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The Rays May Have Another Cy Young Contender

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After a strong two-season run in Houston, right-hander Charlie Morton entered free agency last winter as one of the best starters available. Interest in Morton was widespread, thanks in part to the Astros’ decision not to issue him a qualifying offer, though age (35) prevented him from reeling in a long-term deal. Morton ultimately accepted a two-year, $30MM offer from the Rays in December. Six months later, it’s looking like one of the steals of the offseason.

Facing the Athletics on Monday, Morton turned in his second consecutive seven-inning shutout and fourth straight quality start. During that four-appearance, 27-inning rampage, Morton yielded a mere three earned runs on 14 hits and posted 31 strikeouts against four walks. The Rays won all of those games, giving them a 10-4 record when Morton has taken the ball this season. Thanks in part to low-budget Tampa Bay’s decision to splurge (by its standards) on Morton, its sporting one of the American League’s leading records at 41-26

While Morton’s recent production has no doubt boosted his numbers, he has been consistently good all season. Morton’s ERA hasn’t risen any higher than 3.60, where it sat after his initial start of the season, and now rests at a microscopic 2.10. He trails only the Twins’ Jake Odorizzi among AL starters in that category, and most of his other production also ranks near the very top of his league. Take a look…

  • FIP: 2.67 (second)
  • WAR: 2.6 (fourth)
  • xFIP: 3.33 (fourth)
  • Weighted on-base average against: .254 (fifth)
  • Strikeouts per nine: 10.84 (seventh)
  • Expected weighted on-base average against: .271 (seventh)
  • Innings: 81 1/3 (15th)

The least impressive figure there is Morton’s innings total, though it still represents a step forward for someone who has long battled durability issues. Morton has never thrown 175 innings in a season, but he’s on pace for almost 200 this year.

We can’t necessarily call this a late-career renaissance because, with all due respect to Morton, his time in the majors wasn’t rife with great moments before he got to Houston. However, a significant rise in Morton’s fastball velocity in 2016 with the Phillies was likely the beginning of his awakening. Unfortunately for Morton and the Phillies, a hamstring tear late that April brought a quick conclusion to his season and, for all intents and purposes, an end to his short run in Philly. He headed to the Astros the next season, which began a 313 1/2-inning stretch of 3.36 ERA/3.53 FIP pitching, and helped the team to a World Series title in 2017.

It was somewhat of a surprise that Houston didn’t make more of an effort to retain Morton after last season, but the Rays have been the beneficiaries of the Astros’ choice. The Rays have gotten a different pitcher than the Astros’ version of Morton, not just in terms of results.

The hard-throwing Morton’s main pitch in 2018 was his four-seam fastball, which he threw at a 31.1 percent rate, according to Statcast. He complemented it with a curveball (29.3 percent), a sinker (27.1), a splitter (6.3) and a cutter (6.3). Now, he’s throwing his curve (36 percent) significantly more than any other pitch, with his sinker (24.2), four-seamer (23.5), cutter (11.8) and splitter (4.4) checking in as his secondary offerings. Morton has lost some velocity since last year, which could at least partially explain his change in approach. At the same time, though, if your curve’s as dominant as his, why not throw it as much as possible? The pitch ranks in the league’s 94th percentile as far as spin rate goes, per Statcast, and hitters have mustered a putrid .142/.170 wOBA/xwOBA against it. According to FanGraphs’ pitch values, it’s the premier curve in the AL.

If Morton continues to use his curve this effectively, he may end up in serious contention for the AL Cy Young just one year after fellow Ray Blake Snell won it. In the event Morton wins the award, he and Snell would become the first AL teammates to take home the honor in back-to-back seasons since the Indians’ CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee accomplished the feat in 2007-08. Even better for the Rays, Morton, Snell, Tyler Glasnow (if he returns from the injured list) and opener Ryne Stanek could make for a dominant postseason rotation should the team team clinch a playoff spot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mariners Release Nick Rumbelow

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The Mariners have released right-hander Nick Rumbelow from their Triple-A affiliate, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. He’d already been designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier in the season but will now hit the open market in search of a new opportunity.

Rumbelow, 27, has had a disastrous 2019 season both in his limited MLB time and in Triple-A Tacoma. He was tagged for four runs in 1 1/3 innings with the Mariners early in the year and has been tattooed for an 8.17 ERA with 37 hits and a 22-to-15 K/BB ratio in 25 1/3 innings in Tacoma.

