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Blue Jays Activate George Springer, Place Hyun Jin Ryu On 10-Day IL

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Center fielder George Springer will make his long-awaited Blue Jays debut Wednesday against the Nationals, the team announced. Springer will serve as Toronto’s designated hitter and bat in the leadoff spot. In other moves, the Blue Jays placed left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu on the 10-day injured list with a right glute strain, optioned first baseman/DH Rowdy Tellez to its alternate site and recalled lefty Travis Bergen.

The Blue Jays signed Springer to the offseason’s richest free-agent guarantee, a six-year, $150MM pact, but have not gotten a single at-bat from the ex-Astros standout this year. Springer suffered an oblique strain during the spring, and just when it appeared he would return, he went down with a quad strain. The three-time All-Star didn’t recover from the latter injury as quickly as expected, so the club has spent the month relying on Randal Grichuk and Jonathan Davis in center.

Grichuk has hit a more-than-respectable .289/.345/.500 with four home runs in 84 plate appearances, thus helping the Springer-less Jays stay afloat in the early going with an even 11-11 record. Springer has enjoyed a much better career than Grichuk, though, having slashed .270/.361/.491 hitter with 174 homers over 3,587 PA. The 31-year-old is also above average in the outfield, where he has posted 26 Defensive Runs Saved and a 10.4 Ultimate Zone Rating since entering the league in 2014.

Springer’s activation spells bad news for Tellez, who has gotten off to a poor start this year with a .183/.222/.267 line and one homer in 63 trips to the plate. Those numbers are a far cry from Tellez’s output in 2020, when it appeared the 26-year-old broke out with a .283/.346/.540 showing and slugged eight HRs over 127 PA.

The Springer addition is a welcome one for Toronto’s offense, but the Ryu loss is a tough blow for its pitching staff. Ryu’s IL placement is retroactive to April 26, but he’ll still miss at least one start. The Jays’ ace exited his latest start this past Sunday after throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rays, and has recorded a 2.60 ERA on the season over 27 2/3 frames. Ryu, Ross Stripling, T.J. Zeuch and Nate Pearson represent starting options on the IL for the club, which will somehow have to battle through those absences and cobble together a rotation.

Mariners Claim Jacob Nottingham, Designate Brandon Brennan

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The Mariners announced that they have claimed catcher Jacob Nottingham off waivers from the Brewers. To make room for Nottingham, the Mariners designated right-hander Brandon Brennan for assignment.

Nottingham, whom the Brewers designated last week, will now join his fourth major league organization. He entered the pro ranks as a fourth-round pick of the Astros in 2013 and has also spent time with the Athletics. The 26-year-old was a prospect of some note in his younger days, but he hasn’t gotten an extended look in the bigs. Nottingham has so far amassed 85 plate appearances, all from 2018-20, and batted a playable .203/.306/.432 with five home runs. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on a Seattle roster that has received bottom-of-the-barrel production from catchers Luis Torrens and Tom Murphy in 2021.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old Brennan became a Mariner in December 2018 when they took him from the Rockies in the Rule 5 Draft. Brennan appeared with the Mariners from 2019-20, during which he dealt with oblique and shoulder issues and combined for 54 2/3 innings of 4.45 ERA/4.52 SIERA pitching with a 23.6 percent strikeout rate against a 12.7 percent walk rate. He still has three minor league options left.

Pirates Outright Dustin Fowler

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Center fielder Dustin Fowler cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week and has been assigned to the Pirates’ alternate training site, tweets Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’ll remain with the organization but is no longer on the team’s 40-man roster.

The Pirates acquired Fowler, from the A’s in exchange for cash back in late February. An 18th-round pick of the Yankees back in 2013, Fowler emerged as one of the game’s more highly regarded outfield prospects and was a key piece sent from New York to Oakland in 2017’s Sonny Gray trade. Fowler was injured at the time, having incurred a ruptured patellar tendon when crashing into the wall in foul ground at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field in his MLB debut.

Fowler never managed to right the ship in the big leagues following that injury. He made his A’s debut in 2018 but managed only a .224/.256/.354 batting line in 203 trips to the plate. His work in Triple-A remained solid but not spectacular, and the A’s opted to move on in order to open a roster spot for their surprise signing of Trevor Rosenthal.

Fowler was a sensible roll of the dice for a Pirates club with little in the way of proven options in center field. He opened the year sharing time with fellow former top prospect Anthony Alford, but neither produced whatsoever in the first few weeks of the season. Fowler hit .171/.239/.195 with 20 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances before the Bucs designated him for assignment and turned center field over to Bryan Reynolds. Recent waiver claim and Rule 5 pick Ka’ai Tom figures to see some time out there as well now that he’s cleared intake testing and joined the club.

