Esteury Ruiz Will Make Athletics’ Opening Day Roster
Fleet-footed outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been informed that he’ll be on the Athletics’ Opening Day roster, manager Mark Kotsay announced to the team’s beat on Friday (Twitter link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). It hasn’t yet been decided whether that’ll be as the team’s primary center fielder, however. Kotsay indicated the team still has decisions to make in the outfield.
Ruiz, 24, has had a whirlwind nine months, going from the Padres to the Brewers as part of the Josh Hader trade only to be flipped to the A’s just months later in the three-team Sean Murphy swap. Atlanta sent catcher William Contreras and righty Justin Yeager to Milwaukee in that deal, and the Brewers also picked up righty Joel Payamps from Oakland as part of the arrangement.
After all that shuffling, Ruiz looks as though he’ll finally have a clear path to a potential everyday role. He’s done practically everything he could to win this spot on the roster, recording an impressive .325/.404/.475 batting line with a homer, three doubles, six steals (in seven tries) and five walks against four strikeouts in 48 trips to the plate.
Ruiz is among the fastest players in the sport, evidenced by a ridiculous 86 stolen bases in 102 tries between Double-A, Triple-A and a brief big league debut last year. He also turned in a sensational .332/.447/.526 batting line between Double-A and Triple-A. The raw numbers are clearly off the charts, but scouts are also wary of Ruiz’s frequent weak contact and ability to handle top-tier pitching at the MLB level.
It bears mentioning that he upped his walk rate in the minors by a considerable margin last year and did so while simultaneously paring back his strikeout rate. If he can come anywhere close to replicating last year’s 12.2% minor league walk rate and 17.4% minor league strikeout rate at the big league level, Ruiz’s speed could be a carrying tool that allows him to carve out a role as a big league regular. Speed alone won’t make him a surefire big leaguer, of course, but it’s hard not to be intrigued by his baserunning prowess, gaudy minor league numbers and strong spring showing.
Ruiz’s exact role in the outfield remains uncertain, perhaps in part because the out-of-options Cristian Pache has largely kept pace with him this spring, Pache, acquired from the Braves in the Matt Olson trade, is a former top prospect who has looked completely overmatched by Major League pitching but is one of the game’s top defensive talents. He hit just .166/.218/.241 with the A’s a year ago but has turned in a .317/.349/.439 batting line this spring. After striking out in 27% of his plate appearances last year, he’s fanned in just 14% of his plate appearances this spring.
[Related: The Athletics’ Outfield Dilemma]
It’s a small sample, as is all spring data, but it’s a welcome sign of encouragement with regard to Pache’s future. There’s room in the outfield for both Pache and Ruiz alongside Ramon Laureano, but waiver claim Conner Capel is also enjoying a strong spring: .278/.447/.500 in 47 plate appearances. Capel has minor league options remaining but is making a case for an outfield spot himself.
Given the lack of established talent on Oakland’s roster, it’s feasible that the A’s could rotate all of Laureano, Ruiz, Pache, Capel through the lineup, perhaps also giving occasional outfield reps to Seth Brown. JJ Bleday, acquired from the Marlins for A.J. Puk but optioned to Triple-A earlier this spring, figures to eventually get a look in the Majors this season as well. However it all shakes out, it seems quite likely that the A’s will want Ruiz in the lineup more often than not. The fact that they made him one of the centerpieces of their return for Murphy is indicative of how they view his long-term potential, and carrying him on the roster in anything less than a regular role would be surprising.
Reds Release Chad Pinder
The Reds announced Friday that they’ve released veteran infielder/outfielder Chad Pinder, who’d been in camp on a minor league deal. Cincinnati also reassigned righty Chase Anderson and infielder/outfielder Matt Reynolds to minor league camp. Left-hander Brandon Williamson has been optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Pinder had an opt-out in his minor league contract tomorrow. That’s also true of Anderson, but he’ll remain with the club at least for the time being.
