.694 in his first 56 plate appearances with the Cubs, who acquired him from the Dodgers alongside right-hander Yency Almonte this winter in exchange for prospects Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope. Yesterday’s game against the Mariners saw Busch go 2-for-4 with a home run off of right-hander Luis Castillo.

That performance was made more notable by the fact that it was the fourth consecutive game in which Busch homered. That puts the rookie just one long ball shy of matching the club’s franchise record for consecutive games with at least one home run, a record that MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian relays is jointly held by Busch’s teammate Christopher Morel as well as franchise legends Sammy Sosa, Ryne Sandberg, and Hack Wilson. Busch will attempt to match that quartet in tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks, where the Cubs will take on right-hander Merrill Kelly in Phoenix at 6:40pm local time.

AL West Notes: Stephenson, Canzone, Verlander, Valdez

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Robert Stephenson ended his minor league rehab outing after four pitches yesterday, as the Angels right-hander called for the team trainer and then left the mound.  Manager Ron Washington told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that Stephenson would be undergoing tests, but didn’t offer any other details about the situation.

Shoulder inflammation kept Stephenson from pitching during Spring Training, yet after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list, the reliever seemed to be making good progress in his recovery and was looking to be part of the Angels’ roster before April was over.  Yesterday’s news seems to put that timeline in jeopardy, and the only hope now is that Stephenson’s setback is less ominous than it seemed.  A dominant four-month stretch with the Rays last season turned Stephenson into one of the more sought-after commodities in the free agent relief market this past winter, and the Angels landed the righty on a three-year, $33MM contract.

More from around the AL West….

  • Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone likely seems headed for the 10-day IL after suffering a left AC joint sprain in today’s game.  In the second inning, Canzone collided with the wall while catching a Mike Tauchman fly ball, and had to be removed from the game.  Playing in his second MLB campaign, Canzone has hit .219/.286/.531 over 35 plate appearances for Seattle, hitting three homers as part of his early-season power surge.  Canzone and Dylan Moore have shared a left-field platoon, but if Canzone is out, Moore could get more of a regular role, or the Mariners could have Luke Raley assume the lefty-swinging side of the platoon.
  • There was plenty of concern for Framber Valdez’s health when elbow soreness sent the southpaw to the Astros’ 15-day injured list earlier this week, but it seems like Valdez may have avoided a serious problem.  Valdez told MLB.com and other media today that he aims to start throwing again on Tuesday, and doesn’t think he’ll need a minor league rehab assignment.  “I feel a lot better now than I did then, and I’ll continue my routine as a starter,” Valdez said.  Needless to say, a return after the minimum 15 days would be a fantastic outcome for Valdez and the Astros, who are already dealing with a lot of injuries in the rotation.
  • Justin Verlander is one of those other Astros arms on the shelf, yet the future Hall-of-Famer is on pace to make his 2024 debut on Friday in a start against the Nationals.  Verlander threw 77 pitches over four innings in his second and likely final Triple-A rehab start yesterday.  Some shoulder soreness delayed Verlander during Spring Training, so the 41-year-old was placed on the 15-day IL to begin the season in order to give him more time to ramp up and prepare for his 19th big league campaign.

NL West Notes: Padres, Yankees, Soto, Montgomery, Treinen, Bryant

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As one might expect, December’s blockbuster Juan Soto trade between the Padres and Yankees took on several different permutations before the two sides finally agreed on the seven players involved.  The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the Padres had interest in 17 different Yankees players before finally agreeing on a package of four pitchers (Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito, Drew Thorpe) and catcher Kyle Higashioka in exchange for Soto and Trent Grisham.  Clarke Schmidt and Chase Hampton were two of the other pitchers known to be considered when reports began to surface about the trade negotiations, and Heyman adds that the Yankees agreeing to include Thorpe instead of Hampton was one of the turning points in getting the deal done.

