This will be the second stint in the Colorado organization for the 34-year-old Rusin, who appeared in the majors with the Rockies in each season from 2015-19. During his best two-year stretch with the team, 2016-17, Rusin ate up 169 1/3 innings and recorded a stingy 3.19 ERA with a quality 6.1 percent walk rate and a similarly impressive 58.5 percent groundball mark.

Unfortunately, Rusin’s career has fallen off track since his halcyon days with the Rockies. He struggled to a 6.09 ERA over 54 1/3 frames in 2018 and then dealt with back problems in 2019, when he threw only one inning. Rusin latched on with the Braves last year, though he totaled just 3 1/3 innings and yielded three runs before they released him in September.

Also a former Cub, the 34-year-old Rusin owns a 4.65 ERA/4.10 SIERA with a 16.8 percent strikeout rate, a walk percentage of 7.6 and a 53.2 percent grounder rate in 468 2/3 big league innings.

Aug. 4: The Braves have designated lefty Chris Rusin for assignment, per a club announcement. Additionally, the team placed righty Mike Soroka on the 45-day injured list. Those moves created a pair of active roster spots to enable the promotion of two pitchers. Righties Chad Sobotka and Huascar Ynoa will each join the MLB team.

Rusin, 33, earned a job out of Summer Camp but only got one appearance before he was set free. He allowed three earned runs in a 3 1/3-inning outing last night after Soroka departed with what turned out to be a season-ending injury. The former Cubs and Rockies southpaw was quite effective in Colorado from 2016-17, pitching to a 3.19 ERA in 169 1/3 frames, but success has been hard to come by outside of that two-year stretch. In 468 2/3 innings across part of nine MLB seasons (2020 included), Rusin has a 4.65 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.

Atlanta signed Chacin to a one-year, Major League contract back on July 21, as the club was looking to add some additional rotation depth due to Cole Hamels’ injured-list stint and Felix Hernandez’s opt-out.  Chacin ended up making two relief appearances for the Braves, both against the Mets — the first was an impressive performance of 3 2/3 scoreless innings on July 26, and the other took place just last night, with Chacin surrendering four earned runs over 1 1/3 innings of work.

The Braves had clearly seen enough following yesterday’s outing, and Chacin now finds himself potentially back on the free agent market in short order.  Given that teams are always in need of pitching depth, it’s possible Chacin could find another deal elsewhere, which could mean he’d be joining his fifth different organization in less than a year’s time.

Chacin has already appeared for seven different teams over his 12 MLB seasons, and also been part of the Indians and Twins organizations without ever suiting up for them in a big league game.  Minnesota was Chacin’s most recent stop before signing on with the Braves, as the Twins inked Chacin to a minor league deal over the offseason but released him less than a week before their July 24th opener.

It wasn’t long ago that Chacin was a solid and durable rotation member, as he posted a 3.69 ERA while averaging 186 innings for the Padres and Brewers over the 2017 and 2018 seasons.  Things turned badly for Chacin in 2019, however, as a big spike in his home run rate (an unsightly 2.2 HR/9) resulted in a 6.01 ERA over 103 1/3 frames for Milwaukee and Boston.

Rusin is also looking for a rebound, as his strong 2017 season as a member of the Rockies bullpen was followed up by a rough 2018 (6.09 ERA in 54 2/3 innings) and then a 2019 that saw him appear in only two MLB games, thanks to both back problems and a demotion to the minors.  Upon becoming a free agent after the season, Rusin signed with the Braves on a minor league deal, so his arrival on the active roster will ensure some form of (prorated) guaranteed salary.

The 33-year-old offers the Braves some versatility, as Rusin has worked as a swingman in the past, though he will more likely be used in a long relief capacity.  Rusin joins Grant Dayton, A.J. Minter, and Tyler Matzek as left-handed options out of the Atlanta pen.

Rusin made just two appearances for the big league club in Colorado last season, making 25 appearances (10 starts) for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate. The 33-year-old southpaw spent the last five seasons in Colorado, totaling 164 appearances (29 starts) as a swingman. He put up an overall 4.52 ERA/4.13 FIP, but struggled in 2018 to the tune of a 6.09 ERA/4.94 FIP.

Rusin provides the Braves with a flexible arm from the left side to look at throughout spring training. Though they have more than enough options for both the rotation and bullpen, many of Atlanta’s arms are young, and Rusin could stand in as an injury replacement depending on how the rest of the organization shapes up throughout February and March.

