Justin Steele To Undergo MRI Due To Forearm Tightness
4:25pm: Steele will undergo an MRI, Ross tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
4:05pm: Cubs left-hander Justin Steele was removed from today’s start after throwing three perfect innings. The trainer had visited him in that third inning and Steele finished the frame but didn’t return in the fourth. The club later announced to reporters, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN, that the southpaw was removed due to forearm tightness.
It’s too early for the club to have any kind of firm diagnosis on the issue, but Steele will undoubtedly undergo further testing to get a clearer picture of the situation. Forearm tightness is an ominous combination of words for a pitcher as it often precedes a serious ailment, though that’s not always the case. Nonetheless, it will be a situation to monitor given that Steele has only grown in importance recently.
Now 27, Steele broke out last year by posting a 3.18 ERA in 119 innings over 24 starts. He struck out 24.6% of batters faced, walked 9.8% and got grounders at a 51.2% rate. He’s only further cemented himself in the Chicago rotation this year, as his outing today dropped his ERA to 2.65. His strikeout and ground ball rates have declined slightly, but he’s also allowing far fewer walks and home runs.
With the recent return of Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs have a set rotation that also consists of Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly and Steele. The strength of that group pushed Hayden Wesneski out of the picture, as he was optioned to the minors earlier this month. He was recalled yesterday with the plan of him helping out of the bullpen, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. That has come into play quickly, as he jumped into today’s game when Steele departed, throwing 59 pitches over 3 2/3 innings.
Prior to getting optioned, Wesneski had been working as a starter and could perhaps do so again if Steele needs to miss any time. That would likely be a downgrade for the club, as the righty had a 5.03 ERA in his eight starts this year. He’s still young, 25 years old, and could certainly take a step forward. But Steele has been one of the 10 best pitchers in baseball in many categories this year, including ERA, FIP and fWAR. It would be unfair to expect just about any pitcher to step in and replicate that kind of production.
There could also potentially be effects elsewhere in the club’s system, as Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported earlier today that the club was open to various paths to supplementing its bullpen. Codi Heuer is working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery, but the club has also seemingly given some thought to promoting youngsters like Ben Brown or Daniel Palencia. “Everyone is on the radar at this point,” manager David Ross said. “We’re hoping Codi comes back soon. That could be, hopefully, another big-league arm that is able to help us out. Ben Brown has been throwing the ball really well in the starter role. Palencia has been sent to the ‘pen, to work out of the ‘pen and try to learn that role — what that consists of, how to go back-to-back, the recovery with all that. There’s a plan in place, for sure, and big-picture stuff. But this is what we’ve got right now. We have conversations daily about those things.”
Brown, 23, came over from the Phillies in the David Robertson trade. He has a 2.25 ERA through nine starts this year, split between Double-A and Triple-A. Palencia, meanwhile, came over from the Athletics in the 2021 Andrew Chafin deal. He had a 5.87 ERA through five Double-A starts this year before getting bumped to the Triple-A bullpen for his two most recent appearances. Neither player has made their major league debut yet but Brown does have a 40-man roster spot.
The club is scrambling a bit to try to cover for a poor performance from its bullpen so far this year. Their relievers have a collective ERA of 4.55 on the season, a mark that places them 27th out of the 30 clubs in the league. All of these conversations were happening before Steele’s departure today. If that proves to be an injury of any significance, it would only stretch their staff further, though they will surely be hoping it proves to be something minor that passes quickly.
Mets Acquire Tyler White From Twins
The acquired journeyman first baseman Tyler White from the Twins this week, per the team’s transaction log. He made his debut with the Mets’ Triple-A club in Syracuse today, going 0-for-4. A return wasn’t specified, though minor veteran swaps of this nature typically send cash back the other direction.
White, 32, has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors, most of it coming with the Astros from 2016-19. His best output came in 2018, when he logged 237 plate appearances and posted a huge .276/.354/.533 slash with a career-high 12 home runs, a 10.1% walk rate and a 20.7% strikeout rate. White struggled badly in a career-high 279 plate appearances the following season, however, and didn’t fare any better during a brief 2020 stint with the Korea Baseball Organization’s SK Wyverns (now the SSG Landers), going 3-for-22 in a sample of just nine games.