Though San Diego ended up taking a pitching-heavy mix of players, Heyman writes that the Friars also asked about such noteworthy position-player prospects as Spencer Jones, Roderick Arias, and George Lombard Jr.  Jones is a top-100 prospect and the 25th overall pick of the 2022 draft, and he has already drawn lots of trade buzz early in his pro career.  The Yankees have thus far balked at moving Jones, even in past talks with the Brewers and White Sox about Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease, respectively.

More from around the NL West…

  • Jordan Montgomery will likely make his Diamondbacks debut on April 18, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Alex Weiner of KTAR 92.3 radio).  Because he didn’t sign until just prior to Opening Day and therefore missed Spring Training, Montgomery started his D’Backs tenure in the minors in order to get some ramp-up work under his belt.  Montgomery got up to 71 pitches over 3 2/3 innings in a Triple-A start yesterday, and though he was tagged for seven unearned runs, Lovullo said Montgomery was just working out his fastball rather than worrying about on-field results.  It remains to be seen if Tommy Henry or Ryne Nelson will be removed from the rotation to make way for Montgomery, though if Montgomery is eased back into action, one of Henry or Nelson could speculatively be paired with the southpaw in something of a piggyback capacity for a turn or two through the rotation.
  • Blake Treinen threw to live hitters today, in the latest step of his recovery process after suffered a bruised lung over a month ago.  Treinen was hit in the chest by a line drive during a Spring Training game, and he told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that a later MRI revealed two fractured ribs in addition to the bruised lung, though the reliever is now feeling pain-free.  Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that the plan is to have Treinen face live hitters twice more over the next week, and then begin a minor league rehab assignment during the week of April 22.
  • Kris Bryant wasn’t in the Rockies’ lineup today after making an early exit from Saturday’s game due to back stiffness.  Bryant collided with the right field wall while catching a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fly ball in the first inning Saturday, and remained in the game until being replaced in the bottom of the fourth.  Bryant is considered day-to-day and manager Bud Black said he was available to pinch-hit today if necessary, though given Bryant’s lengthy injury history, any sort of health issue will naturally cause some extra concern.

Beau Taylor Retires, Joins Mariners’ Triple-A Coaching Staff

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Former big league catcher Beau Taylor has retired, and taken a new role as the first base coach of the Mariners’ Triple-A Tacoma affiliate. An earlier version of this post indicated that Taylor had signed a minor league deal with the M’s, but as explained by Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto, Taylor has decided to wrap up his playing career.

Taylor was selected by the A’s in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, but did not make his big league debut with the club until 2018, when he slashed .200/.333/.400 in a seven-game cup of coffee with Oakland. Taylor spent the next two seasons bouncing between the A’s as well as both Toronto and Cleveland as a depth option behind the plate, appearing in just 18 big league games during that time. The catcher’s seven-game stint in Cleveland during the shortened 2020 season represents his most recent big league experience.

Since then, Taylor has spent time in the Reds, A’s, and Orioles organizations at the minor league level, most recently batting a decent .222/.365/.368 in 50 games split between Oakland and Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliates during the 2022 season. Taylor departed affiliated ball last year in favor of signing with the Atlantic League’s High Point Rockers and enjoyed a strong season in indy ball. Beau appeared in 77 games (catching 61) and slashed a strong .291/.386/.453 with nine homers and 16 doubles in 316 trips to the plate.

Brewers Claim Corbin Martin

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The Brewers have claimed right-hander Corbin Martin off waivers from the Diamondbacks, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hogg adds that right-hander Kevin Herget was designated for assignment to make room for Martin on the club’s 40-man roster. The Brewers subsequently optioned Martin to Triple-A.

Martin, 28, was a second-round pick by the Astros in the 2017 draft and, after dominating the Double-A level of the minors in his first full pro season, garnered plenty of top-100 prospect buzz prior to the 2019 season, even making his big league debut early in the season. Martin’s rise was thrown off course by him undergoing Tommy John surgery midway through the 2019 campaign, but that didn’t stop Houston from packaging him alongside Seth Beer, JB Bukauskas, and Josh Rojas to acquire future Hall of Famer Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline that summer.