Rumbelow showed some promise in the Mariners’ minor league ranks last year, notching a 1.83 ERA and a 26-to-8 K/BB ratio in 19 2/3 innings, and he was similarly impressive in the Yankees’ minor league system in 2017 when working back from Tommy John surgery. Even with this year’s ugly results, though, Rumbelow has a career 3.88 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in 141 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. However, he’s yet to find any success in the Majors to this point in his career; in 34 2/3 big league innings, Rumbelow has a 5.97 ERA and 10 home runs allowed.

Padres Option Chris Paddack

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In a move that’ll come as a surprise to many, the Padres announced that they have optioned right-hander Chris Paddack to Class-A Lake Elsinore. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported the move (via Twitter), noting that the Friars are looking for ways to manage Paddack’s workload after he threw just 90 innings in 2018 — his first season back from Tommy John surgery.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets that Paddack isn’t expected to be in the minors long. Assuming he’s back up in fewer than 20 days, the move won’t impact Paddack’s timeline to free agency, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune points out (Twitter links). Acee adds that Paddack is going down merely to rest and is expected to return in 10 days or so (the minimum required length of an optional assignment, barring recall in the event of an injury).

While workload surely was surely the driving force in the decision, Paddack has also fallen into somewhat of a slump after his brilliant start to his rookie campaign. In the past month, the 23-year-old has pitched to a 5.76 ERA with 30 hits and eight home runs allowed in 25 innings. He’s still sporting a stellar 26-to-3 K/BB ratio in that time, but the long ball has been problematic of late.

Paddack’s 65 2/3 innings are already within striking distance of last year’s total, so the brief trip to the minors will give him some downtime without forcing the Padres to carry a pitcher they’re trying to deploy minimally for a week or two. Right-hander Robert Stock is up from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster and will give the Padres a fresh arm in the bullpen. He’s pitched to a 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 Triple-A innings and collected 27 strikeouts in that time — albeit against 15 walks and three hit batters.

Blue Jays Place Ken Giles On Injured List

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4:50pm: Giles doesn’t expect to miss more than the 10-day minimum, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

3:24pm: Blue Jays closer Ken Giles is headed to the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow, per a team announcement. The Jays also announced that right-hander Clay Buchholz was moved to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot for righty Jordan Romano, whose previously reported promotion from Triple-A is now official.

It’s a blow to the Blue Jays on the field but also an unwelcome development given that Giles is among the team’s best trade chips as the July 31 trade deadline looms. There’s no indication that Giles will require an especially lengthy absence at this point, but any sort of recent elbow issue will be cause for some degree of concern when teams are discussing Giles as a trade candidate next month.

The 28-year-old Giles has been nearly automatic in 2019, pitching 25 innings with a 1.08 ERA and a gaudy 42-to-7 K/BB ratio. He’s earning $6.3MM in 2019 and is all the more appealing to contending teams due to the fact that he’s controlled through the 2020 season.

In Giles’ absence, the Jays seem likely to turn to Joe Biagini in save opportunities. He’s worked the eighth inning on 17 occasions in 2019 and is tied for the team lead in holds (seven). Daniel Hudson would be another option should the club prefer a more veteran alternative, but he’s averaging nearly five walks per nine innings pitched.

Astros Sign First-Rounder Korey Lee

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The Astros announced Wednesday that they’ve signed first-round pick Korey Lee. The now-former Cal catcher will receive a $1.75MM bonus that checks in a bit more than $500K south of his No. 32 overall slot’s $2,257,300 value, per Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’s represented by the Boras Corporation, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

The selection of Lee, 20, came as a surprise to some. He wasn’t ranked as a likely first-rounder and drew varying reviews on pre-draft rankings from Fangraphs (No. 45), MLB.com (No. 119) and Baseball America (No. 173). Lee posted a whopping .340/.422/.619 batting line with 14 homers in his junior season, but he’d never hit close to that level in the past. He draws praise for his improved receiving, plus power and arm strength, though he’s considered a below-average runner.

Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen note in their report at Fangraphs that scouts got plenty of looks at Lee when they were on hand to watch his teammate, No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn, and that some clubs picking near the top of the draft were eyeing Lee with their second pick. The Astros clearly were high on Lee themselves and may have feared that he wouldn’t last until their second selection; beyond that, the fact that he’s perhaps viewed as a reach surely helped the team to sign him to an under-slot deal, which will give them extra funds to sign their remaining picks.

Dodgers Sign Zac Rosscup To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed left-hander Zac Rosscup to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per an announcement from Triple-A director of communications Alex Freedman (Twitter link). He’ll be active for tonight’s game.