Pinder, 31 next week, has spent his entire career to date with the A’s, for whom he posted a .242/.294/.417 batting line in 1740 plate appearances. Well versed in the outfield corners and at second base (and, to a lesser extent, at third and shortstop), he’s long been a right-handed utility option for Oakland. That’s due in large part to the righty-swinging Pinder’s career .264/.332/.456 batting line against left-handed pitching — a solid mark by any measure but even more so when factoring in the cavernous home park in which the A’s play their games.
Unfortunately, the 2022 season was one of the least-productive of his six-year big league career (.235/.263/.385 in 379 plate appearances). Spring training with his new club didn’t go any better, as Pinder was just 4-for-39 with nine strikeouts in 42 plate appearances over 15 games. Overall, he slashed just .103/.167/.154 in this spring’s small sample of at-bats.
Anderson and Reynolds were both with the Reds in 2022 as well. Anderson pitched 24 innings but was hit hard, yielding a 6.38 ERA. He’s struggled in each of the past three seasons now, but from 2014-19 he was a solid fourth starter for the D-backs and Brewers, pitching 857 innings of 3.94 ERA ball. Reynolds, meanwhile, batted .246/.320/.332 in 272 trips to the plate last season while spending time at every position except catcher.
Williamson, 24, is one of the more promising pitching prospects in Cincinnati’s system, though his stock took a hit with a somewhat shaky 2022 season. Acquired from the Mariners in the Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez trade, Williamson entered the 2022 campaign ranked 83rd on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list. He posted a decent 4.11 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A but also walked a concerning 13.9% of his opponents.
It’s been an ugly spring the former second-round pick. Williamson has made six appearances and totaled 13 2/3 innings but been tagged for a grisly 11.20 ERA. He’s yielded 18 runs (17 earned) on 20 hits and nine walks with 14 strikeouts in Cactus League play. He’ll head to the Reds’ Louisville affiliate and work to further refine his command. There’s still a clear opportunity for Williamson to make his debut at some point this season, particularly with Luke Weaver likely headed to the injured list.
Rangers Release Reyes Moronta, Joe McCarthy; Clint Frazier, Yoshi Tsutsugo Will Not Make Club
The Rangers have released right-hander Reyes Moronta and outfielder Joe McCarthy, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The team has also informed non-roster invitees Clint Frazier and Yoshi Tsutsugo that they will not make the Opening Day roster.
Signing with the Rangers offered Moronta, previously a setup man with the Giants, the opportunity to reunite with former skipper Bruce Bochy. Spring training didn’t go as either Moronta or the team hoped, however, as he was roughed up for ten runs on nine hits and four walks with five punchouts in 5 2/3 innings.
The 30-year-old Moronta spent the 2022 season with the Dodgers and D-backs, working to a 4.30 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate in 37 2/3 frames. That was his healthiest season since 2019 surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. He missed the 2020 season and pitched in just 22 Triple-A frames in 2021.
Prior to that surgery, Moronta pitched 128 1/3 innings of 2.66 ERA ball with a huge 29.8% strikeout rate and a heater that averaged just over 97 mph. His velocity was down to 95.3 mph in 2022, however, nearly two full ticks below peak levels.
McCarthy, 29, appeared in 17 Cactus League games and batted .258/.343/.387 with a homer, a double, a stolen base, three walks and a dozen strikeouts. His candidacy for the left field job took a hit when the Rangers signed Robbie Grossman, who’s been the primary option in left this spring and will get a chance to run with a regular role there when the season begins.
Grossman’s arrival was also bad news for Frazier, who had a decent showing this spring, hitting .244/.311/.463 with a pair of homers, three doubles and a 14-to-4 K/BB ratio in 45 trips to the plate. The switch-hitting Grossman is much stronger from the right side of the dish than the left, which never seemed to bode well for the right-handed-hitting Frazier. The former top prospect, who had a nice run with the Yankees from 2018-20 when he hit .267/.351/.485 in 447 plate appearances, is still with the club for now and could open the season in Triple-A as a depth option.