The right-hander’s career began to come off the rails once he arrived in Arizona, however. Martin missed the entire 2020 season while rehabbing from surgery and didn’t make his organizational debut with Arizona until May of that year. He struggled through 43 1/3 innings of work split between the major league level and Triple-A that year, posting a whopping 10.69 ERA in five big league appearances along with a 5.93 ERA in 27 1/3 frames with the club’s affiliate in Reno. Martin’s struggles continued in 2022 as Martin pitched to a 4.84 ERA and 4.59 FIP in seven appearances for the big league club. The righty spent the majority of the season in the minors before once again being shut down due to injury in August of that year.

That proved to be the last time Martin would pitch in the majors for the Diamondbacks. The right-hander missed the entire 2023 campaign after suffering a lat tendon tear in his right shoulder that ended up requiring surgery. He returned to action with the beginning of the 2024 season, but allowed a 9.00 ERA in three innings of work before being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks last week.

Now with the Brewers, Martin will be reunited with Bukauskas as a potential bullpen option in Milwaukee, though the right-hander will begin his tenure with the club in the minor leagues. Given Martin’s previous prospect pedigree and impressive results when healthier earlier in his career, the Brewers are no doubt hoping they can tap into some of that potential Martin has flashed throughout his career now that he’s fully healthy. If he does enough to earn himself an opportunity in the majors, he’ll enter the club’s middle relief mix alongside the likes of Bryse Wilson and Thyago Vieira.

Making room for Martin on the Brewers’ 40-man roster is Herget, who was selected to the club’s roster earlier this week after signing with Milwaukee on a minor league deal last month. The 33-year-old ultimately did not make an appearance with the Brewers at the big league level, though he had posted 5 1/3 scoreless innings of work in Triple-A. After being drafted by the Cardinals in the 39th round of the 2013 draft, Herget bounced around the minor leagues before eventually making his big league debut with the Rays in 2022. He’s made brief cameos in the majors in each of the past two seasons with Tampa and Cincinnati, pitching to a combined 5.74 ERA and 4.56 FIP in 31 1/3 innings of work. The Brewers will now have one week to waive, trade, or release Herget.

Rangers Recall Cole Winn For MLB Debut, Place Cody Bradford On IL

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The Rangers announced a pair of roster moves this afternoon, placing left-hander Cody Bradford on the 15-day IL with a low-back strain and recalling right-hander Cole Winn to take his place on the active roster.

It’ll be Winn’s major league debut the first time he gets into a game. The 24-year-old righty was selected fifteenth overall by the Rangers in the first round of the 2018 draft and made some noise as a top-100 prospect following a dominant 2021 season that saw him pitch to a 2.41 ERA with a 32.2% strikeout rate in 21 starts split between the Double- and Triple-A levels of the minors. Unfortunately, Winn has struggled badly in the years since then. 2022 saw the right-hander post a whopping 6.51 ERA in 28 starts with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate spiked to an unwieldy 15.2%, prompting the club to move Winn to the bullpen during the 2023 season.

The move to multi-inning relief work did not bring an end to Winn’s struggles, as he posted a staggering 7.22 ERA in 101 innings of work last year. His peripheral numbers also got even worse, as his walk rate crept up to 16% while his strikeout rate plummeted to just 19.7%. Things haven’t looked much better for Winn so far this year, as he posted a 9.82 ERA in 7 2/3 innings during camp this spring and has allowed five runs (four earned) across his first four appearances at Triple-A this season. Despite the shaky results, Winn will nonetheless get the opportunity to pitch at the big league level, helping to provide depth to a bullpen that’s been leaned on for 40% of the club’s innings in recent days.

