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Texas Notes: No-Hitter, Pena, McCullers, Duran, Hearn, Garver

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Cristian Javier, Hector Neris, and Ryan Pressly combined for the 14th no-hitter in Astros history, as Houston earned a 3-0 win over the Yankees today in the Bronx.  Javier handled much of the work over seven innings, with Neris and Pressly each contributing an inning of hitless pitching to stifle the lineup of the league-leading Yankees.  It was the first time in over 19 years that New York had been no-hit, also at hands of the Astros — six Houston pitchers blanked the Yankees on June 11, 2003.

More from both the Astros and Rangers, as we run down baseball news from the Lone Star State….

  • Jeremy Pena is likely to return to Houston’s lineup on Sunday, as the rookie shortstop took batting practice today.  Left thumb discomfort sent Pena to the 10-day injured list on June 15, though an MRI didn’t reveal any damage.  It thankfully looks like only a minor injury for Pena, and he’ll now get to resume his outstanding rookie season.  Making his MLB debut earlier this year, Pena has hit .277/.333/.471 with nine homers over his first 211 plate appearances, though his hot bat had been cooling off in the two weeks prior to his IL stint.
  • Lance McCullers Jr. was the pitcher throwing to Pena, with McCullers tossing around 20 pitches during the overall BP session.  McCullers told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that his repertoire included changeups, sinkers, and a slider, and he was throwing as hard as 93mph.  Since suffering a flexor tendon strain during last year’s postseason and then a rehab setback in January, McCullers has been slowly working his way back, and is still likely a month or so away from a minor league rehab assignment.
  • After today’s 3-2 win over the Nationals, the Rangers optioned left-hander Taylor Hearn and infielder Ezequiel Duran to Triple-A.  Corresponding moves will be made prior to tomorrow’s game.  Hearn was the bulk pitcher in today’s bullpen game, allowing only two walks over four scoreless innings, though it was a rare quality outing an otherwise rough season for the southpaw.  Even with today’s game on his ledger, Hearn still has a 5.86 ERA over 63 innings, starting 13 of his 14 games.  Texas called Duran up to the majors for his MLB debut earlier this month, and the top-100 prospect hit .258/.281/.435 with two home runs over 64 PA.  Duran had been seeing most of the playing time at third base, but with Josh Smith now back from the IL, Duran will continue his development with an everyday role at Triple-A rather than part-time duty in the Show.
  • Mitch Garver went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Nats today, dropping the veteran’s slash line to .201/.288/.383 for the season, over 170 PA.  Garver has been trying to play through a damaged flexor tendon in his throwing forearm, but he told reporters (including Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News) that he would make a decision by the All-Star break whether or not to undergo season-ending surgery.  With a 7-8 month recovery time required for the surgery, Garver would miss little to none of Spring Training by getting the procedure relatively soon.  It is possible Garver could instead try to rehab the forearm problem without surgery, but Grant writes “that route is more uncertain” in terms of a recovery timeline or what it might mean for Garver’s 2023 season.  Since suffering the flexor injury, Garver hasn’t been able to play catcher, so the Rangers have been limiting him to DH or pinch-hitting duty.

Astros Activate Jake Meyers From 60-Day IL, Designate Dillon Thomas

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The Astros announced they’ve designated outfielder Dillon Thomas for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Jake Meyers, who is back from the 60-day injured list. Houston optioned Jose Siri to Triple-A Sugar Land to clear active roster space for Meyers.

Thomas, 29, went 0-for-2 with a walk and was a hit-by-pitch in four plate appearances during a very brief stint with the ’Stros. He’s logged just 13 total plate appearances in the Majors, also stepping to the plate nine times as a member of the Mariners a year ago. The 2011 fourth-rounder (Rockies) has split the rest of the 2022 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Angels and Astros, posting a combined .293/.395/.492 batting line — numbers that generally align with his career .277/.382/.462 output in parts of three seasons at that level. Houston will have a week to trade Thomas, pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Meyers’ return should be a boon for the Astros’ lineup. The 26-year-old made his big league debut in 2021 and impressed with a .260/.323/.438 batting line, six home runs and eight doubles in 163 plate appearances. He also turned in well above-average work in the outfield according to each of Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average.