Since returning to North American ball in 2021, White has bounced between the Triple-A clubs for the Blue Jays, Brewers, Braves and Twins before landing with the Mets this week. He had a strong year with the Jays’ Buffalo affiliate in ’21 but a lackluster showing between Gwinnett and Nashville last year. In 16 games with the Twins’ top affiliate in St. Paul, he hit .259/.386/.414 with 11 walks against 13 strikeouts through 70 plate appearances.
White has experience at both infield corners but is primarily a first baseman at this point. He’s a career .290/.395/.498 hitter in parts of seven Triple-A seasons but a .236/.316/.409 in parts of four big league seasons. He’ll give the Mets a righty-hitting bat with a productive Triple-A track record to stash in the upper minors, but with Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Eduardo Escobar and Daniel Vogelbach all in the corner infield/designated hitter mix at the MLB level, there’s no clear path to the bigs for White at the moment.
Padres Re-Sign Jose Iglesias To Minor League Deal
Just days after veteran infielder Jose Iglesias triggered an out clause in his minor league deal with the Padres and was granted his release, he’s re-signed with San Diego on a new minor league pact, the team’s Triple-A El Paso affiliate announced last night. Iglesias was back in the lineup with the Chihuahuas last night, going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
It’s a quick turnaround, though these scenarios aren’t exactly uncommon in baseball. Iglesias presumably took a few days to survey interest around the league and gauge the market for big league opportunities before returning to the Padres’ affiliate he’s already spent the season calling home. Quick re-signings like this can also grant the opportunity for new terms (e.g. additional opt-out dates) to be written into the new contract that wouldn’t have existed had the player simply foregone the out clause in the first place.
The 33-year-old is out to a solid start in Triple-A this season, slashing .293/.350/.446 with a homer, nine doubles and a triple in 103 trips to the plate. He’s walked at an 8.7% clip against a 14.6% strikeout rate that’s well south of league-average (but also a bit elevated from last year’s 12% mark in the big leagues).
Iglesias spent the 2022 season with the Rockies, batting .292/.328/.380 as their primary shortstop. That’s about par for the course for Iglesias. Over the past several seasons, he’s maintained strong batting averages thanks to minimal strikeout rates but has been largely unable to supplement that average thanks to some of the lowest walk rates in baseball and minimal power output. Dating back to 2018, he’s batted .287/.322/.404, with a disproportionate amount of his extra-base hits coming in an anomalous 2020 campaign (three homers, 17 doubles in just 150 plate appearances).
Once touted as one of the game’s elite defenders at shortstop, Iglesias has seen his glovework slip in recent seasons — at least in the eyes of most defensive metrics. He hasn’t posted a positive mark in Outs Above Average since 2020 or in Defensive Runs Saved since 2019. He made a career-high 16 errors at shortstop in 2021 despite logging what was then his lightest workload at the position in a full 162-game season. Last year’s eight errors in 975 frames was an improvement over 2021, but Iglesias averaged eight errors in a considerably larger 1105 innings per year at short from 2015-19. He’s been well below average in terms of arm strength in each of the past three seasons, per Statcast, ranking 74th among 100 shortstops with an average 81.5 mph on his throws to first base (league average is 85.3 mph).
Even with Manny Machado sidelined due to a fractured hand, the Padres are deep in infield options on the big league roster. Xander Bogaerts and Ha-Seong Kim are holding the left side of the infield down, while Jake Cronenworth and Rougned Odor handle the right side. Odor hasn’t hit much this season, but he’s been on a well-timed hot streak over the past two weeks. Of course, Fernando Tatis Jr. is plenty familiar with playing the infield if needed there, though he’s taken quite well to right field (8 DRS, 4 OAA).
Tigers To Promote Reese Olson
The Tigers will promote pitching prospect Reese Olson to make his Major League debut prior to Friday’s game against the White Sox, manager A.J. Hinch announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). He’ll step into the vacated rotation spot of lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who’s on the injured list due to a ruptured pulley in his left index finger.