We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

• Austin Adams, RHP, Tigers
• Michael Blazek, RHP, Nationals
• David Carpenter, RHP, Rangers
• Rookie Davis, RHP, Pirates
• Odrisamer Despaigne, RHP, White Sox
• Ryan Feierabend, LHP, Blue Jays
• Brian Flynn, LHP, Royals
• Ryan Garton, RHP, Mariners
• Sean Gilmartin, LHP, Orioles
• Matt Grace, LHP, Nationals
• Deolis Guerra, RHP, Brewers (since re-signed)
• David Hale, RHP, Yankees
• Kazuhisa Makita, RHP, Padres
• Justin Miller, RHP, Nationals
• Juan Minaya, RHP, White Sox
• Bryan Mitchell, RHP, Padres
• Hector Noesi, RHP, Marlins
• Tim Peterson, RHP, Mets
• Brooks Pounders, RHP, Mets
• JC Ramirez, RHP, Angels
• Erasmo Ramirez, RHP, Red Sox
• Zac Rosscup, LHP, Cardinals
• Chris Rusin, LHP, ROckies
• Fernando Salas, RHP, Phillies
• Brian Schlitter, RHP, Athletics
• Chasen Shreve, LHP, Cardinals
• Aaron Slegers, RHP, Rays
• Josh Smith, RHP, Red Sox
• Dan Straily, RHP, Phillies
• Pat Venditte, SHP, Giants
• Dan Winkler, RHP, Giants
• Mike Wright, RHP, Mariners

• 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.

The Colorado club will obviously be glad to welcome back two of its most-established veteran players. Neither required a lengthy absence, but any time away is more than the Rockies can afford. A recent run has the team three games over .500, but it’s still staring at a yawning ten-game chasm with the division-leading Dodgers on the other side.

Rusin only just returned to the majors after opening the year on the IL with back issues. He has not looked great. He was bombed in his first two outings, surrendering four earned runs on five hits while recording only three outs. And he’s already coming off of a messy 2018 effort in which he was torched for a 6.09 ERA.

Still, the peripherals suggested better last year. And Rusin was a strong performer in 2017, when he threw 85 innings of 2.65 ERA ball. Of course, he not only managed a typically strong 58.5% groundball rate that year but also produced a career-best 12.7% swinging-strike rate. He hasn’t come close before or since. Thus far in 2019, Rusin’s velocity is down and he hasn’t generated grounders (in the majors and during his rehab assignment).

The timing may feel a bit rushed at first glance, particularly for a player who is earning $1,687,500 (with one more year of arbitration control remaining). It makes more sense when you tabulate Rusin’s service time. He entered the season with 4.092 years on the ticker; with 71 more accrued to this point, he’s sitting just nine days shy of reaching five full years of service. At that point, he’d be able to reject an outright assignment without sacrificing the remainder of his salary. By making the move now, the Rockies can either shed the remaining obligation (if he’s claimed or rejects an assignment) or stash Rusin at Triple-A and try to work out the kinks.

It’s a rather stunning move as regards Freeland, who finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting last year. While it is no doubt hard to drop such a player down, the club could no longer look past his more recent issues.

Through a dozen starts this year, Freeland has managed only a 7.13 ERA in 59 1/3 innings. Though he’s still generating similar numbers of strikeouts (7.4 K/9) and walks (3.8 BB/9) to his 2018 showing, opposing hitters have teed up a league-high 16 long balls against him.

Freeland never seemed particularly likely to repeat his surprising sophomore campaign, as ERA estimators took a much dimmer view of his effort than his 2.85 ERA suggested. But the 26-year-old seemed likely to be a quality rotation piece for years to come.

There’s no glaringly obvious explanation for the downturn. While he has bumped up his swinging-strike rate a bit (9.0% to 10.6%), Freeland has given up much better contact when it has been made. Batters have doubled their barrel rate (to 10.7%) and jumped to 35.5% hard contact. Freeland has been abused in particular at Coors Field (9.31 ERA), the complete opposite from 2018 (2.40 ERA). He’s sitting at a .287 BABIP-against, right where he was last year (.285). There has been a change in sequencing fortunes, as Freeland has dropped to a 62.0% strand rate after sitting at 82.8% in 2018.

Freeland, the former eighth-overall draft pick, had accrued two full seasons of MLB service entering the present campaign. He’ll need to make it back to the majors in 2019 in order to reach arbitration as a Super Two or 3+ service-class player next fall. The team had indicated some pre-season interest in a long-term deal, though talks never seemed to get going in earnest and surely won’t now unless and until Freeland gets back on track.

