Giants Activate Brandon Belt
The Giants have activated Brandon Belt from the 10-day disabled list, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports was among those to report. Right-hander Pierce Johnson was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the active roster.
Belt had to undergo an emergency appendectomy after being rushed to the hospital in the midst of a June 1st game. They’ll certainly be ecstatic to have him back after missing little more than the 10-day minimum, as Belt is in the midst of a career year even as the Giants are limping through the first half of the season with a 34-36 record. The 30-year-old belt sports a .307/.403/.547 slash line and sits sixth on the barrels per plate appearance leaderboard with 11.1.
Johnson, on the other hand, certainly hadn’t done much to cement his spot on the roster. He sports an ugly 5.46 ERA, and though his 4.08 FIP indicates he’s been the victim of some bad luck, he’s also walked nearly as many batters (15) as he’s struck out (20) during his 31 1/3 innings of work. It’s worth noting that 12 of his 19 earned runs came in just three outings, though, and a fairly impressive track record of striking out hitters at Triple-A makes it seem likely he’ll be up again at some point this season.
Mariners Outright Mike Morin
Mariners right-hander Mike Morin has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma, the club’s PR department has announced. Morin had been designated for assignment by Seattle on Thursday.
Morin’s been an above-average reliever throughout the course of his career in terms of FIP (3.35 lifetime mar), but he’s one of those pitchers whose ERA doesn’t line up with the type of contact he induces. Morin owns a 4.60 career ERA despite excellent command of the strike zone and a strikeout rate of nearly a batter per inning. August Fagerstrom of Fangraphs once described him as having baseball’s “silliest change-up” due to the extreme velocity differential between that pitch and his fastball.
Morin’s removal from the roster is somewhat puzzling considering he’s performed strongly between the majors and minors this year (as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd noted when the Mariners designated him for assignment). Perhaps the Mariners (along with all 29 other MLB clubs) were still dismayed by the 7.20 ERA he posted across 20 innings last season. Regardless, they’ll retain him within the organization and likely see him contribute again at some point this season.
Angels Activate Andrelton Simmons
Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons is on the lineup card for today’s game against the Athletics, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was first to report. A corresponding move has not yet been announced for either Simmons’ activation nor starter John Lamb‘s promotion, though Fletcher notes that infielder Nolan Fontana and right-hander Oliver Drake are not on the lineup card.
The reinstatement of Simmons comes as a surprise, considering that his original diagnosis after slipping on the dugout steps (grade 2 ankle sprain) implies at least a slight tear to a ligament. A return after the 10-day minimum stay on the disabled list, then, would seem to be an unexpected best-case scenario for the late-blooming Simmons, who has already improved upon his breakout 2017 season by posting 3.1 fWAR in just 59 games on the season so far. Simmons is slashing an excellent .330/.399/.460 with four homers and five steals on the year.
It’s at least some good news for an Angels club that has seen a wealth of back injury luck. Even with Simmons activated, the club has a significant number of players on the DL, including arguably their four best starting pitchers. The return of Simmons will no doubt provide a boost to both the club’s offense and defense, and fans will have to hope it can serve as a shot in the arm for their team, who currently sit 7.5 games outside of first place in the AL West.
Orioles Outright D.J. Snelten
Orioles lefty D.J. Snelten has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk, the club’s PR department has announced.
It was a short stay on the team’s 40-man roster for the 26-year-old Snelten, as they claimed him off waivers from the Giants just under two weeks ago. He had thrown 4 1/3 innings for the Giants, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and three walks. He’d spent his entire career in the Giants organization prior June 4th.
Snelten made the transition from starter to reliever in High-A ball during the 2016 season, and subsequently rocketed up the Giants’ minor league ladder. However, his 11.63 K/9 in 21 2/3 Double-A innings didn’t translate to the upper levels of the minors, and recently his control has gotten away from him a bit as well (nine walks in just 20 2/3 innings at Triple-A in 2018).