Making room for Winn on the active roster is Bradford, who heads to the injured list with a back strain following an excellent start to the 2024 season. The 26-year-old southpaw has pitched to a 1.40 ERA and a 2.47 FIP with 17 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings of work across three starts so far this year, forming a formidable duo with veteran righty Nathan Eovaldi at the front of the club’s rotation to this point in the season. The Rangers will surely miss Bradford’s production while he’s on the IL, but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News indicates that his absence could be a relatively short one, with Bradford potentially only needing the minimum amount of time off. If that ends up being the case, Bradford would first be eligible to return on April 25, as today’s IL move was backdated to April 11.

In the meantime, however, Texas will need to look elsewhere to fill Bradford’s spot in the club’s starting rotation. Per MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, that help will come in the form of right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who signed a one-year deal with the club last month and has been building up in the minors since then. Landry reports that Lorenzen is set to make his Rangers debut in a start tomorrow against the Tigers, for whom he pitched the first half of the 2023 season. Lorenzen’s time with Detroit wound up being something of a breakout for the right-hander, as he pitched to a 3.58 ERA (125 ERA+) with a 3.86 FIP in 18 starts with the club before being shipped to the Phillies ahead of last summer’s trade deadline.

Pirates Place Marco Gonzales On 15-Day Injured List

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The Pirates announced this morning that they’ve placed left-hander Marco Gonzales on the 15-day injured list with a forearm strain. Right-hander Ryder Ryan was recalled in the corresponding move.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Pittsburgh, as the club has gotten off to a hot start this season with a 10-5 record that puts them just one game back of the Brewers in the NL Central. Much of that success has been attributable to Gonzales, who has posted a sterling 2.65 ERA and 3.60 FIP through three starts this season, including quality starts against tough offenses in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Gonzales’s success has helped to mask the struggles of staff ace Mitch Keller, who has allowed 12 runs (ten earned) in his 17 innings of work to this point in the season.

Gonzales’s strong start to the 2024 season comes as something of a surprise. While he posted three consecutive seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA from 2019 to 2021 with the Mariners, he’s struggled badly with injuries and ineffectiveness in recent years with a 4.36 ERA and 4.89 FIP across 42 starts from 2022-23 before his 2023 campaign was halted by surgery to repair a nerve issue in his forearm. This offseason, Gonzales was traded twice in the span of two days, first being shipped from Seattle to Atlanta in the deal that brought Jarred Kelenic to the Braves before immediately being flipped to the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.

Given the minimal acquisition cost for the Pittsburgh, the trade was already looking like a clear success just three starts into Gonzales’s tenure as a Pirate. That could certainly still be the case, but without many details regarding the specifics of Gonzales’s injury or his timeline for return, it’s impossible to know just how long the Pirates will be without the lefty. Any forearm issues are always concerning for a pitcher, though that’s perhaps especially true of Gonzales given the forearm problem that ended his 2023 season and ultimately required surgery.

With Johan Oviedo set to miss the 2024 campaign and Gonzales now potentially facing a significant absence of his own, the Pirates will have to look to their pitching depth to fill out the club’s rotation behind Keller, Martin Perez, Jared Jones, and Bailey Falter. The obvious choice for that role would be 2023 first overall pick Paul Skenes, though the league’s consensus top pitching prospect has recorded just one out in the fourth inning and maxed out at 64 pitches to this point in the season, suggesting he made need time to build up to five-plus innings of work before joining the big league club even if Pittsburgh decides to promote their flamethrowing phenom.

Barring the club deciding to promote Skenes, they have plenty of other options at the Triple-A level to replace Gonzales. Perhaps the cleanest choice would be right-hander Quinn Priester, who is already on the club’s 40-man roster and and made eight starts for the club last year. Another option would be veteran righty Domingo German, who signed a minor league deal with the club this winter after many years as a quality back-of-the-rotation arm with the Yankees.

