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Dana Brown, Joe Espada Discuss Astros First Base Plans

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After the Astros released veteran first baseman Jose Abreu yesterday, the move left a clear hole in the club’s lineup at first base. Both GM Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada have since spoken to media about the club’s plans at the position, as relayed by Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle.

As noted by Young, Brown told reporters that first baseman Jon Singleton, who received the majority of reps at first base when Abreu was optioned to the minors earlier this year, will get the first crack at regular at-bats at the position, with Brown noting that the club intends to give Singleton the opportunity to “grab the bull by the horn” and establish himself as a regular in their lineup. Through 50 games with the club this year, however, Singleton hasn’t done much to suggest he’s ready to step into the role of an everyday first baseman. The 32-year-old slugger has hit just .216/.313/.333 in 174 trips to the plate this year (92 wRC+). While his 13.2% walk rate in that time is quite impressive, he’s striking out at an elevated 26.4% clip and has displayed minimal power with just eight extra base hits this year.

That being said, Singleton’s actually been just above average (101 wRC+) with a 14.3% walk rate and a 22.6% strikeout rate against left-handed pitching this year. That provides some reason for optimism that Singleton could be a viable choice for the strong side of a platoon at first base, and it appears the club is receptive to that possibility. Per Young, both Brown and Espada have indicated that utility man Mauricio Dubon will factor into the club’s first base mix against left-handed pitching. Dubon is hitting a solid .302/.327/.421 (114 wRC+) in 168 trips to the plate with the Astros this year, a figure that includes an impressive 133 wRC+ against southpaws.

While the club appears to be planning on Singleton and Dubon handling first base for the time being, it appears that Astros brass are nonetheless considering alternative options should Singleton struggle in expanded playing time. As noted by Chandler Rome of The Athletic yesterday, the has considered the possibility of utilizing their catching tandem of Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini at first base in some capacity as well. Both have produced solid offense with the bat this year for the standards of the catcher position: Diaz has slashed .258/.283/.407 (95 wRC+) in 233 trips to the plate while Caratini has posted a similar .235/.278/.408 (93 wRC+) line in 108 plate appearances.

With that said, both of those figures are below average overall and seem somewhat miscast at an offense-first position such as first base. Given that reality, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Espada indicated to reporters yesterday that the club prefers to keep Diaz and Caratini behind the plate. With that being said, the Astros did select the contract of switch-hitting catcher Cooper Hummel to replace Abreu on the roster yesterday. Hummel owns a lifetime slash line of just .166/.264/.286 in the majors, but if he can post something closer to the .301/.423/.509 slash line he has in 201 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level with the Astros this year it’s possible that he could either factor into the first base mix himself or act as a solid enough backup option behind the plate to make the Astros more comfortable utilizing Diaz and/or Caratini at first on a part-time basis.

Of course, all of these options are looking purely internally; MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart relayed yesterday that Brown noted that the Astros expect to search for an additional bat at the trade deadline in addition to their rumored pursuit of starting pitching. If Houston is indeed planning to add a bat to their lineup this summer, first base is certainly a logical fit. Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has already received some buzz as a potential candidate to move this summer, and while Toronto brass have emphasized their reluctance to make such a deal, the fit between Guerrero and the Astros is fairly obvious in the event that the 25-year-old does find himself on the move. Pete Alonso is another notable first baseman who could be on the move this summer, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently discussed. Other speculative candidates to move at the deadline this summer at first base include a host of veterans on expiring deals such as Josh Bell and Justin Turner.

Astros Release Jose Abreu

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The Astros announced Friday that they’ve released first baseman Jose Abreu. The former American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player is in the second season of a three-year, $58.5MM contract. Houston will eat the remainder of the money still owed to Abreu on that deal.

Houston selected the contract of catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel from Triple-A Sugar Land, reports KPRC-2’s Ari Alexander. In 201 plate appearances in Triple-A this season, Hummel boasts a .301/.423/.509 slash (135 wRC+) with seven homers, 13 doubles, eight steals (in nine tries), a 17.4% strikeout rate and a massive 16.4% walk rate. The Astros acquired the 29-year-old from the Giants via an April waiver claim and later succeeded in passing him through outright waivers.