Olson, 23, came to the Tigers by way of a 2021 trade that sent lefty Daniel Norris to the Brewers. He entered the season ranked 11th among Detroit farmhands at Baseball America and 12th on Keith Law’s list over at The Athletic. BA’s report credits him with four average or better offerings — headlined by his changeup — but inconsistent command. Law notes that Olson’s velocity fluctuates at times as well, with his fastball sitting 93-95 mph some days but in the lower 90s on others. There’s starter potential if he can more consistently locate his fastball and throw it at the higher end of its velocity range, but just about any scouting report on Olson will peg him as a viable multi-inning bullpen option at the very least.
The 2023 season started out in brutal fashion for Olson, who was tagged for 17 earned runs through his first 8 2/3 innings across four starts. He’s since righted the ship, pitching to a 3.00 ERA with 32 punchouts against a more problematic 15 walks through his past 27 frames. The right-hander’s most recent start saw him hold the Nationals’ Triple-A club to one run on four hits and no walks with a hefty 10 strikeouts through five innings pitched.
Given that Rodriguez is being shut down for at least a week before he’ll even be reevaluated, it seems quite likely that Olson will be afforded the opportunity to make several starts in his first look at the big league level. He’ll step into a rotation that currently includes veterans Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen, as well as a pair of former top prospects still hoping to establish themselves: Alex Faedo and Joey Wentz.
There’s enough uncertainty at the back of the rotation that with a strong start to his MLB career, Olson could claim a long-term spot in the rotation even when Rodriguez returns. Faedo has pitched to a 5.54 ERA in his first 26 innings — a nearly identical mark to the 5.53 mark he turned in through 52 2/3 frames a year ago in his MLB debut. Wentz’s struggles have been even more pronounced, as he’s currently lugging a 7.80 ERA through his first 10 starts this season (42 2/3 innings).
Even if he’s in the big leagues to stay, Olson won’t be able to accrue enough service time in 2023 to reach a full year. The Tigers would still control him through at least the 2029 season, although future optional assignments could push that timeline to free agency back even further. Detroit will need to make a 26-man roster move to formally recall Olson from the minors, but he’s already on the 40-man roster, so they won’t need to make a move in that regard.
Rockies Re-Sign Fernando Abad To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have re-signed left-hander Fernando Abad to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.
Abad, 37, signed a previous minor league deal with the Rockies in the winter and began the year with Albuquerque. He got out to a great start there, tossing 16 innings in 13 appearances with a 1.69 ERA. His .206 batting average on balls in play and 97.6% strand rate were unsustainably lucky, but he was striking out 34.5% of batters faced while walking just 3.4%.
Those encouraging results got him back to the big leagues for the first time since 2021, as the Rockies selected his contract on May 15. His first two appearances went well but the Rangers put three runs on the board in his third outing, leading to a 10.13 ERA in a small sample of 2 2/3 innings. He was designated for assignment less than a week after being selected and then released shortly thereafter.
After a few days on the open market, the two sides have now reunited. It’s understandable why the Rockies would want to keep a veteran like Abad around, given the state of their pitching staff. Building a solid stable of arms in Colorado is challenging in the best of times, given that its hitter-friendly nature makes it fairly unappealing for free agents. They’ve also been hit hard by the injury bug this year, with eight hurlers currently on the injured list.
Abad has 403 major league appearances under his belt now, going back to the 2010 season. He has a 3.82 ERA in that time, along with a 19.4% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 41.6% ground ball rate. He’s a few years removed from that level of effectiveness, as he didn’t make it to the majors 2020 or 2022 and had a 5.60 ERA in the season between those two. However, his Triple-A numbers from earlier this year suggest that he can still get some outs. He’ll provide the club with an experienced bit of non-roster depth and could get called up again the next time they need a fresh arm.
Tigers Place Riley Greene On Injured List Due To Stress Reaction In Fibula
10:00am: The Tigers have formally announced Greene’s placement on the injured list and the selection of Marisnick’s contract. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Marisnick, Detroit transferred righty Trey Wingenter from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Wingenter has already missed five weeks due to tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. The move to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset his IL requirements, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement late next month.
9:30am: The Tigers have placed center fielder Riley Greene on the 10-day injured list with a stress fracture in his left fibula, tweets Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. Greene exited last night’s game with discomfort in his lower leg, and a subsequent MRI revealed the injury. There’s no firm timetable on his recovery just yet, as he’s headed for a second opinion, but the injury figures to sideline him well beyond that 10-day minimum.
