White Sox Place Elvis Andrus On 10-Day IL, Reinstate Romy Gonzalez
The White Sox placed infielder Elvis Andrus on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique. Taking Andrus’ spot on the active roster is Romy Gonzalez, who returns after his own 10-day IL stint due to inflammation in his right shoulder.
The injury occurred in yesterday’s 5-1 loss to the Astros, as Andrus reported some discomfort in his side after his final at-bat of the game. Andrus was then replaced in the field for the top of the ninth, and the injury has proven troublesome enough to merit a trip to the IL. The severity of Andrus’ strain isn’t yet known, though even if Andrus has only a Grade 1 strain (the lowest level of oblique problems), he is still likely to miss at least three or four weeks of action.
It has already been a rough year for Andrus, who has hit only .201/.280/.254 over 151 plate appearances. Re-signed to a one-year, $3MM free agent deal in the offseason, Andrus was projected to be Chicago’s regular second baseman, but he has ended up getting a lot of time at his normal shortstop position due to Tim Anderson‘s own stint on the IL earlier this season. Defensive utility notwithstanding, Andrus’ lack of offensive production has resulted in a -0.1 fWAR performance through his first 39 games of the season.
Lenyn Sosa saw a lot of time at the keystone when Andrus was playing shortstop, but with Sosa currently at Triple-A, Gonzalez and Hanser Alberto figure to split second base duties in Andrus’ absence. It’s not an ideal situation for a White Sox team that signed Andrus to ostensibly stabilize a longstanding hole at second base, though Alberto (a minor league signing) has at least hit .255/.304/.510 in his first 57 PA with the White Sox.
Cubs, Marcus Stroman Had Preliminary Extension Talks
The Cubs and Marcus Stroman explored an extension this spring, reports Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times. While no deal was reached, the door seems to still be open on some sort of extension coming together this season.
Stroman is off to a fantastic start this season, working to a 2.28 ERA over his first eight starts. That sort of form makes it increasingly likely that Stroman opts out of the final year and $21MM remaining on his contract in 2024.
“I’ve been open with the front office here, been very vocal that I want to be here and I want an extension, that I don’t want to honestly make it to free agency,” Stroman told Lee. “The organization top down, how they handle the players, how they handle the families, how they operate, I love everything about it. So, I would love to be a Cub for, honestly, the rest of my career, and sign one more deal and be done.”
While it’s fairly common for players approaching free agency to declare an interest in a reunion, those comments from Stroman are particularly strong and do show a clear desire from his side to remain a Cub long term. While it’s unclear how far extension talks got during the spring, Lee adds that they haven’t reopened them so far this season.
Stroman joined the Cubs last year on a three-year, $71MM deal and has been a steady arm at the top of their rotation. Over 33 combined starts since, Stroman owns a 3.19 ERA, striking out 7.9 batters per nine innings and walking 2.6. He’s spent time on the Covid IL and also missed a little bit of time to shoulder inflammation last season, but has generally been a regular fixture in Chicago’s rotation.
Even with some regression from his quality start to the season, Stroman appears a very good shout to top the $21MM remaining on his deal. He’ll also be ineligible for a qualifying offer, further boosting his market opportunities. The starting pitching market is strong this year, with Shohei Ohtani, Julio Urias and Aaron Nola all headlining it, with the likes of Jordan Montgomery, Lucas Giolito, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto all quality options. In fact, those seven players all featured on Tim Dierkes’ recent Free Agent Power Rankings. Stroman would very much fit into that mix, and would expect to do well in free agency.
As for the Cubs, they do have a fair bit of money tied up to the likes of Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ in 2024, with payroll commitments currently sitting at about $148MM for next season, but they’re also off to a solid start in 2023 and they’ll be expected to spend again next winter as they look to push their new core back to playoff contention.
Twins Place Max Kepler On 10-Day IL
The Twins announced they’ve placed outfielder Max Kepler on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain. In his place, Trevor Larnach has been recalled.
It doesn’t sound like an overly serious issue for Kepler, and manager Rocco Baldelli seemed to indicate there’d be a good chance he’d be activated after the minimum number of days expired.
“It was w/ a cramp. He got an MRI & MRI seems OK. But he’s still pretty tight, & we don’t think he’s going to be able to play for a handful of days. If you can’t play for a handful of days … we’re going to IL him & get someone in here who can go,” Baldelli told reporters, including Dan Hayes of the Athletic.
Kepler’s posted a .212/.298/444 line this season with six home runs while manning right field. Larnach’s return is effectively a straight swap on the roster. He’s hit three home runs and posted a .221/.331/.356 line across 124 plate appearances this year, and should slot in as the team’s everyday right fielder with Kepler out.
Athletics Designate Spencer Patton For Assignment
The Athletics have recalled James Kaprielian from Triple-A, the team announced. To make room, they designated relief pitcher Spencer Patton for assignment.
Patton, 35, pitched just 5 1/3 innings for Oakland this year, working to a 6.75 ERA and striking out just a single batter. He’s gone slightly better in Triple-A, where he owns a 4.32 ERA over 8 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts.