Were it not for a shoulder injury sustained during last year’s ALDS — one that eventually required surgery after a torn labrum was discovered — Meyers could very well have been the Opening Day center fielder. Time will tell whether he’s able to approximate last year’s solid debut effort, but if he can indeed do so, there’s an opening for the former 13th-rounder to solidify himself as a long-term solution for the Astros alongside Kyle Tucker in the outfield.

For the 26-year-old Siri, the 2022 season has been a struggle. After kicking down the door to the Majors with a .318/.369/.552 batting line in Triple-A last year and subsequently hitting .304/.347/.609 in 49 big league plate appearances, Siri went from minor league signee to a viable big league outfield option. Unfortunately, he hasn’t come anywhere close to that production this season, hitting just .185/.248/.315 in 141 turns at the plate. Siri is in his final minor league option year, creating some further urgency for him to turn things around at the plate.

Astros Place Josh James On 60-Day Injured List

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The Astros have reinstated first baseman/corner outfielder Taylor Jones from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 (via Twitter). To make room on the 40-man roster, the club recalled reliever Josh James and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list.

Jones has yet to play in the majors this season, as he began the year on the IL with a lower back injury. That kept him out for a few months, but he began a minor league rehab assignment on June 3. Position players are allotted up to 20 days on a rehab stint, so the time came for the Astros to reinstate him. He’s struggled over 14 rehab games with Sugar Land, however, and the club will keep him with the Space Cowboys on optional assignment.

The 28-year-old Jones saw some big league action in Houston during both the 2020-21 seasons. He’s tallied 130 plate appearances at the highest level, compiling a .236/.262/.398 line with a trio of home runs. The Gonzaga product has a more impressive .279/.373/.487 mark across parts of four Triple-A seasons. Assuming he spends 20+ days on optional assignment this season, he’ll exhaust his final option year.

James is dealing with a right lat strain. He hasn’t pitched in eight days and will now be ruled out for at least another two months. The right-hander broke into the big leagues late in the 2018 season, impressing with a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings while averaging over 97 MPH on his fastball. He struck out 37.6% of opponents over a career-high 61 1/3 frames the following year, but he paired that swing-and-miss stuff with home run troubles and wobbly control en route to a 4.70 ERA.

Issues with his left hip cost James much of the 2020-21 seasons, and he struggled during his limited looks on the mound. He’s spent the entire 2022 campaign with Sugar Land, posting a 7.59 ERA through 21 1/3 innings. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 20.6% in the minors, while he’s walked almost 16% of opponents. He won’t be back until mid-August at the earliest, and it’s possible his time in the organization could be nearing its end.

James is making $800K this season after avoiding arbitration over the winter. While he’ll accrue service time during his IL stint, he’s already spent enough time in the minors he won’t eclipse four-plus service years this season. Theoretically, he’s controllable through 2025, although he’ll probably be a non-tender candidate next offseason considering his minor league performance and renewed injury concerns.

Blue Jays Pushed Hard To Sign Verlander In Offseason

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  • The Blue Jays were known to have interest in Justin Verlander last winter, and as Verlander tells ESPN’s Jeff Passan, it seems as though Toronto was Verlander’s second choice before he ultimately rejoined the Astros on a two-year, $50MM contract.  The Jays “were very proactive to the point that when I signed with Houston, I made sure to let them know that I appreciated it all,” Verlander said, noting that former teammate George Springer pushed hard to try and recruit him.  “Ultimately, when it came down to it, Houston had the same offer.  It was all kind of ballpark between them and Toronto, and New York [the Yankees) was kind of always just a step behind.”  With Verlander off the board, the Blue Jays instead signed Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi to augment the rotation.  Verlander also added that the Yankees were “kind of always just a step behind” those top suitors — reports surfaced in November that the Yankees were willing to offer Verlander $25MM over one year, but weren’t willing to add a second season to the contract.