Fowler and Alford, who were designated for assignment one day apart, will get in some work with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate when the season gets underway next week and hope to work their way back into the mix for big league playing time. The Bucs seem to prefer Reynolds in left field and don’t have a clear center fielder ready to take over the reins, so it’s certainly possible that either could impress to the point that they receive another look.

Rays To Promote Shane McClanahan

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The Rays are set to promote top pitching prospect Shane McClanahan to start Thursday’s game against the Athletics, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It’s a nice birthday present for the 2018 No. 31 overall pick, who turns 24 today.

Shane McClanahan | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

McClanahan technically already made his Major League debut, but it came during last year’s postseason. This will represent the left-hander’s first taste of big league action during the regular season. It’s not yet clear whether this will be a spot start or the beginning of a legitimate audition for a rotation job, but the Rays have thus far received shaky work from lefties Ryan Yarbrough and veteran Rich Hill. Right-hander Chris Archer, meanwhile, is on the injured list with a forearm injury.

McClanahan pitched just seven innings of Rookie ball after being drafted and didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season. He was excellent in his only full minor league season, however, pitching to a 3.36 ERA with a huge 30.6 percent strikeout rate and a solid 8.9 percent walk rate through 120 2/3 innings across three levels (Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A). He’s considered to be one of the game’s better all-around prospects, sitting 75th at MLB.com, 90th at Baseball America and 117th at FanGraphs.

Scouting reports on McClanahan all note that his future may ultimately lie in the bullpen, where he can lean on a triple-digit heater and a wipeout breaking ball to thrive as a two-pitch, late-inning weapon. But he’s also improved his control and added a still-developing changeup to his arsenal, and the Rays understandably will give him a chance to start before dropping into a relief role. MLB.com’s report suggests McClanahan could be a solid No. 3 starter if the changeup and control are there, while FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen believes he’ll eventually be a power reliever at the back of the Tampa Bay ’pen.

Whatever the outcome for McClanahan, most expect that he’ll be an important piece of the Rays’ pitching staff for the foreseeable future. He didn’t accrue any big league service for last year’s postseason play, and he’s now spent enough time at the alternate site that his path to free agency has been pushed back a year. Even if he’s in the Majors for good from this point forth, he’d be controllable all the way through the 2027 season. Due to the timing of his promotion, he’s currently on track to qualify as a Super Two player, which would make him arbitration-eligible four times, beginning in the 2023-24 offseason. Future optional assignments to the minors, of course, could impact both timelines.

Marlins To Place Jazz Chisholm On Injured List

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April 28: Chisholm will be placed on the 10-day injured list, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). The Marlins will recall fellow infielder Isan Diaz in his place. Diaz, who’ll turn 25 next month, is a former top prospect himself but has yet to find any sustained success in his limited big league action to date. Through 223 plate appearances, he’s batted just .174/.251/.294.

The Marlins have yet to provide any sort of timeline on Chisholm’s expected return, although manager Don Mattingly will surely touch on the subject prior this afternoon’s game against the Brewers.

April 27: Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm exited their game against the Brewers on Tuesday with a strained left hamstring, the team announced. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point.

Chisholm, originally acquired from the Diamondbacks for right-hander Zac Gallen in 2019, has emerged as one of baseball’s most electrifying players so far this season. The 23-year-old has already totaled 1.0 fWAR in 80 plate appearances, having slashed .290/.375/.551 with four home runs and a National League-leading seven stolen bases.

In the event Chisholm has to go on the injured list, it would further weaken a Marlins lineup that’s already missing a couple of other important contributors. Center fielder Starling Marte has been on the shelf since April 18 with a fractured rib, and his return isn’t imminent. Meanwhile, third baseman Brian Anderson and catcher Jorge Alfaro have been on the IL for a week apiece.

Jon Berti has racked up the most playing time at second for the Marlins behind Chisholm, but he has been filling in at third during Anderson’s absence. Miami replaced Chisholm on Tuesday with Jose Devers, a 21-year-old who had never played above High-A ball until the team recalled him last week.

Brewers Designate Phil Bickford For Assignment

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The Brewers have designated right-hander Phil Bickford for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Zack Godley, whose contract has been selected from the team’s alternate training site. Manager Craig Counsell indicated last night that Godley’s contract would be selected, and outfielder Corey Ray would be optioned, but the corresponding 40-man move was only revealed this morning.

Bickford, 25, was the No. 10 overall pick by the Blue Jays back in 2013. He opted to attend college rather than sign, but he was again a first-rounder once eligible, going to the Giants with the No. 18 overall selection. San Francisco traded Bickford and catching prospect to Milwaukee in exchange for lefty Will Smith back in 2016, but Bickford has yet to establish himself as a viable big league arm. He’s tossed just two innings in the Majors — one in 2020 and one in 2021 — allowing a total of six runs.