Just hours before Greene suffered the injury, the Tigers had acquired veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick from the White Sox in exchange for cash. Manager AJ Hinch said after last night’s game that the plan had been to select Marisnick’s contract anyhow, but the injury to Greene makes Marisnick’s acquisition all the more important, as the slick-fielding and fleet-footed veteran can provide Detroit with an alternative in center field.
Greene’s injury comes just as the 22-year-old former top prospect looked to be breaking out and reaching his potential. Drafted with the fifth overall selection back in 2019, Greene entered the 2022 season ranked among the sport’s ten best prospects on most publications but delivered a fairly tepid .253/.321/.362 batting line in 93 games as a 21-year-old rookie. This season, he’s slashing .296/.362/.443 with five home runs, nine doubles, three triples and six steals (in six attempts).
The past month, in particular, has been a torrid one for Greene. He’s hitting .365/.435/.573 since the calendar flipped to May, and while he won’t sustain this month’s sky-high .485 average on balls in play, there are plenty of positives amid the hot streak. Greene fanned in 31.1% of his plate appearances in March/April but cut that to 25% in May. His walk rate jumped from 7.8% to 11.1% as he’s cut five percentage points off his chase rate on pitches off the plate.
After averaging a pedestrian 89.4 mph off the bat with an overall 38.6% hard-hit rate in the season’s first month, Greene erupted with a 94.1 mph average exit velocity and 55.1% hard-hit rate in May. Even assuming some regression of that BABIP, Greene has cut back on his chases, struck out less, walked more and radically improved the quality of his batted-ball profile during his recent hot streak.
All of that positive progress will grind to halt for the time being, however, as Greene will require an absence — likely of some note — while this injury mends. His placement on the injured list comes just one day after Detroit put top starter Eduardo Rodriguez and outfielder Matt Vierling on the injured list due to a pulley/tendon injury and a lower back injury, respectively. The injuries to Greene and Rodriguez, in particular, are major blows to the surprising Tigers, who have outplayed expectations and find themselves two games out of the AL Central lead and within arm’s reach (six games) of the final AL Wild Card spot.
Detroit’s outfield has been plagued by health issues all season. Greene will join Vierling, Kerry Carpenter (shoulder sprain) and Austin Meadows (anxiety) on the injured list. That likely leaves Marisnick, Akil Baddoo and utilityman Zach McKinstry as the primary outfield trio, with Tyler Nevin perhaps mixing in against some left-handed pitching in favor of the lefty-swinging McKinstry or Baddoo. The Tigers have some other outfield options on the 40-man roster — namely Parker Meadows (Austin’s younger brother). The 23-year-old has a .239/.327/.410 slash in Triple-A this year but has been rolling of late, batting .289/.353/.578 with three homers, a pair of doubles and a triple over the past two weeks.
For now, it seems Marisnick will be ticketed for a prominent role. He’s a career .228/.281/.384 hitter in 2166 plate appearances, which doesn’t inspire much optimism with regard to his potential offensive contributions, but the 32-year-old is also one of the sport’s premier outfield defenders. Dating back to his 2013 MLB debut, Marisnick ranks eight among 1044 big league outfielders with 76 Defensive Runs Saved — and all seven of the names ahead of him on the list have received greater playing time to accumulate those higher totals. His 48 Outs Above Average since Statcast debuted the statistic rank 12th among all outfielders.
The Opener: Padres, Tigers, Hitting Streaks
As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Padres broadcast rights revert to MLB:
Following last night’s decision by Diamond Sports Group to allow their rights to broadcasting Padres games to lapse, MLB has taken over broadcasting Padres games for the foreseeable future. In-market Padres fans can find games on MLB.TV for free through this coming Sunday, after which point they’ll be available for a $19.99 monthly fee or $74.99 for the rest of the season. Games are also expected to be made available in-market on alternative cable platforms.
The distribution change comes in the midst of what has been a difficult season for the Padres. Despite setting lofty expectations that left fans dreaming on surpassing the Dodgers as the top dog in the NL West, the group of assembled stars in San Diego have largely struggled to live up to expectations, with only Juan Soto and Josh Hader producing at their typical All Star-caliber levels. This, combined with a rotation that has only gotten consistent and healthy performance from veteran right-hander Michael Wacha, has left the Padres to struggle to a 25-29 record, fourth-best in the division and with five teams standing between them an NL Wild Card berth.