Astros Claim Dillon Thomas From Angels

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The Astros have claimed corner outfielder Dillon Thomas off waivers from the Angels, according to announcements from both teams. Fellow outfielder Jake Meyers has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Los Angeles also announced that reliever Ty Buttrey has passed through waivers unclaimed and been sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Thomas remains in the AL West, where he’ll look to reach the majors with a third separate team. The 29-year-old has gotten cups of coffee with the Mariners and Angels over the past couple seasons, but he’s appeared in just five total games. His stint in Anaheim was particularly brief. Thomas was selected to the majors last Wednesday while the club dealt with a brief absence for Mike Trout. He was on the active roster for three days, suiting up once, before being designated for assignment.

Signed by the Halos to a minor league contract over the winter, Thomas earned a 40-man spot with quality work in the upper levels of the system. The left-handed hitter posted a .295/.398/.489 mark with eight home runs across 211 plate appearances in Salt Lake. Thomas walked at a strong 10.9% clip against a roughly average 23.7% strikeout rate, apparently catching the attention of the Astros front office in the process.

While Thomas will start his organizational tenure in Sugar Land, the opportunity to earn a big league call with the Astros figures to be particularly sweet. Thomas is a Houston native who’d been committed to Texas A&M before signing with the Rockies out of Westbury Christian School a decade ago. He still has a pair of minor league option years, so he can bounce between Houston and Sugar Land for the next couple seasons if he holds a 40-man roster spot.

Meyers’ transfer makes room for Thomas, but it’s strictly a procedural move. The 25-year-old has been on the injured list all season while recovering from shoulder surgery. He’s already spent more than 60 days on the IL, so he’s still eligible to return whenever he’s ready from a health perspective. That figures to be in the coming days, as he’s spent the past couple weeks on a rehab assignment with the Space Cowboys.

Buttrey, meanwhile, sticks in the Angels organization but will no longer hold a spot on the 40-man roster. Initially designated for assignment when Thomas was called up, the righty will try to work his way back to the majors as a member of the Bees. Buttrey sat out the 2021 season after stepping away from the game, and he’s shown some signs of rust upon returning. Through 12 1/3 innings, he’s allowed nine runs while striking out just five.

Astros Place Jeremy Pena On Injured List

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11:15am: Manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com) that Peña won’t swing a bat for at least a week. He certainly won’t be ready to return after a minimal IL stay then, but the Houston skipper said an MRI didn’t reveal any cause for long-term concern.

10:41am: The Astros have placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list due to left thumb discomfort. First baseman J.J. Matijevic has been recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his spot on the active roster.

Peña didn’t play in last night’s win over the Rangers, and the club sent him from Arlington to Houston for further evaluation. The Astros haven’t divulged many specifics on the issue, but it’s apparently serious enough he’ll need at least a week and a half out of game action to recover. Aledmys Díaz got the start at shortstop last night, and he’ll presumably play there regularly for whatever time Peña is out.

A former third-round draftee, Peña has dramatically raised his stock since entering the pro ranks. He’d been an excellent player on both sides of the ball throughout his minor league tenure, emerging as one of the sport’s top prospects by the start of the 2021 campaign. Left wrist surgery kept him to just 30 Triple-A games last season, but Peña hit .287/.346/.598 during his initial crack at the level. The Astros had enough faith in his ability to handle MLB pitching they penciled him in as the Opening Day shortstop after watching Carlos Correa depart to free agency.

That was a bold call for general manager James Click and his staff, as Houston remains one of the league’s top World Series contenders. Yet Peña has excelled, more than rewarding the organization’s confidence through his first two-plus months in the majors. He’s hitting .277/.333/.471 with nine home runs across 211 plate appearances. The resulting 133 wRC+ is tied for third among the 28 rookies with at least 100 plate appearances, and he’s viewed as a Gold Glove caliber defender. Peña looks to be the early favorite for the American League’s Rookie of the Year award as a result, but his strong debut campaign will be put on hold while he rehabs.