While Abreu generally exceeded expectations in landing that sizable three-year deal, few could’ve predicted that the contract would go this poorly. Abreu hit .237/.296/.383 with Houston last season and began the 2024 season in such a calamitous funk that the veteran agreed to be optioned at a point when he was 7-for-71 on the season. Since returning, Abreu hasn’t looked any better, hitting .167/.186/.333 in 43 trips to the plate.

Overall, Abreu’s tenure with the team will come to an end with a shocking .217/.275/.351 batting line in 714 plate appearances. That’s about 28% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+. When coupled with below-average defense at first base, Abreu was 1.6 wins below replacement level, per Baseball-Reference, and a full two wins below replacement per FanGraphs.

Although there were some signs of decline in 2022, Abreu still hit .304/.378/.446 that season. A good portion of his power had eroded (hence the pedestrian .141 ISO and career-low 15 homers), and a fair bit of his production was propped up by a .350 average on balls in play that the plodding Abreu was never going to sustain over the long run. The Astros, operating without a general manager for the first portion of the offseason, still paid a hefty per-year price to sign Abreu into his late 30s, with owner Jim Crane spearheading negotiations on that deal and on Rafael Montero’s own surprising three-year pact. Though the length of the pact was a modest surprise, it pales in comparison to how surprising the extent of Abreu’s decline has been.

Between Abreu and Jon Singleton, Houston’s lack of production at first base has been near the bottom of all Major League Baseball. Only the Rockies — Kris Bryant, Elehuris Montero, Michael Toglia and Hunter Goodman — have seen their first basemen combine to deliver a lesser output than the Astros’ miserable .181/.262/.291 batting line. That dearth of offense from a typically bat-heavy position in the lineup has been one of many reasons for the Astros’ disappointing 31-38 record. Houston sits eight games back of the division-leading Mariners and six games out in the AL Wild Card hunt (with six teams to leapfrog in order to claim one of those three spots).

Abreu’s contract will now be dead money on the Astros’ payroll both this year and next. It still counts toward the luxury tax as well, even though he’s no longer on the roster. That dead money only further adds to a troubling long-term outlook that raises legitimate questions about the team’s ability to continue putting a perennial contender on the field. Despite their questionable long-term outlook and their 2024 struggles, however, general manager Dana Brown — hired after the signing of Abreu — has insisted that his team will not be a seller and that he expects to operate as a buyer in the run-up to next month’s trade deadline. The Astros reportedly have interest in adding multiple starting pitchers.

As for Abreu himself, he’ll now head to the open market and be able to field interest from other clubs. It’s unlikely that any team will place him directly onto the big league roster in light of his recent struggles, so he’d very likely need to settle for a minor league deal.

Whether Abreu is amenable to that sort of arrangement isn’t clear, but players often want to go out on their own terms rather than be forced from the game they love due to declining performance. Abreu’s willingness to be optioned earlier this season and the constant praise he’s received from teammates both in Chicago and in Houston regarding his work ethic and passion for the game could point a willingness to keep going. Teammates Mauricio Dubon, Jeremy Pena and Kendall Graveman all lauded Abreu’s work ethic last September when discussing his late-season hot streak with Chandler Rome of The Athletic, as well as his impact in the clubhouse. That drive, combined with his sterling clubhouse reputation and outstanding track record in Chicago, could lead to interest on what amounts to a no-risk flier from a team with a need for help at first base and/or against left-handed pitching.

Astros Outright Cooper Hummel

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Catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel, whom the Astros designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He hasn’t been outrighted before and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so Hummel can’t reject the assignment. He’ll remain in the organization as a depth piece.