Tsutsugo, 31, got a bit later of a start in camp. He appeared in 11 games and batted .240/.296/.400 with a homer, a double, two walks and eight strikeouts in 27 plate appearances. Tsutsugo was a feared slugger in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but has yet to acclimate to Major League pitching since signing with the Rays prior to the 2020 season. He’s a .197/.291/.339 hitter with 18 home runs in 640 Major League plate appearances. Like Frazier, he could be a depth option in Triple-A to begin the season.
Rays Grant Charlie Culberson His Release
The Rays announced Friday that they’ve granted infielder/outfielder Charlie Culberson his release. He’s now a free agent. Culberson had an out clause in his contract this weekend and had likely been informed he would not make the club.
It’s been a tough spring for the veteran utilityman, as Culberson has gone just 4-for-24 without an extra base hit. He’s walked three times but also fanned in nine of his 28 plate appearances. Overall, he’s hitting .167/.286/.167 in this spring’s tiny sample of work.
Culberson, 34 in a few weeks, has spent the past two seasons with the Rangers, hitting a combined .246/.292/.373 in 395 trips to the plate. He’s the quintessential “jack of all trades, master of none,” having appeared at every position on the diamond other than center field and catcher over the course of a decade-long career in the Majors. That includes 7 1/3 innings on the mound, during which time he’s rather shockingly allowed just one earned run (albeit with three walks and only one strikeout).
While a career .248/.293/.386 batting line isn’t much to look at, Culberson has more impressive platoon splits. Through 582 plate appearances versus southpaws, he’s a .285/.313/.431 hitter with 11 homers, 37 doubles and five triples.
D-backs To Release Jeurys Familia
The Diamondbacks are set to release veteran reliever Jeurys Familia, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Familia is one of a few dozen veterans with an opt-out in his contract tomorrow but had been informed by the club that he would not make the Opening Day roster. They’ll cut him loose a day early and give him some extra time to latch on with a new organization.
Familia, 33, had a strong spring showing with Arizona, pitching six innings of one-run ball with just three hits and one walk against four strikeouts. Those sharp results apparently weren’t enough to sway the Snakes into putting him on the Opening Day roster, so he’ll instead return to the free-agent market in search of an opportunity with another club in need of some bullpen help.
Solid as Familia was this spring, he’s coming off the worst season of his career. In 44 1/3 innings between the Phillies and Red Sox, Familia was tagged for an ugly 6.09 ERA. His 20.1% strikeout rate was the second-lowest mark he’s posted in a full season, as was his 10.7% swinging-strike rate. Familia’s 10.8% walk rate was well north of the league average, and his 95.6 mph average fastball velocity was a personal-low for the former Mets closer.
Familia did have a nice season as recently as 2021 (3.94 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate in 59 1/3 innings), and his broader track record at the MLB level is impressive overall. The 2016 All-Star boasts a 3.51 ERA, 125 saves, 70 holds and a 24.4% strikeout rate in 543 big league frames.
Kevin Plawecki Will Not Make Pirates’ Roster
Veteran catcher Kevin Plawecki, who’s been in camp with the Pirates this spring as a non-roster invitee, has been informed he won’t make the club, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. The catcher’s locker has been emptied out, and John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now writes that Plawecki will exercise the opt-out clause in his contract. Plawecki has an opt-out afforded to him as an Article XX(B) free agent (that is, a player with six-plus years of service who ended the preceding season on a Major League roster or injured list). The formal date for that opt-out is tomorrow, but it’s possible the Bucs gave him the courtesy of allowing him to step away sooner in order to have more time to search for a new opportunity.
Plawecki, 32, went 4-for-17 with a pair of doubles, no walks and two strikeouts in limited time with the Pirates this spring. He’s coming off a 2022 season in which he batted .220/.286/.286 with eight doubles in 186 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Rangers.