Orioles Place Richard Bleier On DL, Select Corban Joseph, Designate D.J. Snelten
SATURDAY: Bleier will indeed have season-ending surgery on Tuesday to repair a Grade 3 lat strain, as Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun was among those to tweet.
FRIDAY, 3:33pm: Bleier may need surgery and is likely to miss the remainder of the season, MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli is among those to report on Twitter.
2:19pm: The Orioles have announced a host of roster moves today. Southpaw Richard Bleier is heading to the DL with what has been diagnosed as a lat strain. He’ll be replaced in the pen by southpaw Tanner Scott.
Infielder Corban Joseph has been selected and added to the active roster as well. To create the needed roster space, righty Yefry Ramirez was optioned and lefty D.J. Snelten was designated for assignment.
The news on Bleier was fully expected at this point, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wrote earlier today. Bleier is said to be seeking a second opinion after already undergoing an MRI. It’s still unclear just how bleak the outlook is, but Kubatko suggests the internal belief is it’s a serious injury.
While Bleier, 31, is hardly a household name, perhaps he should be. The former Yankees southpaw is in his third big league season and currently is sporting the third sub-2.00 ERA of his career. Bleier has a 1.97 ERA in 119 innings, which is the sixth-lowest mark (min. 100 innings) in MLB history. He’s tied with Craig Kimbrel for the best ERA- (46) in MLB history (again, min. 100 innings; and a tip of the cap to ESPN’s Sam Miller for shining a light on Bleier’s curious dominance earlier this season).
Bleier has averaged just 4.1 K/9 in his career, but his 21.2 percent hard-contact rate in 2018 is outstanding. He’s allowed only two barreled balls this season (as defined by Statcast), and he leads the Majors in barrels per batted ball (1.8 percent of balls in play against him). Bleier may be an anomaly, but he’s been an important piece to the Baltimore bullpen who now looks headed for an absence of potential significance.
A’s Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day DL, Recall Franklin Barreto
The Athletics have made a series of roster moves in advance of today’s game against the Angels. The club’s PR department announced that third baseman Matt Chapman has been placed on the DL with a right thumb contusion, retroactive to yesterday. In a related move, the club has recalled infielder Franklin Barreto. Right-hander Josh Lucas has also been recalled, with fellow righty Carlos Ramirez headed to Triple-A in order to make room on the active roster.
As the PR department mentions in the above link, Chapman had played in all 69 of the A’s games prior to today. He’s hit 10 homers on the year and is batting .250/.346/.447. Chapman was hit by a pitch on the hand in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros. Because he remained in the game, it seemed at the time as though the injury wasn’t serious, but his placement on the DL says otherwise.
Barreto, meanwhile, will be up for his third bout with the MLB club this season. Long considered one of the organization’s top prospects, the young infielder has managed just a .182/.241/.325 batting line across 83 career plate appearances at the major-league level, striking out a catastrophic 43.4% of the time. He’s still just 22, however, so there’s still plenty of room for optimism surrounding his growth and development.
Lucas has been used in an intriguing capacity so far this year, having pitched at least two full innings in three of his four appearances on the season (only one start). He owns a 2.89 ERA across his 9 1/3 innings, with ten strikeouts against five walks. It’s not at all far-fetched to think that he’s simply up as a fresh arm to provide cavalry to an exhausted bullpen, as A’s starters have averaged fewer than four innings per start across the club’s past four games.
NL East Notes: Marlins, Nationals, Franco
Though the Marlins made a few headline-worthy changes in the front office following the franchise’s transfer of ownership to Derek Jeter and company, there wasn’t a dramatic overhaul right away. Instead, as FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman notes, the club is “experiencing turnover as they go; it’s happening organically, and perhaps uncomfortably in a couple cases.” Director of player development Gary Denbo is reportedly “appalled by much of what he sees” as he surveys the Marlins system and attempts to turn the franchise around. Denbo’s primary focus is accountability; it’s reported that within the old regime, decisions could “come from anyone,” and weren’t always made by the person who is accountable for them. “We’re hoping to develop a sense of urgency to become the best organization in baseball. That is the objective,” said Denbo. Though he’s reportedly ruffled a few feathers, perhaps that’s acceptable considering the Marlins have put up a losing record every year since 2009.