Bickford’s path to the big leagues hasn’t exactly been a straightforward one. He served a 50-game suspension after a second positive test for a drug of abuse in 2017. Upon returning, he was struck in the hand by a batted ball, fracturing both the pinkie and ring finger in his pitching hand, which required surgery to repair. Because of that suspension and surgery, Bickford totaled just 51 2/3 innings from 2017-18.

A return to the mound in a bullpen role in 2019 proved quite fruitful, when Bickford notched a 2.48 ERA and a whopping 41.1 percent strikeout rate in Class-A Advanced, but the lack of minor league games in 2020 and so far in 2021 hasn’t done any favors for his development. All in all, he sports a 2.98 ERA in 226 2/3 frames, but Bickford will also turn 26 this summer and hasn’t pitched above High-A with the exception of those two MLB innings.

The Brewers will have a week to trade Bickford or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. Given his former pedigree, a solid minor league track record and a pair of minor league options remaining, it’s possible that another club will look at him as an intriguing project.

Indians Designate Oliver Perez For Assignment

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The Indians have designated veteran lefty Oliver Perez for assignment in order to open a roster spot for righty Nick Wittgren, who has been reinstated from the paternity list, manager Terry Francona announced to reporters this morning (Twitter link via Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal).

It’s a bit of a surprising move, as Perez has pitched well for Cleveland dating back to 2018 and has yet to surrender a run in 3 2/3 innings this season. Francona, however, acknowledged that he’s had a difficult time finding opportunities to deploy Perez — perhaps a nod to the three-batter minimum rule that was implemented in 2020 and is rather limiting for lefty relievers of Perez’s nature. Perez has faced just six lefties in 2021, as opposed to a dozen right-handed batters. He’s done just fine against those right-handers, but as with most lefty relievers, Perez has a rather substantial platoon split over the course of his career.

Career platoon splits notwithstanding, Perez has reinvented himself after washing out as a starting pitcher back in 2010. The 39-year-old has a 3.42 ERA in 350 relief innings dating back to 2012, and he’s been particularly effective in Cleveland after a lackluster two-year run in Washington from 2016-17. In 94 2/3 frames with the Indians, Perez has pitched to a 2.57 ERA (3.22 SIERA) with a strong 28.5 percent strikeout rate against a similarly impressive 6.8 percent walk rate. Lefties have posted a pitiful .203/.254/.297 line through 197 plate appearances against him in that time, but Perez has also held righties to a relatively tepid .220/.306/.341 slash through 186 plate appearances.

Given that recent track record and an affordable base salary of $1.25MM, it’s quite possible that Perez will draw interest from another club — be it via a minor trade or a waiver claim. Were he to go unclaimed on waivers, he’d be eligible to reject any outright assignment in favor of free agency. In that scenario, a new club would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster, with Cleveland on the hook for the remainder of the contract.

Yankees Reducing Gary Sanchez’s Playing Time

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Gary Sanchez gave Yankees fans hope when he launched a pair of homers in the season’s first two games, but he’s batting just .146/.281/.167 in 57 plate appearances since that time and is currently mired in a 2-for-28 slump. In light of those struggles, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone acknowledged last night that Kyle Higashioka will see increased playing time at the expense of some of Sanchez’s starts (link via the New York Post’s Dan Martin).

Boone declined to name Higashioka the new starter and said decisions on who’ll start behind the plate will be made on a “day-by-day” basis, but he made clear that Higashioka has “earned more playing time.” Higashioka has already drawn the start in four of Gerrit Cole’s five appearances this season, so it seems fair to assume that pairing will continue. Corey Kluber also had his best start of the season last night with Higashioka behind the dish, so perhaps that’ll set the tone moving forward. There’s no concrete definition of how playing time will be divided up, but at the very least fans ought to expect closer to even timeshare for now. Boone noted that he’s already spoken to Sanchez about Higashioka receiving increased playing time.

Of course, while Sanchez’s struggles are likely the primary driver of this shift in playing time, it also has to be emphasized that Higashioka has put himself into position for an increased role. He’s out to a strong start in 2021, hitting .320/.414/.880 with four homers and a pair of doubles through 29 trips to the plate.

The power may seem like a sudden development for the 30-year-old Higashioka, but that’s really not the case. He hit .250/.250/.521 with four homers in 48 plate appearances last year, and back in 2019 his ISO (slugging minus batting average) of .250 highlighted plenty of pop as well. Since Opening Day 2020, Higashioka is slashing .274/.312/.644 in 77 plate appearances.