2. Tigers roster move(s) coming:
The Tigers acquired veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick from the White Sox yesterday and plan to select him to the roster ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Rangers. A corresponding move will be necessary to make room for Marisnick on both the active and 40-man rosters. A quality outfield defender and baserunner, Marisnick spent much of his career as a member of the Astros but has also played for the Marlins, Mets, Cubs, Padres, Pirates, and White Sox in his 11-season career prior to landing with the Tigers.
The Tigers planned to select Marisnick even before center fielder Riley Greene departed yesterday’s game with discomfort in his left leg, but that injury could potentially clear an active roster spot depending on its severity. Any missed time for Greene would sting, as the former top prospect has broken out in the early going this season with a.296/.362/.463 batting line (127 wRC+), solid center field defense, five home runs and six steals (without being caught).
3. Freeman, Semien look to extend hitting streaks to 20 games:
A pair of veteran stars are looking to extend hitting streaks to 20 games for the top clubs in the West divisions. In the NL, superstar first baseman Freddie Freeman has slashed an unbelievable .455/.522/.831 with five home runs and 12 doubles during the hitting streak, lifting his season-long production to an NL-leading 169 wRC+. Semien’s heroics haven’t quite reached that Herculean level over in the AL, though the infielder has still slashed a strong .313/.344/.530 during his own hitting streak. Looking at Semien’s season as a whole, his strong offense combined with stellar defense at second base has allowed him to accumulate 2.5 fWAR — sixth-best in the majors and top three in the junior circuit. Freeman will look for a hit in his 20th consecutive game against the Nationals at 3:10pm CT this afternoon, while Semien will do the same against the Tigers at 12:10pm CT.
Yankees Place Harrison Bader On Injured List
11:50pm: Bader is expected to miss at least “a few weeks,” Boone said after tonight’s win over the Mariners (relayed by Chris Kirschner of the Athletic).
8:20pm: The Yankees placed center fielder Harrison Bader on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain before this evening’s game in Seattle. New York also optioned catcher Ben Rortvedt to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Fellow backstop Jose Trevino has been activated from his own IL stint, while Franchy Cordero was recalled to take Bader’s spot in the outfield.
Bader’s IL placement comes as little surprise. Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged it was a possibility this morning after Bader had left last night’s game. He underwent an MRI this morning. It’s not clear how significant the strain is or how long the Yankees expect him to be sidelined, but he’ll be out for at least a week and a half.
It’s the second time this year in which Bader has landed on the shelf. He missed the first month of the season with an oblique strain. Since returning, he’s been one of New York’s best players. Bader is hitting .267/.295/.511 with six homers and stolen bases apiece in 26 games. He’s paired that with characteristically excellent defense over his 205 1/3 innings of center field work. When healthy, Bader has shown the ability to be a very productive two-way outfielder. He’s unfortunately been no stranger to the IL, though, as he’s yet to surpass 427 MLB plate appearances in a season.
That combination of productivity but a checkered injury history will make Bader an interesting free agent case next winter. Alongside Cody Bellinger and the older Kevin Kiermaier, he’s slated to top the center field class. His market will obviously be determined in large part by how quickly he makes his return and his form down the stretch.
Aaron Judge got the bulk of the center field work last time Bader was on the shelf. Greg Allen, who wasn’t on the roster last month, is getting the nod there tonight. Judge is in right field with Isiah Kiner-Falefa manning left against Seattle righty Logan Gilbert.
Diamond Sports Group Bypasses Payment To Padres, MLB To Take Over Local Broadcasts
Diamond Sports Group, the corporation which operates the Bally Sports regional networks responsible for nearly half MLB’s local broadcasting deals, has informed the Padres it won’t make its scheduled payment to the club. John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal was first to report the news. Diamond had initially missed a payment a couple weeks ago and had until today to make up the debt if it wished to keep its broadcasting rights.
By declining to do so, Diamond forfeits in-market broadcasting for Friars’ games. Beginning tomorrow, the rights will revert to Major League Baseball. Both Ourand and Alden González of ESPN report that the league will stream Padres’ games in-market on MLB.TV (free of blackout restrictions) at no cost through Sunday. Thereafter, González reports, they’ll be available in-market on MLB.TV for either $19.99 per month or $74.99 for the rest of the season. In addition to the blackout-free streaming options, MLB is expected to make the games available on various non-Bally cable platforms.