Díaz is having a rough 2022 showing, hitting only .214/.261/.304 through 119 trips to the plate. He’ll be a marked downgrade from Peña with the glove, but his career track record at the dish is more respectable than this year’s performance would suggest. Díaz has hit .254/.316/.414 since landing in Houston in advance of the 2019 season. Mauricio Dubón and Niko Goodrum are also on the 40-man roster as shortstop-capable depth options. Dubón, who is out of minor league option years, is on the active roster; Goodrum was optioned to Sugar Land after a brutal start to the season and has been on the MiLB injured list for the past week.

Latest On Jake Odorizzi

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  • For the first since suffering a lower-leg injury almost a month ago, Jake Odorizzi joined the Astros’ other pitchers in fielding drills today.  Manager Dusty Baker told FOX 26’s Mark Berman (Twitter links) and other reporters that Odorizzi’s return to these drills is “kind of like the final hurdle” in determining the right-hander’s readiness.  The next step is gradually bringing Odorizzi along, as the pitcher told Berman and company that he was going at around “50-60%” in his first workout, and he’ll continue to slowly ramp up.

MLB Suspends Hector Neris, Dusty Baker

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Major League Baseball announced this evening that Astros reliever Héctor Neris has been suspended four games “for intentionally throwing at Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners in the area of the head while warnings were in place.” He was also fined an undisclosed amount. Neris is appealing the ban, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). He’ll remain on the active roster while the appeal runs its course.

Houston skipper Dusty Baker was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount on account of Neris’ actions. That’s standard procedure in these situations, and Baker will miss tonight’s game as a result. (Managers are not afforded any appellate rights). Bench coach Joe Espada will be the acting manager in his stead, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Espada himself was hit with a fine, as were fellow Houston staff members Omar López and Troy Snitker and Seattle manager Scott Servais.

The discipline comes out of last night’s contest, when benches cleared after Neris hit Mariners infielder Ty France in the top of the ninth inning. While France didn’t seem to take umbrage with the pitch itself, the benches began jawing after a dispute about whether the pitch actually struck him. Servais and López were ejected and the sides were warned.

Julio Rodríguez followed the France hit-by-pitch with a two-run homer. Two batters later, Neris sailed a fastball behind Suárez’s head, and home plate umpire Chris Guccione ejected both Neris and Baker. MLB has judged the offering to Suárez to be intentional, leading to the suspensions. Last night’s contest was the opener of a three-game set between the AL West rivals.

Astros Sign Yordan Alvarez To Six-Year Extension

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June 6: The Astros have formally announced Alvarez’s six-year deal. They’ll hold a press conference this afternoon at 2:30pm CT.

June 3, 12:48pm: Alvarez’s contract breaks down in the form of a $5MM signing bonus followed by annual salaries of $7MM (2023), $10MM (2024), $15MM (2025) and $26MM (2026-28), Mark Berman of Houston’s FOX 26 reports (Twitter link). He’s already passed a physical.

12:19pm: The Astros have agreed to terms on a six-year, $115MM contract extension with Yordan Alvarez, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). The contract begins next season and will cover the 2023-28 seasons. Alvarez is represented by the MVP Sports Group.

Yordan Alvarez

Alvarez, 25 later this month, was on pace to reach free agency following the 2025 season and would have hit the open market at at just 28 years of age. Instead, his new contract will buy out all three of his arbitration seasons and give the Astros control over what would have been Alvarez’s first three free-agent seasons. Alvarez technically won’t reach three years of Major League service time until tomorrow, but since the contract begins next year, it can effectively be viewed as the second-largest deal ever signed by a player in the three-plus service bracket, trailing only Freddie Freeman’s eight-year, $135MM extension with the Braves back in 2014.

Acquired in a flat-out heist that sent reliever Josh Fields to the Dodgers, Alvarez burst onto the Major League scene in 2019 when he mashed at a .313/.412/.655 pace and crushed 27 home runs in just 369 plate appearances. Despite barely spending half the season in the Majors (87 games), Alvarez was the unanimous American League Rookie of the Year. While he missed nearly the entire 2020 season due to arthroscopic surgery that was performed on both knees, he was back in full force a year later, hitting .277/.346/.531 with 33 home runs in 598 trips to the plate.