Hummel is no stranger to the DFA circuit, having bounced from the Mariners, to the Mets, to the Giants, to the Astros just from the end of the 2023 season until now. The 29-year-old has just 227 big league plate appearances under his belt, most of which came with the 2022 Diamondbacks. He’s a .166/.264/.286 hitter between the D-backs and the Mariners (10 games in 2023). Those numbers aren’t much to look at, but Hummel hit .262/.409/.435 in Triple-A last season and walked at a mammoth 18% rate along the way. He’s a .287/.419/.488 hitter in 992 overall plate appearances in Triple-A.

Given that standout production in the upper minors and his unusual blend of defensive versatility, Hummel makes a nice depth option for the Astros to be able to stash in Triple-A. He’s logged more than 1800 innings in left field, 1054 frames behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and another 296 innings in right field. He also still has a minor league option remaining, so if he plays his way back onto the 40-man roster, he doesn’t necessarily need to be exposed to waivers a second time if Houston wants to send him down.

Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment

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The Astros have selected the contract of right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, a move that was reported last night. Right-hander Wander Suero was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to open an active roster spot while utility player Cooper Hummel was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the list of transactions.

Hummel, 29, was just claimed off waivers last week but the Astros have been dealing with a notable roster churn of late. Each of Suero, Arrighetti and Blair Henley have been selected to the 40-man in the past few days, which has squeezed Hummel out of his spot.

It’s been quite a nomadic few months for Hummel, who was with the Mariners in 2023. Since December, he’s gone to the Mets, Giants and Astros via waiver claims or cash deals. It’s possible yet another jersey swap is over the horizon, as the Astros will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers.

His 227 major league plate appearances have resulted in an unimpressive batting line of .166/.264/.286 but he’s naturally been much better in the minors. From the start of 2021 through the present day, he has 992 Triple-A plate appearances. He has drawn a walk in a huge 17.3% of those while keeping his strikeout rate down to a respectable 21.2% rate. His combined batting line of .287/.419/.488 in that time translates to a wRC+ of 131.

Defensively, Hummel offers a unique level of versatility, having spent significant time behind the plate as well as the outfield corners, first base and even a small amount of time at third base. He also has one option year remaining, which means he can be kept in Triple-A for depth until needed. With less than a year of service time, he’s still not close to qualifying for arbitration or free agency.

That combination of his Triple-A offense, his defensive flexibility and his contract status clearly makes him appealing to clubs, judging by how many of them have tried to grab him since the end of last year. Taking all that into consideration, he may be on the move yet again in the days to come. If he were to finally pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Astros as non-roster depth, since he has neither the three years of service time nor the previous career outright that would give him the right to elect free agency.

Astros To Claim Miguel Diaz, Cooper Hummel Off Waivers

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2:05 pm: The Astros have now announced both claims. In corresponding moves, they transferred right-handers Luis Garcia Jr. and Penn Murfee to the 60-day injured list. Both pitchers underwent elbow surgery last summer and won’t be available for a few more months, at least.

12:27 pm: The Astros are set to make a pair of waiver claims. Neither has been formally announced by the club just yet, but Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that Houston is claiming right-hander Miguel Diaz off waivers from the Tigers, who’d designated him for assignment last week. Ari Alexander of KPRC-2 in Houston further reports that the ’Stros are claiming catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel, who was designated for assignment by the Giants last week.

Diaz, 29, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons — four with the Padres and two with the Tigers. He tossed 14 innings out of the Detroit ’pen in 2023, allowing just one run on eight hits and five walks with 16 strikeouts. It was a brief but dominant showing that surely enhanced his standing within the organization and gave him a chance to break camp with the 2024 club. However, Diaz struggled this spring, surrendering five runs on ten hits and five walks in 8 1/3 innings.

Originally selected by the Padres (by way of a trade with the Twins) out of the Brewers organization in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, Diaz’s big league career began in rocky fashion. That was understandable, given that San Diego carried a then-22-year-old Diaz on the roster all season after plucking him directly out of A-ball. He pitched just 66 2/3 innings in his first three seasons, logging a lowly 6.62 ERA. The Friars non-tendered him in 2019 to remove him from the 40-man roster but quickly re-signed him.