More injury news from around the majors…

• Rangers slugger Joey Gallo is dealing with a groin strain, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News relays. The Rangers believe it’s a minor issue, and Grant adds they’re not planning “aggressive treatment,” but Gallo’s not certain to be ready for Opening Day. Should the injury force Gallo to begin the season on the injured list, it could open the door for unproven outfielder Willie Calhoun to make the team, Grant notes. On paper, that’s a significant downgrade for Texas, for which Gallo combined for 81 home runs and 5.6 fWAR from 2017-18. [Update: Gallo says he’ll be in the Rangers’ Opening Day lineup, Grant tweets.]
• Although Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager hasn’t appeared in a spring training game, he’ll be ready for Opening Day, manager Dave Roberts told Bob Nightengale of USA Today and other reporters Sunday. It’ll be a triumphant return for Seager, who starred in full seasons from 2016-17 before missing nearly all of the ’18 campaign on account of Tommy John surgery.
• Forgotten Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury reported to camp this weekend, though he’s “not close” to being game ready, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets. Ellsbury, who has dealt with a laundry list of injuries in recent years (including plantar fasciitis), is only hitting off a tee and playing catch from short distances at this point. It’s not clear whether the 35-year-old will even suit again with the Yankees, with whom he’s in the sixth season of a seven-year, $153MM contract. The former Red Sox star hasn’t appeared in a major league game since Oct. 17, 2017.
• Along with the previously reported Antonio Senzatela, the Rockies are likely to begin the season without reliever Chris Rusin, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Upper back pain has shelved Rusin all month, but when he does return, he’ll try to bounce back from an ugly 2018 in he posted a 6.09 ERA/4.64 FIP with 7.74 K/9 and 4.28 BB/9 in 54 2/3 innings.

• The Royals announced that they’ve agreed to one-year deals with both Cheslor Cuthbert and Jesse Hahn. Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (via Twitter) that Cuthbert will earn $850K, while Hahn’s deal contains an $800K base salary. Both were definitive non-tender candidates, as Cuthbert batted just .194/.282/.301 in 117 plate appearances this past season. Hahn, meanwhile, didn’t pitch in 2018 due to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament that ultimately required “primary repair” surgery — a similar, but less invasive alternative to Tommy John surgery that is perhaps familiar to Royals fans after Seth Maness previously underwent the procedure.

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Bringing up Musgrave meant opening a 40-man spot, which the Rox accomplished by shifting reliever Carlos Estevez to the 60-day DL. He opened the year on the 10-day list owing to an oblique issue, but is now said to be dealing with an elbow strain. The team says Estevez is not at risk of requiring Tommy John surgery, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets, though he’ll now have to sit for at least the first two months of the current campaign.

Rusin, 31, has been a huge asset for the Colorado pen over the past two seasons. The converted starter has consistently given good innings — often, more than one at a time — after having failed to stick in the rotation. Since a rough first outing, Rusin has been effective. His fastball velocity has been in line with prior seasons and he was generating grounders and swinging strikes at rates generally commensurate with his recent work.

While the Rockies wait for their longman to return, they’ll get a look at a 26-year-old lefty who has yet to reach the game’s highest level. Musgrave has spent the past couple seasons in the upper minors, where he has worked exclusively as a starter. He’s carrying a 3.38 ERA with ten strikeouts and two walks in his 10 2/3 innings at Triple-A Albuquerque thus far in 2018.

• D-backs lefty Patrick Corbin has signed a one-year contract for the 2018 season, the club announced tonight. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Corbin, who will be a free agent next season, will earn $7.5MM in his final season of arbitration. That comes in shy of his $8.3MM projection, though it’s nonetheless nearly twice what he made in 2017 ($3.95MM).
• The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and lefty Aaron Loup, per Nightengale (Twitter links). Carrera’s $1.9MM salary matches his projection, while Loup’s $1.8125MM payday is slightly north of his own $1.8MM projection. Loup will be a free agent next winter, while Carrera is controlled through 2019.
• Nightengale also tweets that Angels catcher Martin Maldonado has agreed to a $3.9MM salary for the upcoming season, meaning the reigning AL Gold Glove winner behind the dish rather handily trounced his $2.8MM projection. Maldonado, 31, is also entering his final year of team control and will be a free agent next winter.