Since making his big league debut, Alvarez has quite simply been one of the best hitters on the planet. He’s a career .287/.370/.576 hitter, and the resulting 156 wRC+ (indicating he’s 56% better than the league-average hitter) sits just ahead of Juan Soto and trails only Mike Trout (177) among all qualified MLB hitters in that span.

Alvarez achieves his dominance at the plate through a keen eye (10.8% walk rate), improving bat-to-ball skills (his 17.6% strikeout rate is down from his rookie year’s 25.5% mark) and, most importantly, through hitting the ever-loving snot out of the ball. Since 2019, Alvarez ranks third in the Majors in both average exit velocity (93.3 mph) and overall hard-hit rate (54.2%), as well as eighth in barrel rate (16.1%) per Statcast. He’s taken that pristine Statcast profile to new heights in 2022, as he’s currently leading the Majors in hard-hit rate, expected slugging percentage and expected wOBA.

While Alvarez is primarily a designated hitter and figures to spend even less time in the field as he ages, he’s still seeing a decent chunk of time in left field. He’s logged 155 innings there this year and 540 innings through 278 big league games. He doesn’t rate as a strong outfielder but also hasn’t necessarily drawn butcher-esque reviews for his defense to this point (-2 Defensive Runs Saved, 0.3 Ultimate Zone Rating, and a more bearish -5 Outs Above Average). No one is going to mistake Alvarez for a potential Gold Glove candidate, but as an occasional option to give the Astros’ regular outfielders a breather, he’s a passable enough option who can be relied upon to make the routine plays.

Alvarez is now signed longer than any other Astros player, surpassing Lance McCullers Jr., whose contract runs through the 2026 season. His extension gives the ’Stros a hefty $107MM on next year’s books before the offseason even begins and with several key arbitration cases (e.g. Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier) to address. Houston has more than $100MM committed as far out as the 2024 season, although for a team that flirted with the luxury tax in 2021 and took its actual 2021 payroll upwards of $190MM last year, that’s not an dire outlay.

The Alvarez extension ensures that he, Tucker, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve will continue to anchor the Houston lineup through at least the 2024 season (when the contracts of Alruve and Bregman are set to expire). Young shortstop Jeremy Pena has given every reason to believe so far that he can be counted among that core group of hitters, and the Astros are hopeful that prospects like Pedro Leon, Colin Barber and Korey Lee could eventually do the same.

16 Impending Free Agents Off To Slow Starts At The Plate

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The Padres cut ties with Robinson Cano this morning, just as the Mets did before them. It was a tougher decision for the Mets, given the financial obligation they have toward Cano through the 2023 season. However, his lack of production and the presence of younger, better options forced the hand of both parties.

We’re coming up on a third of the way through the 2022 season, and it’ll become increasingly difficult for teams with struggling veterans in the Cano mold to continue trotting them out there. That’s especially true of players who are impending free agents. While fans can (and do) disagree with the thinking, a player like Aaron Hicks, whom the Yankees owe $30.5MM from 2023-25, will get a longer leash than an impending free agent due to that multi-year commitment. So while there are plenty of struggling veterans on long-term deals, those with the thinnest grasp on their current roster spots are those who’ll be off the books at season’s end anyhow.

With that in mind, here’s a look at some names to watch and, when applicable, some of the names behind them who could aid in pushing them out the door (all stats entering Thursday’s play):

Carlos Santana, Royals: I’m not sure anyone other than the Royals’ front office understands the thinking behind continuing to trot Santana out to the field at this point. The 36-year-old is hitting .161/.293/.250 through 147 plate appearances, and it’s not as though that enormous slump is an entirely new development. Santana hit just .214/.319/.342 while playing in 158 of 162 games for the Royals last year and .199/.340/.350 in Cleveland during the shortened 2020 season.

Santana’s very presence on the Royals is due to the team’s effort to return to win-now mode after a rebuild focused on drafting college arms. He signed a two-year, $17.5MM contract heading into the 2021 season but hasn’t been able to bounce back to the form that long made him one of the game’s biggest on-base threats and most underrated offensive performers.