In 2021, Diaz returned to the majors with 42 effective innings out of the San Diego ’pen. Over the past three seasons, he carries a 2.87 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 41.9% ground-ball rate in 59 2/3 innings. Diaz is out of minor league options, so he’ll head directly to the Houston bullpen as he cannot be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. If he can demonstrate some staying power in manager Joe Espada’s bullpen, he can be controlled through the 2027 season via arbitration.

Hummel, 29, has bounced from the Mariners, to the Mets, to the Giants and now the Astros since the end of the 2023 season. He appeared in 10 MLB games last year and came to the plate 26 times with Seattle. He also received a brief look with the D-backs in 2022, and he’s posted an overall .166/.264/.286 line in 227 career plate appearances.

Ugly as that small-sample slash line may be, Hummel turned in a .262/.409/.435 batting line in Triple-A last year and drew walks at a massive 18% clip. His ability to play both catcher and corner outfield gives him a relatively uncommon brand of versatility. Hummel has logged more than 1800 innings in left field, 1054 frames behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and another 296 innings in right field. Add in that he has a minor league option remaining, and he’s an interesting depth piece even if he hasn’t yet produced at the big league level.

Giants Option Marco Luciano, Select Nick Ahmed, Release Pablo Sandoval

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The Giants announced a huge slate of transactions Thursday as they set their Opening Day roster. Shortstop prospect Marco Luciano and outfield prospect Luis Matos were optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to begin the season. San Francisco selected the contract of veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed and right-hander Landen Roupp, who’ll both make the Opening Day roster. The Giants also recalled lefty Erik Miller from Triple-A, placed righties Sean Hjelle and Alex Cobb on the 15-day IL (as expected), designated catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment, placed lefty Ethan Small on the 60-day injured list and released infielder Pablo Sandoval. Out of options catcher Joey Bart made the roster.

Luciano, 22, is widely considered to be among the game’s top 100 prospects. He made a brief MLB debut last year and was in competition for the Opening Day roster nod throughout the entirety of camp, but the Giants will defer to the veteran Ahmed as their Opening Day shortstop.

Luciano heated up toward the end of camp, perhaps making the decision a bit tougher, but he finished with a .227/.364/.432 slash and a 34.5% strikeout rate in 55 plate appearances. Those strikeout troubles have been an issue for some time; Luciano fanned in 29.8% of his Double-A plate appearances last year and 35.9% of his Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll head back to the upper minors to continue to work on that area of his game.

In his place, the Giants will turn to longtime division foe Ahmed, who’s spent his entire 10-year career with the Diamondbacks. Ahmed, who’s won a pair of Gold Gloves in his career, has always been a defensive-minded shortstop. He’s long ranked as one of the premium defenders in the game, regardless of position. However, his already modest offensive production has taken a stark downturn over the past two seasons due to a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery.

Ahmed has looked sharp this spring, however, turning in a .355/.459/.645 slash with a pair of homers in a small sample of 37 plate appearances. The Giants bid adieu to their own longtime premier defensive shortstop, Brandon Crawford, this offseason. (Were it not for Crawford, Ahmed may have a few more Gold Gloves on his mantle.) Ahmed will bring a similar skill set to the table, though he’s three years younger. And, since he doesn’t have such a storied history with the franchise, it’ll be easier to cut him loose or significantly reduce his playing time if he struggles and/or if Luciano forces the issue with a big Triple-A performance.

Roupp, 25, was San Francisco’s 12th-round pick in the 2021 draft. He posted a 1.74 ERA and fanned more than a third of his opponents in 31 Double-A frames last season and will jump straight from that level to the big leagues. He earned that promotion with a huge spring showing, holding opponents to a pair of runs on two hits and four walks with 13 punchouts in eight innings.