A few other items from around the NL East…
- Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic sat down for a Q&A with Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long. Among the highlights are rookie Juan Soto; Long raves about his “tight”, “compact” and “connected” swing along with his plate discipline). “I can go on and on about this kid. His routine is flawless. He came in and knew exactly what he wanted to do. I was like, ‘Wow.’ He’s at ease. He’s confident.” Long also discusses Bryce Harper‘s relative struggles as well as Daniel Murphy, Adam Eaton and the fly-ball revolution.
- In a separate piece, Rosenthal notes at one point that the Nationals are attempting to add one starter and one reliever (according to his sources). With the recent placement of Stephen Strasburg and Brandon Kintzler on the DL and Jeremy Hellickson still recovering from a hamstring strain, pitching is thin for Washington outside of Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez.
- “It feels as if Maikel Franco is being phased out,” writes Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports. While it’s (somewhat) worth noting that Phillies management has denied this, Franco has been relegated to a part-time role after enduring continued struggles to get on base this season; struggles he doesn’t particularly make up for in any other way. Clearly this hasn’t been lost on Franco, who is aware of the circumstances. “I understand what’s happening right now,” he said on Sunday morning. “I understand what the manager is trying to do with everybody. I know the situation.” Rookie J.P. Crawford has been getting looks at third base, and the team is also looking for a positional home for Scott Kingery. Franco owns a .233/.281/.408 slash line since the start of 2017.
Yankees Acquire Wendell Rijo To Complete Erik Kratz Trade
The Yankees have acquired second baseman Wendell Rijo, who is officially the player to be named later in May’s Erik Kratz trade with the Brewers; the club’s PR department has announced the acquisition.
Nothing about the 22-year-old Rijo immediately jumps off the page. Originally an international signee of the Red Sox out of the Dominican Republic, Rijo’s played all of 374 games at the Double-A level and hasn’t been particularly impressive with the bat overall. This season, Rijo sports a .200/.304/.375 slash line with four homers across 93 plate appearances.
Notably, though, his walk rate has made a significant jump in 2018. In a limited sample, he’s walked 12.9% of the time, which is up from just 7.7% at Double-A last season. Even more intriguing is the fact that Rijo’s suffered from some severe bad luck thus far; his .214 BABIP indicates that he likely deserves a higher batting average than the mere .200 he owns at present. Rijo was also active on the basepaths in his first three pro seasons, swiping at least 15 bags during each minor league season from 2013-2015. Though he hasn’t done nearly as much of that in recent seasons, one has to imagine he’s still got the potential to kick it up a notch on the bases.
Regardless, the Yankees will be happy to get anything in exchange for the veteran Kratz, whom they re-signed to a minor-league deal during the offseason following using him mostly in a defensive replacement capacity and during just four MLB games in September of 2017. He’s been surprisingly effective for the Brewers this season: the backstop has three homers and a .511 wOBA across his 29 plate appearances in 2018.
Injury Notes: Donaldson, Blue Jays, Ravin, May, Goody
Former AL MVP Josh Donaldson is expected to miss “at least a few more days” before getting a chance to return to the Blue Jays’ lineup. A report from Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com indicates that Donaldson still hasn’t felt comfortable running at full speed, or as manager John Gibbons puts it, “he still couldn’t cut it loose,” during a series of running drills on Thursday. The third baseman has been out since May 28th with a sore calf muscle. Coupled with the shoulder injury he dealt with earlier this season, one has to wonder just how much these injury concerns will impact the 32-year-old Donaldson’s free agent stock headed into the 2018-2019 offseason. It’s not as though he’s produced while on the field, either: his .234/.333/.423 slash line (despite a .303 BABIP) is a far cry from his typical production, while his strikeout rate sits at a career-high 27.7%.