A veteran of eight big league seasons, Plawecki is a lifetime .235/.313/.341 hitter in the Majors. He’s primarily operated as a backup throughout his career. Plawecki drew plus grades for his defense and framing early in his career, but his framing has been closer to average over the past couple years and Statcast has dinged his blocking skills as below-average in that time. Plawecki has a strong reputation both in the clubhouse and for his work with pitchers; both Nathan Eovaldi and Rich Hill expressed frustration and disappointment to WEEI’s Rob Bradford last year following the Red Sox’ decision to release Plawecki late in the year.
For the Pirates, subtracting Plawecki from camp likely means either Tyler Heineman or Jason Delay will be the backup to starter Austin Hedges. Neither has hit particularly well this spring — Heineman is 1-for-17, Delay is 2-for-12 — but both appeared in at least 52 games with Pittsburgh last season and are already familiar with the pitching staff. Neither player is currently on the 40-man roster.
Mariners Release Leonys Martin
The Mariners announced last night that outfielder Leonys Martin, who’d been in camp on a minor league deal, has been released. He’s once again a free agent.
Martin, 35, hasn’t played in the Majors since 2019, spending the past three and a half seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He returned to the Mariners organization, for whom he played in 2016-17, in hopes of securing a roster spot this spring. The veteran center fielder had a decent showing in a limited sample of 24 plate appearances, going 5-for-19 with a double, three walks and nine strikeouts in 24 plate appearances (.263/.375/.316).
Through his first two and a half seasons in NPB, Martin hit for a low average but got on base at a high clip and hit for plenty of power, evidenced by a .233/.363/.494 batting line in 1175 plate appearances. His production cratered in his age-34 campaign this past season, however, as Martin batted just .163/.293/.317 in 266 trips to the plate.
Martin’s most recent productive Major League season came back in 2018, so it’s fair to wonder whether another opportunity with a new organization will present itself. That said, he was solid for much of his time in Japan and has a long track record as a premium outfield defender and baserunner. Those skills have helped him offset the tepid .244/.301/.367 batting line (81 wRC+) he’s put together through 2792 plate appearances across parts of nine MLB seasons.
The Opener: Opt-Outs, Phillies, Lynch
Headed into the final weekend before Opening Day, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Article XX(B) veterans on minor league deals have opt-out opportunity tomorrow:
Tomorrow is the first date that Article XX(B) free agents (i.e. six-plus years of MLB service, finished the 2022 season on a Major League roster or injured list) who settled for minor league deals will have that opportunity to opt out of those contracts. A few dozen players qualify for this distinction. With the looming opt-out date on the horizon, clubs will need to make decisions on whether or not to add members of this group to their 40-man roster soon. As such, certain camp battles and Opening Day roster decisions will come into focus over the next day, in addition to the free agent market potentially receiving an influx of veteran players looking for a new opportunity. Article XX(B) free agents who do not opt out tomorrow will also have opt-out opportunities on May 1 and June 1.
2. External options for the Phillies following Hoskins’s injury:
Yesterday, first baseman Rhys Hoskins tore his ACL, requiring surgery that puts his season in danger before it even begins. The Phillies have enough depth to weather the injury, with Darick Hall standing as a suitable first baseman while Alec Bohm or Nick Castellanos could slide over to first against southpaws if the lefty-swinging Hall is utilized as a platoon player. That said, it would certainly make sense if the Phillies were interested in adding a veteran right-handed first baseman to complement Hall, who has just 41 games of MLB experience.
Currently, Miguel Sano is the only free agent that fits that profile, but tomorrow players like Yuli Gurriel and Hanser Alberto could join the free agent market as XX(B) veterans with opt outs, providing the Phillies with additional options. Perhaps the most interesting potential addition the Phillies could make, however, would be Luke Voit, the slugging first baseman who’s been in camp with the Brewers on a non-roster invite. Voit had an out clause in his contract originally scheduled for last week but agreed to push that date back until today. If the Brewers don’t add him to the 40-man roster by the end of the day, he’ll have the opportunity to opt out and could be a fit for the Phillies if he does.