Hummel, 29, is a career .166/.264/.286 hitter in 227 plate appearances at the big league level. He carries a far more impressive Triple-A track record, including a .262/.409/.435 batting line and a massive 18% walk rate there last year. He bounced from the Mariners, to the Mets, to the Giants via the DFA circuit this winter. Hummel still has a minor league option remaining, and the Giants will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Sandoval, 37, singled in his final at-bat of Giants spring training earlier this week. That game was played at Oracle Park, giving “Kung Fu Panda” the opportunity to suit up (at least) one more time in front of the Giants fans who revered him for his peak run as a middle-of-the-order slugger for the Giants even-year dynasty that saw them bring home World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. An emotional Sandoval said after the game what a special experience it was to take the field and be embraced by the San Francisco faithful one more time. Whether he continues his playing career remains to be seen, but if not, it was a fitting sendoff to a beloved member of the franchise who’ll long be remembered as a fan favorite.

Giants Acquire Cooper Hummel From Mets

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The Mets announced that they have traded catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel to the Giants in exchange for cash considerations. The Mets had designated him for assignment last week. MLB Transactions Daily reported that the Giants were acquiring Hummel prior to the official announcement. The Giants will now have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move when they make their signing of Jordan Hicks official.

Hummel, 29, has received 227 major league plate appearances thus far in his career, spending time with the 2022 Diamondbacks and 2023 Mariners. He has drawn walks at a 11% clip but has also been struck out in 32.2% of those trips to the plate, leading to a batting line of .166/.264/.286. His offense has been much better at Triple-A. In 977 appearances at that level over the past three years, he has paired a 17.3% walk rate with a 21.2% strikeout rate. His .288/.420/.492 slash line in that time translates to a wRC+ of 132.

That kind of Triple-A production is surely enticing, as is Hummel’s defensive versatility. In the major leagues, he’s mostly split his time between catcher and left field, with a little bit of work in right field as well. He’s also played those three positions in the minors, along with a decent amount of time at first base and some brief looks at third base. He also still has an option year remaining and can be kept in the minors if the Giants don’t have a spot for him on the active roster.

The Giants already showed an affinity for this type of player when they utilized catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol on their club last year. Sabol struck out in 34% of his plate appearances but still managed to hit .235/.301/.394 for a wRC+ of 92, splitting his time almost evenly between catcher and left field. He was under Rule 5 restraints in 2023 but the club has now obtained his full rights and can option him going forward.

Patrick Bailey figures to be the primary catcher while Tom Murphy was signed to be the backup. Murphy is generally considered to be on the bat-first side of things and also has significant health concerns, having never surpassed 325 plate appearances in any big league season. Perhaps one of Sabol or Hummel could secure a job as a utility player that takes on part-time catching duties and allows Murphy to spend some time as the designated hitter. But since each of them are optionable, they could also be in Triple-A as depth until their services are required. The club also has Joey Bart in its catching mix but he is now out of options and may get squeezed from the roster at some point.

Jung Hoo Lee, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski project as the everyday outfielders with Austin Slater likely to be in a fourth outfielder role. Wilmer Flores and Murphy will perhaps get the lion’s share of DH time. Outfielders like Heliot Ramos and Luis Matos are also on the 40-man roster but have options and could get regular playing time in the minors while Hummel and/or Sabol serve in bench jobs at the big league level. Since Hummel has spent a bit of time at the infield corners, an injury to either LaMonte Wade Jr. or J.D. Davis could also open up some playing time for him.

Mets Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment

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The Mets designated catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment, as first reported by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Mets announced the move a couple minutes later. Hummel’s spot on the 40-man roster will go to righty Max Kranick, whom the Mets are claiming off waivers from the Pirates.

Hummel, 29, was claimed off waivers from the Mariners earlier in the offseason. He appeared in 10 MLB games last year and came to the plate 26 times with Seattle. He also received a brief look with the D-backs in 2022, and he’s posted an overall .166/.264/.286 line in 227 career plate appearances.

Ugly as that small-sample slash line may be, Hummel turned in a .262/.409/.435 batting line in Triple-A last year and drew walks at a massive 18% clip. The Mets were surely attracted to that output and to his versatility; he’s logged more than 1800 innings in left field, 1054 frames behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and another 296 innings in right field. Add in that he has a minor league option remaining, and he’s an interesting depth piece even if he hasn’t yet been able to produce at the big league level.