In the meantime, the Pirates have called up Ryan, who turns 29 next month. The right-hander signed with the club on a minor league deal this past winter after making a one-inning cameo with the Mariners last year for his big league debut. Ryan ultimately made the club’s Opening Day roster but struggled in his first extended look at the major league level, surrendering four runs on six hits and two walks despite a solid 26.1% strikeout rate across his four appearances. Ryan will now get another look with the big league club, adding depth to the club’s bullpen alongside the likes of Colin Holderman and Hunter Stratton.

Brewers Select Jared Koenig

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The Brewers announced a flurry of roster moves this morning, highlighted by the club selecting the contract of left-hander Jared Koenig. The club also called up outfielder Joey Wiemer. To make room for the duo on the active roster, right-hander JB Bukauskas was placed on the injured list while infielder Andruw Monasterio was optioned to Triple-A, while outfielder Garrett Mitchell was transferred to the 60-day IL to make room for Koenig on the 40-man roster.

Koenig, 30, is getting his second crack at the major leagues after initially making his debut with Oakland back in 2022. A 35th-round pick by the White Sox out of high school in the 2014 draft, the southpaw didn’t receive an offer from the club after being drafted and was never drafted again, instead fashioning a career for himself in independent ball after college. After several years spent in indy ball, Koenig had a strong season with the Frontier League’s Lake Erie Crushers that saw him post a 2.24 ERA in 104 1/3 innings of work with a 30.6% strikeout rate. That performance earned him the attention of the A’s, who signed him to a minor league deal.

The left-hander continued to find success upon being assigned to the Double-A level in 2021, leading to him eventually contributing to the big league club in 2022. Koenig’s long road to the major leagues ended with him pitching 39 1/3 innings for the A’s that saw him post a lackluster 5.72 ERA with a 4.84 FIP, striking out just 12.4% of batters faced. Koenig returned to the minors last year, this time in the Padres organization, before signing on with the Brewers prior to the 2024 campaign.

In Milwaukee, Koenig figures to join the bullpen in a short relief capacity after transitioning out of his previous long relief/starting role last season. He’s looked good in four appearances with Triple-A Nashville, posting a 1.93 ERA while punching out 50% of the batters he’s faced. He’ll try to carry that success over to the big league Brewers, where he’ll join Bryan Hudson and Hoby Milner among the left-handed options at manager Pat Murphy’s disposal.

Coming up from Triple-A alongside Koenig is Wiemer, who appeared in 132 games for the Brewers as a rookie last season. The 25-year-old offers stellar outfield defense (his +8 Outs Above Average placed him in the 93rd percentile of major leaguers last year, per Statcast) and is capable of handling all three positions on the grass, but struggled to a .204/.283/.362 slash line in 410 trips to the plate last year.

While that offense certain left something to be desired, Wiemer was actually well above average against southpaws in 2023, slashing a much stronger .267/.298/.517 with seven home runs and eight doubles in just 121 trips to the plate against lefties. Wiemer figures to provide a right-handed complement to the club’s current center field duo of Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick, while also potentially freeing up Frelick for occasional reps at third base where the club is currently utilizing a combination of Joey Ortiz and Oliver Dunn.

Making room for Wiemer on the active roster is Monasterio, who has struggled in limited playing time this season. He’s gone hitless in nine plate appearances this season despite drawing two walks against just one strikeout, and will now head to Triple-A where he can get more regular playing time. Monasterio made his big league debut with the club last season, slashing .259/.330/.348 in 92 games while splitting time between second and third base.

Meanwhile, Koenig takes the roster spot of Bukauskas, who is headed to the injured list due to a lat strain. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Bukauskas is set to undergo imagining on his shoulder before the Brewers determine a timeline for his return due to the right-hander’s lengthy history of lat injuries. Bukauskas has looked good through six appearances with the Brewers this year, striking out 27.3% of batters faced with just one earned run allowed on a solo homer to this point. Mitchell’s placement on the 60-day IL, meanwhile, hardly comes as a shock given the club does not expect him to return until June as he rehabs from a hand fracture.

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