Signing Santana might’ve been a “win-now” move, but it’s hard to argue that continuing to run him out there is in the Royals’ best interest. That’s doubly true with top prospects Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino mashing in Triple-A Omaha. Both are in the same first base/designated hitter mold as Santana, and both Pratto (55) and Pasquantino (61) rank prominently in Baseball America’s updated Top 100 prospect rankings. Pratto got off to a slow start but is hitting .246/.392/.483 over his past 148 plate appearances. Pasquantino burst out of the gates and hasn’t slowed down; he’s hitting .298/.392/.667 with 15 home runs in 204 plate appearances.

The Royals owe Santana the balance of his $10.5MM salary whether he’s on the roster or not, but he’ll start racking up incentives when he reaches 300 plate appearances.

Joey Gallo, Yankees: Gallo was one of the Yankees’ biggest trade-deadline additions in recent years, but he’s never found his footing in the Bronx. His status as a three-true-outcomes player is well-documented, but he’s trended more aggressively toward the least-desirable of those outcomes since donning pinstripes. Gallo has fanned in 38% of his plate appearances as a Yankee while seeing both his power and his walk rate dip. Since the Yankees acquired him, he’s batting .167/.295/.370.

Even with the short porch in right field, Gallo has only five home runs through 141 plate appearances this season. He’s also seen his average exit velocity, launch angle and barrel rate drop in 2022. Gallo is still making loads of hard contact when he hits the ball in the air, per Statcast, and perhaps that’s helping to keep him both in the lineup and on the roster. New York isn’t getting any real offense from Hicks, Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Kyle Higashioka, however. Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson are once again on the injured list. Anthony Rizzo had a massive April but is batting just .162/.274/.303 in his past 117 plate appearances. The Yankees’ AL East lead has begun to shrink, as the Jays have rattled off eight straight wins, and they can’t realistically count on Aaron Judge to carry the offense all season long.

Gallo doesn’t have a high-end outfield prospect breathing down his neck, but if he can’t get things going at the plate, the calls for change are only going to grow louder. He’s earning $10.275MM in his final arbitration season before free agency, and another club might view him as a change-of-scenery candidate with the hopes that he’ll be the position-player equivalent of Sonny Gray and thrive following a rocky stint in the Bronx.

Adam Duvall, Braves: Like Gallo, Duvall’s skill set and offensive profile were well established when the Braves opted to retain him via arbitration. He was coming off a 38-homer campaign, so there was never much doubt he’d be tendered a contract, but Duvall’s brand of huge power/bottom-of-the-scale OBP always left him with a pretty low floor should the power ever evaporate.

That’s been the case in 2022, as Duvall still isn’t walking or hitting for average, and he’s only slugged two homers on the season. Paired with a career-worst 31.9% strikeout rate, those troubling trends have resulted in a .191/.257/.272 slash for Duvall, who has also already been tasked with playing more center field in 2022 than he had in his entire career to date.

Atlanta has already called up Michael Harris II, one of the sport’s fastest-rising outfield talents, and former top prospect Drew Waters is at least putting together respectable, if unexciting results in Triple-A. The Braves have also tinkered with catcher William Contreras in the outfield. Duvall has been MLB’s second-worst qualified hitter, by measure of wRC+, and it’s fair to wonder how long the leash will be.

Miguel Sano, Twins: Sano isn’t technically a free agent at season’s end, but barring a Herculean push to finish the season, it’s nearly impossible to fathom the Twins picking up a $14MM option on him. To Sano’s credit, he hit quite well from June through season’s end (.251/.330/.503, 21 homers, 21 doubles in 373 plate appearances), but he looked absolutely lost at the plate in 2022 before landing on the injured list due to a torn meniscus. Sano hit just .093/.231/.148 in 65 plate appearances.

When Sano does return, he’ll come back to a retooled roster that has seen versatile Luis Arraez rake while picking up regular at-bats at first base. Former No. 1 pick Royce Lewis is getting looks at third base and in left field — though Lewis is on the 10-day IL himself now — and top outfield/first base prospect Alex Kirilloff is hitting well in Triple-A following his return from a wrist injury.