A 24th round pick all the way back in 2011, Patton debuted in 2014 for the Rangers and showed a bit of promise, giving up just a single earned run in 9 1/3 relief innings. It wasn’t to last though, and over the next couple of seasons Patton would struggle to a 7.35 ERA with the Rangers and Cubs.
Patton went to Japan in 2017, and spent the next four years with Yokohama, working to a 3.68 ERA over 205 2/3 innings of relief in Nippon baseball. That was enough for the Rangers to bring him back to the US for another crack at the majors, and Patton delivered in his first year back, providing 42 1/3 innings of solid 3.83 ERA relief in 2021. Once again though, it didn’t last and Patton’s 2022 season would bring about a decline in velocity and a drop in strikeouts, and the Rangers released him in August 2022.
Tigers Place Spencer Turnbull On 15-Day Injured List
The Tigers announced they’ve placed right hander Spencer Turnbull on the 15-day injured list retroactive to May 7 with neck discomfort. As Evan Woodbery of MLive explains, Turnbull had been optioned to Triple-A but this move means his option has been rescinded and he’ll spend time on major league IL. Had Turnbull reported the injury at Triple-A, he would’ve gone on the minor league injured list and not earned any big league service time, but his service time clock will continue while he’s on the Tigers’ 15-day IL.
Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports that Turnbull met with president of baseball operations Scott Harris, manager AJ Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter after his last start when the Tigers optioned him back to Triple-A Toledo. “After Spencer left the room I got a call from him directly in which he disclosed some neck discomfort,” Harris said. “As soon as we heard that, we set up an appointment for him with our doctor. We also had him see a specialist out of state. We had those doctors discuss what’s going on with his neck. They confirmed the injury and we placed him on the injured list as of Sunday.”
Turnbull is two seasons away from free agency, but if he spends more than 35 days in the minor leagues he’ll have his free agency year pushed back by a season. Once a promising young member of the Tigers rotation, Turnbull has struggled in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, working to a 7.26 ERA in seven starts. That figure comes with a 16.6% strikeout rate and a 10.3% walk rate.
Just two years ago Turnbull tossed nine starts of 2.88 ERA ball and appeared on the verge of a breakout, but after Tommy John surgery ruled him out of the entire 2022 season it appears he’s yet to find his groove again. His strikeouts are down, walks are up and he’s given up a lot more hard contact this year than he did two seasons ago.
Because this transaction replaces Turnbull being optioned five days, there is no corresponding move to make, while it’s also worth nothing that Turnbull’s IL placement is retroactive to May 7, so he could return in just a handful of days.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of this morning’s live chat with Simon Hampton.
Orioles Notes: Urias, Givens, Rodriguez
The Orioles will be without infielder Ramon Urias for another 2-3 weeks, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASN). Urias was placed on the IL during the week with a hamstring strain, and it appears he’ll be out a little longer than the minimum stint.
Urias was enjoying a productive start to the season, compiling a .278/.375/.381 line with a single home run over 112 plate appearances. He’s spent the majority of his time manning third this season, and defensive metrics haven’t loved his work there, with Outs Above Average marking him at -5 and Defensive Runs Saved at -3. It’s been a better story at second, with Urias worth 3 DRS at that spot.
One player the Orioles should be able to call on soon is Mychal Givens, with Hyde saying (via Jake Rill of MLB.com) that he’s “pretty close” to a return. Givens has made five relief appearances on a rehab stint in Double-A, and there’s a chance he makes one more appearance in the minor league before being activated.
Givens returned to Baltimore on a one-year, $5MM deal in the winter, but exited a spring game with a knee injury and is yet to make his season debut. He last appeared for the Orioles in 2020 when he was a quality late-inning relief option. The numbers have dropped off a bit since, but he still turned in a solid season last year between time with the Cubs and Mets, working to a 3.38 ERA over 59 1/3 innings.
The backend of the Orioles bullpen has been a strength this season, with Felix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Bryan Baker all sporting ERAs south of 2. The hope will certainly be that Givens can provide important relief innings in the future, but the strength of that trio allows them a bit of flexibility to ease the veteran back into the bullpen as he gets up to speed.
Taking a look at the rotation, and Hyde adds (via Kubatko) that the team hasn’t put a hard cap on top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez‘ innings this season. The 23-year-old has made seven big league starts so far, working to a 5.08 ERA. A lot of the damage done there was in his first three outings, and Rodriguez has been sporting a far healthier 3.72 ERA over his past four starts, which includes getting rocked for six earned runs in Kansas City, so he does appear to be settling in nicely at the highest level.
In any case, while there’s no hard innings limit, the Orioles would surely be keeping an eye on things. Rodriguez pitched 75 2/3 innings last year, and 103 innings in 2021 (his career high). He’s at 33 1/3 innings so far this season, but it makes sense that the Orioles might start get a little more cautious as he approaches his career highs. It’s a tricky situation for the Orioles to navigate with the team 25-13 and in the thick of a competitive AL East division race, particularly with Rodriguez pitching nicely in his last handful of starts, so it’ll be interesting to see how far the Orioles are willing to push Rodriguez as the season rolls on.