3. Lynch undergoing tests:
Royals lefty Daniel Lynch exited yesterday’s game with discomfort in his left shoulder, and manager Matt Quatraro told reporters, including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers, that Lynch would undergo testing to determine the nature of the discomfort. Lynch made 27 starts for the Royals last year, posting a 5.13 ERA in 131 2/3 innings of work. With the offseason additions of Jordan Lyles and Ryan Yarbrough, Lynch did not figure to be a member of the Opening Day rotation. However, an early-spring injury to Yarbrough opened the door for Lynch to recapture a rotation spot, with Yarbrough seemingly ticketed for multi-inning relief. Should Lynch be forced to miss time, that could open the door for Yarbrough to return to the rotation, or allow fellow southpaw Kris Bubic to claim the spot rather than head to Triple-A to open the season.
Rhys Hoskins Diagnosed With Torn ACL, Will Undergo Surgery
The Phillies have lost Rhys Hoskins for almost certainly the entire season. Philadelphia announced Thursday evening the veteran first baseman tore the ACL in his left knee. He’ll undergo surgery at an unspecified date. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will meet with the media to discuss the situation tomorrow morning.
Hoskins was injured during this morning’s Spring Training action against the Tigers. He retreated to field an Austin Meadows chopper that pushed him just into the outfield grass. After the ball kicked off his glove, Hoskins scrambled to retrieve it but immediately went down in pain (video provided on Twitter by Chris Brown of the Woodward Sports Network). The club had to call for a cart to take him off the field. While manager Rob Thomson later indicated that Hoskins was able to walk in the clubhouse, imaging revealed the devastating injury.
It’s a horrible development for team and player alike. Hoskins had been set to occupy his typical middle-of-the-order lineup spot for the defending National League champions. A paragon of offensive consistency, he’s hit between 27 and 34 home runs in all four of his full MLB seasons. Hoskins pairs that power with plus walk totals to more than compensate for slightly higher than average strikeout rates. Even after accounting for Philadelphia’s hitter-friendly home park, he’s been a well above-average offensive player throughout his career.
Hoskins is coming off his typical season. He connected on 30 homers with a .246/.332/.462 line while suiting up in 156 regular season games. While he only hit .159 with a .205 on-base percentage in the playoffs, he popped six homers in 73 postseason PA’s.
That kind of power production would have been of particular import for the Phils early in the 2023 campaign. Bryce Harper is recovering from Tommy John surgery and will open the year on the injured list. While Philadelphia doesn’t have any imminent plans to put the two-time MVP on the 60-day IL, the club has only specified they expect him back around the All-Star Break. They’ll now be down two of their best hitters early in the year and, in Hoskins’ case, likely for the entire season.
The Phils added another star position player this offseason, signing Trea Turner to a $300MM deal. The Phils have a pair of more traditional sluggers in last winter’s signees Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. Schwarber is coming off a 46-homer season in his first year with the club. Castellanos, on the other hand, struggled to a .263/.305/.389 line in the initial season of a five-year deal. With Hoskins out, there’s more pressure on Castellanos to return to peak form alongside Turner, Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and eventually Harper in the lineup.
In the immediate future, the Phils will have to sort out how to divvy up first base playing time. The most straightforward decision would be to give the job to 27-year-old Darick Hall. A left-handed power bat, Hall got into his first 42 MLB games last season. He connected on nine longballs and slugged .522 in 142 plate appearances. That’s a promising start but a meager 3.5% walk rate and elevated 31% strikeout percentage contributed to a .282 OBP. Hall had hit .254/.330/.528 with 28 homers, a 9.5% walk percentage and a 22.6% strikeout rate in 101 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Aside from Hall, the Phils could give occasional first base reps to either of Schwarber or Castellanos. Utility players like Josh Harrison or Kody Clemens could take some at-bats but aren’t likely to hit enough to play there regularly. The Phillies could also slide third baseman Alec Bohm across the diamond — particularly if they want the right-handed Bohm to take some reps from Hall against lefty pitching — while plugging Harrison or Edmundo Sosa at the hot corner for defensive purposes. Realmuto also seems likely to pick up a few starts on days when the Phils want to get him some time off from behind the dish.