The Twins can keep Sano in Triple-A for 20 days on rehab assignment when he’s ready, and they may want to do just that to give him a chance to show he can recapture some of his late 2021 form. But the clock on Sano’s three-year, $30MM deal is running out, and the first-place Twins have plenty of options to fill out the lineup. None of them have Sano’s raw power — almost no one in MLB does — but the big man’s ongoing contact issues tend to lead to protracted slumps like the one he slogged through earlier this year. If he can’t turn it around quickly upon his return, it’d be difficult to justify playing him over Arraez, Kirilloff and others.

Enrique Hernandez & Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox: Hernandez was a revelation in 2021 when he smacked 20 homers, hit .250/.337/.449, and delivered all-world defense in center field. But as good as year one of his $14MM contract was, the second and final campaign of that deal has been nightmarish. Hernandez is hitting .203/.269/.340 with a career-low hard-hit rate and exit velocity. He’s still playing great defense in center and helping shoulder the second base workload, but the offensive deficiency is glaring.

That’s also somewhat true of Bradley Jr., who returned to Boston after one ill-fated season in Milwaukee. To Bradley’s credit, he has actually picked up the pace quite a bit, hitting .291/.328/.491 since mid-May, but that surge still only brings his overall season line to .227/.284/.353. If Bradley can sustain some of this production, he’ll surely hang onto his roster spot, but it’s hard not to look at young Jarren Duran’s .309/.391/.523 output in Triple-A and start thinking of ways to insert him into the big league lineup. Duran struggled in his debut last year but is still a touted young prospect whom the Sox envision as a long-term building block.

Hernandez is earning $8MM this season. Bradley is on a $9.5MM salary and is still owed an $8MM buyout on a mutual option for the 2023 season.

Yuli Gurriel, Martin Maldonado & Jason Castro, Astros: Gurriel won a batting title and looked like one of the game’s best pure hitters in 2021, but he’s started his 2022 season with a woeful .223/.261/.361 performance through 176 plate appearances. His strikeout rate is up about four percentage points, while his walk rate has halved and his hard-contact numbers have plummeted. Gurriel is also chasing more pitches off the plate (36.4% in 2022, 29.8% in 2021) and making contact on pitches out of the zone at a far lower rate (74.5% in 2022, 81.9% in 2021).

Houston’s catchers, meanwhile, have been the least-productive in baseball. Maldonado has never been much of a hitter but is batting only .133/.208/.239 this season. Castro hasn’t even been able to match that, batting .104/.228/.146. If catching prospect Korey Lee weren’t enduring immense struggles of his own in Triple-A, a change might’ve already been made.

It seems unlikely that the Astros would cut bait on Gurriel, who’s been a prominent presence and one of the team’s most productive hitters since signing more than a half-decade ago. A reduced role is something they’ll have to consider if he can’t right the ship, however. The catchers seem far more vulnerable, and there figure to be some prominent names available on the trade market (Willson Contreras, most notably). That Houston is leading the AL West by 5.5 games despite having the least-productive catchers (29 wRC+) and 29th-ranked offensive output from its first basemen (74 wRC+) is both a testament to their pitching and indictment on the play of their divisional opponents thus far.

Gurriel is being paid $8MM in 2022, while Maldonado is earning a $5MM salary and Castro is at $3.5MM.

Andrew McCutchen, Brewers: Milwaukee added McCutchen on a one-year, $8MM contract this offseason with the idea of installing him as their primary designated hitter. McCutchen tormented the Brewers during his early years with the Pirates, which included an NL MVP win, but he’s hitting .214/.263/.312 to begin his tenure in Milwaukee. Even McCutchen’s typically outstanding production against lefties has gone up in smoke this year, as he’s managed a .196/.224/.391 slash against them.

Despite McCutchen’s ineffectiveness, the Brewers are leading the Majors in homers (70) and sit fifth in total runs scored (238). But if McCutchen, who’s hitless in six straight and has been 73% worse than average at the plate since a return from the Covid list (27 wRC+ in 57 plate appearances), can’t begin to show some signs of life, the Brewers could be on the lookout for some offensive help as the Aug. 2 trade deadline draws nearer.