Red Sox To Select Pablo Reyes
The Red Sox plan to select the contract of infielder Pablo Reyes, reports Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Corner infielder Bobby Dalbec will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding active roster move, reports Christopher Smith of MassLive. Boston already had an opening on the 40-man roster after losing Zack Littell on waivers.
Reyes has played the 2023 campaign in the A’s system. The utilityman signed a minor league contract with Oakland and started the year with their top affiliate in Las Vegas. The Red Sox acquired him for cash this morning. It’s unclear whether Reyes’ deal with the A’s contained an upward mobility clause that required them to make him available if another team offered an immediate roster spot or whether Oakland made the deal out of courtesy. In either case, the 29-year-old returns to the majors for what’ll be a fifth season in six years.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Reyes began his career in the Pirates’ system. He reached the majors with Pittsburgh in 2018 and tallied a personal-high 157 plate appearances the following season. He was suspended for the entire 2020 campaign after failing a performance-enhancing drug test and Pittsburgh cut him loose at the end of that year. Reyes signed a minor league deal with the Brewers and cracked the MLB roster early in 2021. He’d appear in 59 games over the next two seasons.
Between Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, the right-handed hitting Reyes has a .238/.307/.361 batting line over 323 big league plate appearances. He owns a solid .273/.342/.440 slash in just under 1300 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level. That includes a .257/.385/.351 start over 21 games for the Aviators in 2023. He’s long shown solid plate discipline and contact skills without much power.
Reyes is out of minor league option years. Boston will have to keep him on the MLB roster or make him available to other teams via waivers. He brings a fair bit of flexibility to Alex Cora’s bench. He’s logged ample minor league work at both middle infield positions, third base and in left and center field. The bulk of his time — just over 3000 innings — has been spent at the keystone. He’ll add some middle infield depth behind the current starting duo of Enmanuel Valdez and Enrique Hernández.
As for Dalbec, he heads back to Triple-A after a brief recall from the minors. He’s appeared in just seven MLB games this year after topping 100 contests in each of the preceding two seasons. The right-handed hitter owns a solid .238/.374/.475 line over 23 games with Worcester but he’s striking out almost 40% of the time at the Triple-A level.
White Sox Outright Alex Colome
The White Sox announced this afternoon that veteran reliever Alex Colomé has gone unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier in the week. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte, though he’ll have the right to decline that assignment and elect minor league free agency.
Colomé’s second stint with the White Sox proved brief. He signed a minor league deal in April and was selected onto the major league roster during the first week of May. He came out of the bullpen four times, surrendering four runs (two earned) in three innings. Colomé walked three and only picked up two strikeouts before being DFA.
That brief look marked the 11th consecutive season in which Colomé reached the highest level. The right-hander pitched 47 frames for the Rockies last season, allowing a career-worst 5.74 ERA with a modest 14.9% strikeout rate. Before last season, Colomé had consistently overcome middling strikeout numbers to keep runs off the board at a quality clip, largely on the strength of strong ground-ball numbers.
The 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Nationals over the winter. He spent Spring Training with Washington and was granted his release after being informed he wouldn’t break camp. He’d logged eight innings for Charlotte after signing with Chicago prior to his call-up. He allowed three runs with seven strikeouts and four free passes. He’ll now decide whether to head back to Charlotte or to explore other opportunities (likely of the minor league variety) in free agency.
Royals, Brett de Geus Agree To Minor League Contract
The Royals have signed reliever Brett de Geus to a minor league deal, according to an announcement from the Frederick team in the Atlantic League. He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Omaha.
de Geus was one of a few former major leaguers who signed with Frederick last month. It only took five appearances there for him to catch the attention of Royals’ evaluators. de Geus threw six innings of two-run ball, striking out six while walking just one of 25 opponents. Kansas City will give him another crack in the affiliated ranks for what’ll be his sixth season in the minors.
The Dodgers originally drafted de Geus in the 33rd round of the 2017 draft. He topped out at High-A in the Los Angeles system before the pandemic shuttered the minor leagues in 2020. The Rangers selected him with the second pick in that year’s Rule 5 draft and carried him on the MLB roster for 18 games. He subsequently landed with the Diamondbacks on waivers and finished the season in the Arizona bullpen.
Between the two clubs, de Geus worked to a 7.56 ERA with a below-average 17.2% strikeout rate over 50 innings. While it wasn’t a great showing, he was making a big jump from the low minors. He was designated for assignment at the end of the year and outrighted to Double-A Amarillo. The 25-year-old struggled there last season, allowing a 5.96 ERA with matching 14.4% strikeout and walk percentages. Arizona released him midway through the season.
Even with middling results, de Geus has had some success keeping the ball on the ground at the upper levels. He’s yet to pitch in Triple-A in his career and will get the opportunity to try to work his way back to the majors. Kansas City has had one of the league’s least effective bullpens thus far. They’re 28th in ERA (5.38) and rank 25th in ground-ball percentage (41.3%).