If Philadelphia were to go outside the organization, Miguel Sanó stands as the top unsigned first baseman. Other players should come available as teams make roster cuts. The Brewers may wind up having to decide between minor league signee Luke Voit and the out-of-options Keston Hiura. The Marlins could soon have to decide whether to keep non-roster invitee Yuli Gurriel or allow him to retest the market. Phillies brass figures to provide insight into the plans over the coming days.
In addition to the difficulty of losing an entire season on a championship contender, it’s hard to draw up a worse time for an injury of this nature for Hoskins personally. The 30-year-old will be a free agent for the first time next offseason. One of the top bats in what looks to be a shallow free agent position player class, he looked like an obvious choice to reject a qualifying offer and sign a lucrative multi-year deal. Instead, he might have to take a pillow contract to reestablish himself before testing the market again over the 2024-25 offseason. Josh Bell and Trey Mancini, who can each opt out of the deals they signed this winter, now look like the top impending free agents at first base.
Rangers Notes: Dunning, Ragans, Smith, Foscue
The Rangers could carry righty Dane Dunning and left-hander Cole Ragans in the big league bullpen to open the season, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Both pitchers were squeezed out of the initial rotation mix by Texas’ busy offseason. Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi were all brought in to join Martín Pérez and Jon Gray in the starting five. Even with trade pickup Jake Odorizzi headed to the injured list, there’s no room in the season-opening five for Dunning or Ragans.
Rather than option either to Triple-A Round Rock to start the year, the Rangers might prefer to keep them stretched out as multi-inning options at the MLB level. The Rangers plan to be cautious with early-season workloads for deGrom and Eovaldi after each had minor soreness that slightly delayed them in camp. Dunning and Ragans could handle bulk work in relief. The former was second on the team with 153 1/3 innings over 29 starts last year; the latter worked 40 frames over nine big league starts after tallying 94 2/3 innings in the upper minors.
There are also some roster questions on the position player side, perhaps none bigger than in center field. Adolis García and Robbie Grossman are ticketed for most of the corner outfield work. Leody Taveras should get first crack up the middle if healthy, but his status for Opening Day is still up in the air owing to an oblique strain earlier this month.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Texas has begun to get Josh Smith some work in center field, as Grant writes in a separate piece. The 25-year-old didn’t see any big league time there last year, instead splitting his rookie campaign between third base, shortstop and left field. Texas gave Smith 131 innings in center in Triple-A. They were apparently sufficiently impressed to consider him a potential part-time option there at the highest level. He’s a slightly above-average runner who has plenty of experience in the middle infield, so it’s not out of the question he’s athletic enough to handle the outfield’s toughest position.
Smith doesn’t have a path to everyday playing time at any one spot after hitting .197/.307/.249 over his first 253 MLB plate appearances. An ability to take on tough defensive assignments would increase his utility off the bench. The Rangers have Bubba Thompson and non-roster invitee Travis Jankowski — neither of whom is hitting this spring — as the most straightforward center field replacements for Taveras. Smith might have the most offensive upside of that trio in spite of his slow start against big league pitching. He’d hit .290/.395/.466 in 55 games in Triple-A.
The efforts to broaden versatility aren’t limited to the MLB level. As part of a reader mailbag earlier this week, The Athletic’s Jamey Newberg noted that Texas is planning to get prospect Justin Foscue more work on the corner infield this year in Round Rock. Texas’ first-round draftee in 2020, Foscue has mostly played second base as a professional. He logged 106 innings at the hot corner with Double-A Frisco last year and played there regularly during his first couple collegiate seasons at Mississippi State. He has virtually no experience at first base.
Foscue will continue to get time at second base as well, though finding comfort at multiple positions could aid him in getting to the majors as a bat-first utility player. Marcus Semien should have the keystone secure for years to come. Foscue isn’t far off the majors from an offensive perspective after hitting .288/.367/.483 with 15 homers and a meager 14.3% strikeout rate in Round Rock last year.