Earlier Agreements

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More on the Rockies, who improved to an NL West-best 8-5 on Saturday:

• With top starter Jon Gray set to miss at least a month with a foot injury, the Rockies figure to turn to one of Jeff Hoffman, German Marquez or Harrison Musgrave to fill the void, writes Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Veteran swingman Chris Rusin has more major league starting experience than any of them, but he isn’t in contention to reenter the Rockies’ rotation because they like the value he provides to their bullpen, Black indicated. The 24-year-old Hoffman and the 22-year-old Marquez are among the premier prospects in the game, with Baseball America ranking the former 36th and the latter 53rd, and the two garnered some big league experience last season. While the 25-year-old Musgrave hasn’t yet cracked the bigs, nor does he carry a high-end prospect pedigree, he did come close to winning a job with the Rockies during the spring, notes Harding.
• Outfielder David Dahl, on the shelf since early March with a stress fracture in his ribcage, feels healthy enough to return, but the Rockies are taking a cautious approach with the 23-year-old, per Groke. Dahl won’t be able to swing a bat until at least next week, as the Rockies first want to see the results from the MRI bone scan he’ll undergo April 21. “Honestly, I’ve been saying I’m ready to play. But they said you can feel good, but it still might not be healed,” said Dahl. “They want to make sure the bone scan comes back and it shows it’s healed.” If the scan yields good news, it should put Dahl on track to make his 2017 debut in May.
  

More on Arizona and two other teams in the majors’ West divisions:

• Miller, who endured a nightmarish, well-publicized 2016 with the Diamondbacks, continued to flash high velocity Wednesday, according to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Miller’s four-seam fastball sat between 93 mph and 96 mph (and touched 97 mph), and “the industry is intrigued” by the improved stuff he has shown this spring, relays Castrovince. D-backs manager Torey Lovullo thinks the righty is “ready to do some special things this year,” while Miller says he’s “just trying to have a positive outlook on everything” and not dwell on last season.
• Angels first baseman Luis Valbuena left the team’s game early on Wednesday as a result of right hamstring tightness, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. While the severity is unknown, it’s worth noting that Valbuena missed a large chunk of 2016 with a right hamstring injury and underwent season-ending surgery in August. The Angels will turn to C.J. Cron as their primary first baseman if they lose Valbuena, who’s entering the first season of a two-year, $15MM deal.
• Rockies left-hander Chris Rusin had been vying for one of their available rotation spots before suffering an oblique injury March 3. Rusin returned to throwing on Wednesday, in the form of a 25-pitch bullpen session, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. The 30-year-old hopes to return by Opening Day, but he no longer has a chance to earn a starting job. The Rockies will choose two of Antonio Senzatela, Jeff Hoffman, German Marquez, Harrison Musgrave and Kyle Freeland to fill out their rotation behind Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson and Tyler Chatwood.

More pitcher-related injury updates:

• Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom took the mound Saturday for the first time since last September, when he underwent elbow surgery, and dazzled in two scoreless innings, reports Dan Martin of the New York Post. DeGrom’s average fastball velocity fell from 94.9 mph in 2015 to 93.4 mph last year, but it clocked in between 96 and 97 mph at times Saturday. “When I saw the 97, I looked at (pitching coach) Dan (Warthen) and said, ‘That’s a little special,’” said manager Terry Collins. Naturally, deGrom also came away encouraged. “Last year, it was all I had to get to 92 [mph],” deGrom noted. “It has to do with repeating my mechanics. Last year, I flew open all the time and my arm was dragging.”
• Unlike deGrom, Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs endured a rather poor spring debut Saturday, relays Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). In his first outing since undergoing a major injury scare last September, the onetime Tommy John surgery recipient recorded only two outs against four walks. More alarmingly, Skaggs saw his fastball dip from 89 to 92 mph at the beginning of the inning to 86 to 88 mph by the end of it.
• Southpaw Chris Rusin is attempting to claim the last spot in the Rockies’ rotation this spring, but those efforts will go on hold for an “extended period,” writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. Rusin hurt his right side in his outing Friday, causing him to leave the game, and will “be out for a while,” manager Bud Black said.
• Tigers righty reliever Adam Ravenelle departed the team’s game Saturday with elbow discomfort and will undergo an MRI, skipper Brad Ausmus announced (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). Ravenelle, a non-roster invitee whom Baseball America ranks as Detroit’s eighth-best prospect, underwent ulnar nerve surgery in his elbow in 2012, per Woodbery. More recently, the 24-year-old combined for 67 1/3 innings at three different levels last season. The plurality of his work came at Triple-A Toledo, where he put up a 4.85 ERA to go with 6.98 K/9 against 4.85 BB/9 in 29 2/3 frames.
• Braves Rule 5 pick Armando Rivero has been dealing with shoulder soreness, though manager Brian Snitker said Saturday that there’s no sign of structural damage, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Braves doctors cleared the righty, previously with the Cubs, to continue throwing and vying for a job with Atlanta. Rivero, 29, pitched to a 2.13 ERA and recorded a sky-high 13.97 K/9 against a bloated 4.66 BB/9 in 67 2/3 innings with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016.