Robbie Grossman & Tucker Barnhart, Tigers: Between Grossman, Austin Meadows and Victor Reyes, the Tigers have an entire outfield on the injured list. Underwhelming play from young options like Daz Cameron, Akil Baddoo and Derek Hill will probably extend Grossman’s leash, but he was hitting a career-worst .199/.311/.241 in 167 plate appearances prior to landing on the IL due to ongoing neck soreness. Grossman has a solid track record, but the Tigers will also want to get a look at top prospect Riley Greene soon, and they’re giving Kody Clemens an opportunity after a nice start down in Toledo.

Behind the plate, the Tigers are probably content with Barnhart’s glovework and leadership. There was talk of a potential extension after he was acquired, but a .229/.263/.257 start might have tempered that. Backup Eric Haase isn’t hitting enough to force a change, and the Tigers’ Triple-A catchers are journeymen Dustin Garneau and Ryan Lavarnway. They have a well-regarded prospect at Double-A in Dillon Dingler, but Barnhart shouldn’t be in imminent danger of losing his spot at this time.

Maikel Franco, Nationals: Franco is probably only in this everyday role because Carter Kieboom suffered an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery, but he hasn’t done much with his latest opportunity. The former Phillies, Royals and Orioles third baseman is hitting .258/.284/.374 (82 wRC+) through 208 plate appearances. The Nats have an ultra-thin farm system without much in the way of third base options in the upper minors, and they’re clearly not winning anything this year anyhow. That might keep Franco safe, but if an even semi-interesting option presents itself on the waiver wire, there’s little reason not to take a look.

Corey Dickerson, Cardinals: Prior to the 2022 season, Dickerson had never been worse than five percent below-average with the bat in any full year (by wRC+). That’s all but certain to change now, as the typically steady lefty has posted an uncharacteristic .183/.238/.215 slash in 101 plate appearances. For a lifetime .283/.327/.488 hitter who was coming off a solid 2021 campaign, it’s a rather astonishing swoon.

Dickerson has been in a platoon with Albert Pujols at DH for the most part, logging only 110 innings on defense in the outfield corners recently due to injuries elsewhere on the roster. He’s also only on a one-year, $5MM contract, so if he can’t find his swing in the near future, it’s easy to see the Cards giving more at-bats to Pujols’ long-shot chase for 700 home runs and to young standout Juan Yepez. Dickerson is safe for now with both Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson on the injured list, but he needs a hot streak sooner than later.

Mike Zunino, Rays: Zunino’s career-high 33 home runs from a year ago feel like a distant memory, as he’s off to a .147/.193/.294 start in 109 plate appearances in 2022. He’s still drawing excellent marks for his defensive contributions, which the Rays value heavily, but Zunino isn’t even hitting against lefties, whom he’s handled well throughout his career — particularly in recent seasons.

Backup Francisco Mejia isn’t hitting much himself, going just 6-for-42 without a walk over the past month or so. Were he producing at the plate, it’d be more tempting for Tampa Bay to significantly reduce Zunino’s playing time. The Rays do have 25-year-old Rene Pinto mashing in Triple-A, and he’s made his big league debut already this year. As with the Astros, however, the Rays are in firm win-now mode and entered the season with World Series aspirations. If the in-house options aren’t performing up to par, the trade market beckons.

Austin Hedges, Guardians: Hedges has never hit and has always been one of the game’s premier defensive players, so his 2022 season is nothing new. Still, a .155/.223/.282 output from your primary catcher is just difficult to stomach, no matter how strong the defense is. Veteran backup Luke Maile has hit well in a tiny sample of 35 plate appearances, but he’s a career .208/.264/.317 hitter himself.

Prospect Bryan Lavastida got a brief MLB cup of coffee in April and is hitting .225/.330/.360 so far in Triple-A. His performance will bear monitoring, because if the Guardians are intent on pulling into the playoff picture, Hedges’ production might be too light to overlook. And if they end up selling at the deadline, Hedges could draw interest from a team seeking a glove-first backup option — which could open a door for Lavastida.

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