Hummel is also a known commodity for Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who was the Brewers’ general manager in 2016 when Hummel was drafted by Milwaukee. Stearns traded Hummel to the D-backs in the 2021 Eduardo Escobar swap, and he’ll now have a week to trade Hummel again or else attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Mets Claim Cooper Hummel

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The Mets have claimed catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel off waivers from the Mariners, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Seattle had not previously announced that Hummel was being removed from the 40-man roster. The Mets now have 32 players on their 40-man roster, while the Mariners are down to 39.

The waiver claim comes just over a year after the Mariners acquired Hummel from the D-backs in a straight-up swap for former Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis. That deal didn’t pay dividends for either party, as Lewis missed significant time with injuries before being non-tendered, while Hummel spent the bulk of his lone season with the Mariners organization in Triple-A.

Hummel appeared in just 10 big league games and tallied 26 plate appearances as a Mariner. Between that and a brief MLB debut with Arizona in 2022, he’s a .166/.264/.286 hitter in 227 trips to the plate. That said, Hummel enjoyed a strong year with Triple-A Tacoma in 2023, batting .262/.409/.435 with a mammoth 18% walk rate against a 23.3% strikeout rate. He also offers unusual defensive versatility, evidenced by more than 1800 career innings in left field, 1054 innings behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and 296 innings in right field. Hummel has a minor league option remaining as well, so he can be stashed in Syracuse without needing to first pass through waivers.

The 29-year-old Hummel was an 18th-round draft pick of the Brewers back in 2016, when current Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was running baseball operations in Milwaukee. Stearns traded Hummel to the D-backs in a 2021 swap that netted infielder Eduardo Escobar, and he’s now reacquired the versatile catcher/outfielder as one of his first transactions with his new club.

It’s another in a growing series of small-scale depth pickups. Stearns has added Hummel, and infielder Zack Short via waivers while signing free agents Luis Severino, Joey Wendle and Austin Adams to one-year Major League contracts (a nonguaranteed split deal, in the case of Adams). He’s also inked righties Cole Sulser and Kyle Crick to minor league deals this week.

Many Mets fans had visions of larger dealings when owner Steve Cohen finally landed Stearns after years of coveting the former Milwaukee baseball operations leader and have instead voiced frustration at depth moves such as this one. However, the offseason is a marathon and the majority of the major names on the free agent and trade markets alike remain available. Beyond that, the Mets had a whopping 12 vacancies on the 40-man roster not long ago and have been burned by a lack of depth on the pitching front in recent years. The headline-grabbing moves for Mets fans figure to surface as the offseason wears on, but Stearns’ Brewers were also known for aggressively operating around the margins of the 40-man roster and that tendency will likely carry over to his still-nascent tenure in Queens.

Mariners Reinstate Sam Haggerty From 7-Day Concussion Injured List

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The Mariners reinstated utilityman Sam Haggerty from the seven-day concussion-related version of the injured list today, with catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Haggerty hit his head while trying to make a catch in Seattle’s 5-3 win over Colorado on April 14, and required a stint on the concussion IL while his symptoms cleared up.  The versatile Haggerty has appeared mostly as a second baseman in his eight games played this season, but his experience as a third baseman and at all three outfield positions makes him a key contributor off the Mariners’ bench.  The switch-hitter also delivered at the plate in 2022, hitting .256/.335/.403 with five homers over 201 plate appearances.  Haggerty is also 25-for-27 in stolen base chances over his five MLB seasons, and his baserunning skills could be even more valuable under the new rules in play for the 2023 campaign.

Hummel is off to a rough start, batting only .087/.192/.130 over his first 26 PA of the season.  With an interesting defensive skillset in his own right, Hummel has experience as an outfielder and catcher, though the Mariners have yet to use him as anything but an outfielder and DH thus far, as Cal Raleigh and Tom Murphy have been handling duties behind the plate.  The M’s acquired Hummel in an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks that saw Kyle Lewis dealt to Arizona in return.

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