Rosscup, who turned 31 this week, spent the 2018 season in the Dodgers organization and pitched 11 1/3 innings at the big league level. While he posted an unsightly 4.76 ERA in that time, Rosscup also racked up 20 strikeouts against just four walks. He’s split the 2019 season between the Mariners and Blue Jays thus far, showing similarly impressive strikeout capabilities but an alarming jump in walk rate (22-to-16 K/BB ratio in 15 innings).

Rosscup’s knack for missing bats and the huge swinging-strike rate he generates on his slider are tantalizing characteristics, but he’s been too prone to walks and home runs to find sustained success at the MLB level yet. He’ll vie for another shot in what has been a problematic Dodgers’ bullpen of late and could well get that opportunity if he pitches well in OKC, as both Scott Alexander and Tony Cingrani on the Major League injured list. Los Angeles currently has Julio Urias and Caleb Ferguson as southpaws in the ’pen, but Ferguson has struggled quite a bit in his 18 1/3 innings this year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/12/19

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Here are Wednesday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Rockies announced that lefty Chris Rusin cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A. As a player with more than three years of MLB service, Rusin has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but because he has fewer than five years of service, doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of this year’s $1.69MM salary. It’s likely that Rusin, who struggled to a 6.09 ERA in 54 2/3 innings a year ago and allowed four runs in his lone MLB frame in 2019, will indeed head to Triple-A Albuquerque and hope for another look later this season. Recent struggles notwithstanding, Rusin was a valuable member of the Colorado staff in 2016-17 when he turned in a combined 169 1/3 frames of 3.19 ERA ball with averages of 7.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9.

Rangers Move Drew Smyly To Bullpen

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The Rangers have decided to bump lefty Drew Smyly to the bullpen, the club informed reporters including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). A replacement starter has yet to be named.

It’s not surprising to hear this news, as the club strongly hinted a change would be made after another exceedingly rough outing from Smyly, who turns 30 tomorrow. There had been some suggestion that an ankle injury might lead to an injured-list placement, but the Rangers decided instead to slide him into a relief role for the time being.

Smyly has simply been tagged this year. Through 45 innings, he has coughed up 15 home runs and carries a 44:31 K/BB ratio. Opposing hitters are spitting on pitches out of the zone (22.4% chase rate) and destroying those in it (43.1% hard-hit rate). Though Statcast indicates he has been a bit unfortunate (.419 wOBA-against versus .385 xwOBA-against), it’s scant consolation.

This decision hints at the tough questions facing the Rangers, who’ve run out to a 36-30 record that seems tough to sustain. The rotation has received a bit of a boost from Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado, but it’s hard to count on either to provide even solid results the rest of the way. Even assuming those two can keep up reasonably useful production, and there aren’t any injuries, there’s a need for at least one additional rotation piece behind Mike Minor and Lance Lynn.

It’s also rough news for Smyly, who had hoped to be in the midst of a return to his prior form at this stage of the season. He missed all of 2017 and 2018 owing to serious elbow problems that resulted in Tommy John surgery. He’ll be a free agent again at season’s end.

Phillies Agree To Sign Aussie Hurler Josh Gessner

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The Phillies struck a $850K deal with right-hander Josh Gessner, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). It seems the move was already known about overseas, as Cleve Dheensaw of the Times Colonist reported the decision a few days back.

This move comes days after the Phils added bonus pool money in a swap with the Orioles. With little time left in this year’s international signing window, that swap only paid dividends because the Philadelphia club had a clear idea how it’d use the funds.

Gessner had been committed to attend Tulane University. There aren’t many details available about the Aussie hurler, though he obviously drew MLB scouts and impressed enough to take down a significant bonus.

Blue Jays To Promote Jordan Romano

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The Blue Jays will select the contract of righty Jordan Romano, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. It’s not yet clear how the team will create the necessary roster space, which includes a 40-man spot.

Romano, 26, is a 2014 tenth-rounder who hasn’t yet cracked the majors. That’s not to say he wasn’t on the MLB radar. The Canadian hurler was selected in the Rule 5 draft last winter, with the Rangers (who had acquired his rights from the White Sox) ultimately deciding to send him back to Toronto.

Through 31 frames at Triple-A this year, Romano carries only a 6.10 ERA. But most of the damage came during his early work as a starter and in one abysmal performance in mid-May. More importantly, Romano has trended up in the strikeout department, posting 12.5 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 on the year.

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