Higashioka’s batted-ball profile gives some optimism that this isn’t a total small-sample fluke, too. Statcast credits him with 10 barreled balls in those 77 PAs dating back to 2019 and 13 in 134 PAs dating back to 2020. He’s being credited with a barrel in 9.7 percent of his plate appearances dating back to ’19 and 12.9 percent since the start of the 2020 season; either would rank among the game’s very best over a full season. It’s unlikely that Higashioka is going to continue to make premium contact at quite such a high level, but those results certainly merit a larger opportunity — particularly when his counterpart is struggling to this extent.

From a defensive standpoint, Higashioka is the superior of the two and is generally regarded as a plus defensive option. He’s drawn strong framing marks and positive totals in Defensive Runs Saved each season since 2018 in a limited workload, though his career 20 percent caught-stealing rate is below the league average of around 27 percent. Sanchez, to his credit, is at a hefty 32 percent in that regard, but he’s more prone to passed balls and draws inferior framing ratings to Higashioka. Catching coordinator Tanner Swanson told reporters yesterday that Higashioka’s defensive skills are “elite.”

The shuffle in playing time only further shines a spotlight on what has been a mounting issue for the Yankees for years. Sanchez’s ceiling is obviously an All-Star caliber slugger, but he’s been maddeningly inconsistent — to the point that the Yankees mulled whether to trade him or even perhaps non-tender him this past offseason. They opted to tender him a contract and eventually agreed to a one-year deal that pays Sanchez $6.35MM for the 2021 season. He’d be arbitration-eligible for a third and final time this winter, but the early shuffle behind the dish seems like a portent for greater change down the road.

If Higashioka struggles with an increased workload or goes down to injury, Sanchez may yet be given another opportunity to snap out of his current swoon and recapture his 2019 form. But if Higashioka proves capable of handling a larger role and/or Sanchez continues to struggle, the questions about Sanchez’s future will only grow louder. At the very least, taking a closer look at Higashioka now gives the Yankees more information on how to address the catcher position moving forward. Higashioka is controlled through 2024 via arbitration. Sanchez is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2022 season.

Yankees Trade Mike Tauchman To Giants For Wandy Peralta

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The Yankees have traded outfielder Mike Tauchman to the Giants for left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports. New York will also receive a player to be named later, the team announced.

This deal sends the 30-year-old Tauchman back to the National League West, where the former 10th-round pick played with the Rockies from 2017-18. Tauchman was unable to establish himself in Colorado, which traded him to the Yankees for lefty Phillip Diehl shortly before the 2019 season.

At first, the Tauchman pickup looked like a steal for the Yankees, as he appeared in 87 games as a reserve in his initial year with the team and slashed a terrific .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs, six steals and 2.6 fWAR over 296 plate appearances. Tauchman blended that offensive performance with great work among all three outfield positions, combining for 19 Defensive Runs Saved in the grass.

While the 2019 version of Tauchman was a gem, his production and playing time have significantly dwindled since then. Tauchman did appear in 43 games and total 111 PA last season, but he failed to hit a homer, batted a below-average .242/.342/.305 and essentially broke even in the field with zero DRS and a minus-2.2 Ultimate Zone Rating. Meanwhile, fellow Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner each recorded far superior production, which helped lead Tauchman to fall out of favor.

With Judge, Frazier, Hicks and Gardner returning, Tauchman became an afterthought for the Yankees this year. So far, he has picked up a meager 16 trips to the plate and batted .214/.267/.286 without a homer. Now, the out-of-options Tauchman will provide versatile depth in a Giants outfield that has used Mike Yastrzemski (though he’s currently dealing with a mild oblique issue), Austin Slater, Alex Dickerson, Mauricio Dubon and Darin Ruf, among others, this season. Tauchman won’t reach arbitration for the first time until the upcoming winter, so he could be a multiyear piece for the Giants if he performs to their liking this season.

Peralta, 29, started his career in 2016 with the Reds, who lost him on waivers to the Giants late in the 2019 campaign. Despite 95-96 mph fastball velocity and a career 50.4 percent groundball rate, Peralta has typically had trouble keeping runs off the board. Through 192 2/3 innings, including 8 1/3 this season, Peralta has recorded a 4.72 ERA/4.58 SIERA with unspectacular strikeout and walk percentages of 18.5 and 10.8, respectively.

Peralta still has a minor league option remaining, though he’ll only be eligible for arbitration one more time. For now, Peralta will give the New York organization a third southpaw relief option behind closer Aroldis Chapman and Lucas Luetge. The Yankees have had to go this season without key lefty setup man Zack Britton, who’s on the mend from arthroscopic elbow surgery and probably won’t return until the summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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