As for the Blue Jays, they’re at least likely to get Marcus Stroman and Steve Pearce back in the near future, as both are currently embarking on rehab assignments in the minor leagues.
Let’s take a look at some other injury situations around baseball…
- Nate Rowan, beat reporter for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, tweets that Trevor May is headed to the DL with shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to June 14th. May’s only recently made his way back from Tommy John surgery, a recovery he wrote about for MLBTR; he was optioned to Triple-A immediately following his activation. There’s no word yet on the severity of the shoulder situation or how long May is expected to be out. In his most recent major league action, May pitched to a 5.27 ERA across 44 relief appearances for the Twins.
- Another AL Central reliever received unfortunate news today as well. Nick Goody of the Indians visited Dr. James Andrews after feeling soreness during his throwing program. The diagnosis remains elbow hyperextension and posterior elbow inflammation, and though that’s far from the worst-case scenario, he’ll be shut down for at least three weeks after receiving a PRP injection. It’s bad news for an Indians club that has seen its bullpen go from the upper echelon in the league in 2017 to a bottom-dweller in 2018.
- Braves reliever Josh Ravin (currently pitching for Triple-A Gwinnett) experienced a scare yesterday when he was struck in the face by a line drive. Ravin’s stable, however (at least enough so to tweet), and is set to be further evaluated on Sunday in Atlanta when the swelling goes down. The current diagnosis is five facial fractures and a concussion. Ravin has yet to allow a run in Gwinnett across 18 innings, during which time he’s struck out 30 batters and walked nine.
MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Cozart, Longoria, Mauer, Richards
ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(June 15th)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
- CHICAGO CUBS | Depth Chart
- Injury news: SP Adbert Alzolay (strained lat)
- Alzolay, one of the team’s top prospects, is expected to miss the remainder of the season. He had an outside chance of debuting in the Majors this season.
- Injury news: SP Adbert Alzolay (strained lat)
- LOS ANGELES DODGERS | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: RP Pedro Baez (biceps tendinitis)
- Promoted: C/INF Kyle Farmer
- MIAMI MARLINS | Depth Chart
- Placed on Bereavement List: SP Caleb Smith
- Smith is lined up to start on Monday.
- Activated from 60-Day DL: RP Brett Graves
- Promoted: RP Merandy Gonzalez
- Optioned: RP Ben Meyer
- Transferred to 60-Day DL: P Chris O’Grady
- Placed on Bereavement List: SP Caleb Smith
- NEW YORK METS | Depth Chart
- Activated from 10-Day DL: INF Wilmer Flores
- Optioned: OF/INF Ty Kelly
- PITTSBURGH PIRATES | Depth Chart
- Reinstated from Restricted List: INF Jung Ho Kang
- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: 3B Evan Longoria (fractured fifth metacarpal on left hand)
- Alen Hanson played 3B and batted 2nd on Friday.
- Promoted: RP Pierce Johnson
- Placed on 10-Day DL: 3B Evan Longoria (fractured fifth metacarpal on left hand)
- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | Depth Chart
- Placed on Paternity List: 1B Jose Martinez
- Activated from 10-Day DL: RP Matt Bowman
- Promoted: 1B Luke Voit
- Voit played 1B and batted 7th versus a left-handed starter on Friday.
- Optioned: RP Daniel Poncedeleon
—
AMERICAN LEAGUE
- BALTIMORE ORIOLES | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: RP Richard Bleier (strained lat)
- Bleier could require season-ending surgery.
- Promoted: INF Corban Joseph (contract purchased), RP Tanner Scott
- Joseph played 1B and batted 1st on Friday.