Diamond filed for bankruptcy in mid-March, calling into question its long-term ability to honor any of its broadcasting deals. The company had held onto all of its contracts thus far — it missed a payment to the Reds but salvaged the deal by upholding its commitment during the grace period a few weeks later — making the Padres’ deal the first to fall through.
The Padres’ contract with Diamond runs through 2032, according to Ourand. It’s a $1.2 billion deal which Diamond asserts has proven unprofitable. It will let it lapse as a result; in a statement to Sports Business Journal, the company said “the economics of the Padres’ contract were not aligned with market realities” and excoriated MLB for what it called the league’s “continued refusal to negotiate direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming rights for all teams in our portfolio despite our proposal to pay every team in full in exchange for those rights.”
Padres’ CEO Erik Greupner provided González with a statement as well. “The Padres are excited to be the first team to partner with Major League Baseball to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option through MLB.TV without blackouts while preserving our in-market distribution through traditional cable and satellite television providers,” it read in part. “Our fans will now have unprecedented access to Padres games through both digital and traditional platforms throughout San Diego and beyond.”
According to both González and Jeff Sanders of the Union-Tribune, San Diego’s on-air broadcasting staff will remain in place. It’s not yet clear whether the pregame or postgame staff might be affected by the shakeup. What is apparent is that access for fans in the San Diego area will be greatly expanded with Bally forfeiting its unilateral in-market broadcasting rights.
To this point, the Padres are the only team for which that is the case. They’re not likely to be the last, however. Diamond’s ongoing bankruptcy case is set for a pivotal hearing tomorrow. Diamond has been paying the Guardians, Reds, Twins, Rangers and D-Backs at lower than contracted rates since filing bankruptcy.
Those clubs are pushing for payment of the overdue rights fees or the severing of those contracts; Diamond has argued for the court to restructure the deals to more closely align with their current market values in light of rampant cord-cutting that has devalued the cable market in recent years. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com each write that league officials aren’t anticipating an official ruling from the court during or directly following tomorrow’s appearance; nevertheless, tomorrow’s hearing sets the stage for a key ruling down the line. In the interim, Diamond will maintain its slate of non-Padres contracts.
Phillies, Jacob Barnes Agree To Minor League Deal
The Phillies are in agreement with veteran reliever Jacob Barnes on a minor league contract, tweets Matt Gelb of the Athletic. Philadelphia also released Louis Head from a non-roster pact of his own.
Barnes joins his second organization of the season. The right-hander inked a non-roster deal with Texas over the winter. He pitched 13 times for their top affiliate in Round Rock, working to a 2.21 ERA across 20 1/3 innings. That was built on the back of a strong 52.3% ground-ball percentage but belied a modest 17.5% strikeout rate and slightly elevated 10.3% walk percentage. Texas never gave him an MLB look and released him last week.
Not too long thereafter, Barnes finds a new landing spot in search of an eighth straight season with some MLB action. An effective middle innings arm with the Brewers early in his career, the 33-year-old has fallen on tougher times of late. He’s posted a 5.50 ERA or higher in each of the past four seasons. That includes a 5.64 mark over 22 1/3 frames between the Tigers and Yankees last season. Barnes had more success in Triple-A and averaged north of 95 MPH on his fastball at the MLB level, though, so it’s little surprise he’s gotten a number of looks as a depth option.
Philadelphia’s bullpen entered play Tuesday ranked 16th in the majors with a 4.11 ERA. They’re ninth in strikeout rate (25.5%) but have the game’s eighth-highest walk percentage (10.3%). Barnes is out of minor league options, so if he cracks the MLB mix at any point, the Phils would have to keep him on the big league club or designate him for assignment.
As for Head, he spent the year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley after signing a minor league deal over the winter. He was tattooed for 14 runs in 11 2/3 innings there, walking 15 batters and allowing four home runs. It’s hardly surprising the Phils never called him up given those struggles. Head tossed 28 2/3 MLB frames between the Marlins and Orioles last season. He goes back to free agency in hopes of finding an opportunity to right the ship.