- Optioned: SP Yefry Ramirez
- Ramirez started versus the Red Sox on Wednesday in his MLB debut (4.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K)
- Designated for assignment: RP D.J. Snelten
- Placed on 10-Day DL: RP Richard Bleier (strained lat)
- CHICAGO WHITE SOX | Depth Chart
- Outrighted: RP Gregory Infante
- CLEVELAND INDIANS | Depth Chart
- Placed on Family Medical Emergency List: 1B Yonder Alonso
- Erik Gonzalez played 1B and batted 9th on Friday.
- Activated from 10-Day DL: OF Tyler Naquin
- Naquin played CF and batted 8th on Friday.
- Placed on Family Medical Emergency List: 1B Yonder Alonso
- HOUSTON ASTROS | Depth Chart
- Promoted: INF/OF Tyler White
- Placed on Paternity List: RP Reymin Guduan
- KANSAS CITY ROYALS | Depth Chart
- Promoted: RP Brandon Maurer (contract purchased)
- Optioned: RP Jason Adam
- LOS ANGELES ANGELS | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: INF Zack Cozart (shoulder subluxation), SP Garrett Richards (strained hamstring), SP Nick Tropeano (shoulder inflammation), RP Jim Johnson (strained lumbar)
- Nolan Fontana played SS and batted 9th on Friday.
- Promoted: RP Jake Jewell, RP Akeel Morris, RP Eduardo Paredes, RP Felix Pena
- Placed on 10-Day DL: INF Zack Cozart (shoulder subluxation), SP Garrett Richards (strained hamstring), SP Nick Tropeano (shoulder inflammation), RP Jim Johnson (strained lumbar)
- MINNESOTA TWINS | Depth Chart
- Activated from 10-Day DL: 1B Joe Mauer
- Mauer played 1B and batted 1st on Friday.
- Promoted: INF/OF Taylor Motter
- Optioned: 3B Miguel Sano (High-A), OF Jake Cave
- Activated from 10-Day DL: 1B Joe Mauer
- NEW YORK YANKEES | Depth Chart
- Promoted: SP Jonathan Loaisiga
- Loaisiga pitched 5 shutout innings in his MLB debut on Friday.
- Optioned: 1B/OF Tyler Austin
- Promoted: SP Jonathan Loaisiga
- TEXAS RANGERS | Depth Chart
- Suspension: C Robinson Chirinos (1-game suspension; served on Friday)
- Placed on 10-Day DL: RP Matt Bush (strained elbow), RP Chris Martin (strained calf)
- Promoted: C Jose Trevino, SP Yohander Mendez, RP Brandon Mann
- Mendez made his 1st MLB start on Friday (3 IP, 6 ER)
- Optioned: INF Hanser Alberto
- Acquisition: P Deck McGuire (claimed off waivers from Blue Jays)
- McGuire was optioned to Triple-A
- Transferred to 60-Day DL: SP Martin Perez
—
FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES
- ATL: SP Julio Teheran will be activated from the 10-Day DL on Sunday June 17th, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
- DET: SP Jordan Zimmermann is expected to return from the 10-Day DL on Saturday June 16th, according to Evan Woodbery of MLive.
- LAA: SP John Lamb will have his contract purchased from the minors on Saturday June 16th, according to Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times. He’ll be making his first MLB start since July 2016.
- KCR: OF Jorge Soler left Friday’s game with a fractured first metatarsal in his left foot, according to Rustin Dodd of the Athletic. A 10-Day DL stint is possible.
- OAK: 3B Matt Chapman (hand contusion) will be placed on the 10-Day DL on Saturday June 16th, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com. INF Franklin Barreto will be recalled from Triple-A.
- SFG: 1B Brandon Belt will likely return from the 10-Day DL on Saturday June 16th, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.
- TEX: SP Yovani Gallardo will have his contract purchased from the minors on Sunday June 17th, according to Rangers’ Executive Vice President of Communications John Blake.