Oct. 28: The Cardinals have assigned Miller outright to Triple-A Memphis after he went unclaimed on waivers.

Oct. 25: The Cardinals are designating reliever Justin Miller for assignment, relays Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). The move was necessary to create space on the 40-man roster for Jordan Hicks, who is being reinstated from the 60-day injured list in a procedural move. Players must be activated off the 60-day IL before the start of the offseason.

St. Louis added Miller off waivers from the Nationals in early July. The 34-year-old tossed 16 innings of 4.50 ERA ball with the Cards down the stretch. Miller threw strikes at a solid rate but only struck out 13.2% of opposing hitters with a meager 9.3% swinging strike rate. A fly-ball pitcher, Miller allowed five homers in 19 innings split between Washington and St. Louis, although only two of those came in a Cardinal uniform.

Miller didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2020, but he appeared at the highest level in five of the six seasons from 2014-19. The right-hander posted big strikeout numbers with the 2015 Rockies and 2018 Nats, but he hasn’t been able to lock down a long-term bullpen role over the past few seasons due to inconsistent performance and injuries.

The Cardinals will place Miller on outright or release waivers in the coming days. Should he pass through unclaimed, he’d have the right to elect minor league free agency as a player who has previously been outrighted in his career.

The extent of Miller’s injury is not known at this time, though an elbow injury is always concerning for a pitcher. This will be his second trip to the IL this year, as he hit the shelf in August with right ulnar nerve irritation. The 34-year-old was claimed off waivers from the Nationals in July and has thrown 19 innings this year between the two clubs. Miller had a bloated ERA of 15.00 over a tiny three-inning sample with Washington but fared much better after swapping jerseys. In 16 innings with the Cardinals, he has an ERA of 4.50. With less than ten days remaining in the regular season, and the pitching staff recently being bolstered by the returns of Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson, it seems possible that Miller won’t return for the club this year. Though if he can return to health and the Cards go on a lengthy playoff run, they could circle back to him in the event of other injuries. He can be retained this offseason via arbitration but seems likely to be non-tendered.

The one bit of good news for the Cardinals in all this pertains to Edmundo Sosa. The shortstop was hit on the wrist by a pitch yesterday and immediately left the game. Manager Mike Shildt later told reporters, including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, that they couldn’t find evidence of a fracture and that Sosa would miss just a few days. The fact that he was not placed on the IL today suggests that estimate holds and that they don’t expect his absence to stretch into the postseason. The 25-year-old has been a pleasant surprise for the club this season, hitting .274/.348/.395. That adds up to a wRC+ of 106, his highest such mark at any level since a rookie ball stint back in 2017. Combined with quality defense, he’s been worth 1.8 wins above replacement this season, according to FanGraphs. The Cardinals can probably afford to be somewhat cautious with his recovery, given that they’re currently on an incredible 14-game winning streak, which has launched them into the final NL Wild Card spot, with a five-game cushion between them and their nearest competitors, the Phillies.

Paul DeJong should slot into short in Sosa’s place, for the time being. The 28-year-old’s bat has slipped a bit in recent years. From 2017 to 2019, he slashed .251/.318/.467, for a wRC+ of 108. But over 2020 and 2021, he’s hitting just .215/.299/.378, wRC+ of 88. Though thanks to good defensive numbers, he’s still been worth 2.1 fWAR in that time. DeJong is under contract through 2023, with a pair of club options for 2024 and 2025. The emergence of Sosa, who will have five years of control after this one, could give the club a surplus from which to trade. But Sosa has also played some second and third base this season, perhaps allowing the Cards to keep both and maintain flexibility.

Miller, 34, had trouble getting anyone out in his last appearance with the Nationals, turning a 5-0 relaxer into a bit of a nail-biter against the Mets. He gave up a two-run homer to Pete Alonso, followed by a solo shot to Billy McKinney. Kevin Pillar yanked another potential homer foul, but Miller recovered to strike him out.

Despite some rough outings this season, Miller has been a productive member of the bullpen in years past. He owns a 4.63 career ERA in 159 1/3 innings with the Nationals, Rockies, and Tigers. He’s a fastball/slider guy who hasn’t had much life on the heater of late. All three home runs he gave up this season came on the four-seamer — averaging 93 mph, down just a touch from where it usually sits.

Ramirez, 26, made just one appearance for the Cardinals. He faced four batters, gave up one hit and two walks while tagged for three earned runs. Ramirez has options remaining, so he can be moved freely between Triple-A and the Majors without being exposed to waivers.

Scherzer was forced out of his start on Friday night in the first inning with the groin issue. He downplayed the injury after his start, but he’ll apparently still need some time on the IL to recover. The team didn’t announce an initial timetable for his return.

The 36-year-old Scherzer has been his usual incredible self this season. Through 77 1/3 innings, he’s worked to a pristine 2.21 ERA/2.67 SIERA, striking out a stellar 36% of opposing hitters while walking only 5.2%. Even a minimal IL stint is a tough blow to the 28-35 Nats, who sit in fourth place in the National League East. After wrapping up a series with the Pirates tomorrow, Washington will kick off a run of eleven consecutive games against divisional foes (including five meetings with the division-leading Mets).

If Washington doesn’t get back on track, Scherzer’s name figures to surface in plenty of trade speculation in the coming weeks. He’s slated to hit free agency at the end of the season, and there’d be plenty of demand from contenders for one of the top pitchers in the game. There’s no indication today’s IL stint will last long enough to jeopardize his potential trade candidacy, although it’s still unclear if the team would make him available. Moving star players midseason hasn’t traditionally been the Nationals style, but there’s a case they should listen to offers on Scherzer if they don’t close the division gap in the coming weeks. Having previously received a qualifying offer in his career (back in 2014 from the Tigers), Scherzer is ineligible to be tagged with a QO this winter. Thus, the Nationals could stand to lose him for no compensation if they don’t move him this summer.

Miller makes his way back to Washington for the first time in two years. The righty looked to have broken out with a strong 2018 season in the Nats bullpen, when he tossed 52 1/3 frames of 3.61 ERA/3.34 SIERA ball. A pair of IL stints the following season knocked him off course, though, and his strikeout rate plummeted from 27.9% in 2018 to 16.9% in 2019. The Nationals outrighted him off the 40-man roster that season.

The 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays over the 2019-20 offseason. He wound up traded to the Reds but didn’t make it onto either club’s 40-man roster. Miller elected minor league free agency and re-signed with the Nationals this March. He’s been nothing short of dominant this year with Triple-A Rochester. Over 16 1/3 innings, Miller’s allowed just a single earned run, striking out 29 of the 62 batters he’s faced (46.8%) while walking just four.

Like Miller, Armenteros has spent the entire season at Triple-A. He’s been far less successful, though, pitching to a 5.83 ERA with an average 23.1% strikeout rate but an elevated 14.2% walk percentage. Washington will now have a week to trade or waive the 26-year-old, whom they claimed from the Diamondbacks last December. Armenteros was once a decently regarded prospect in the Astros system and still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a rival club that needs rotation depth acquire him in a small transaction.

There’s familiarity between Washington and Miller, who pitched for the team from 2018-19. He fared quite well in the first of those seasons, in which he gave the Nationals 52 1/3 innings of 3.61 ERA/3.34 SIERA ball with quality strikeout and walk rates of 27.9 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Miller was unable to replicate that performance during the Nationals’ World Series-winning 2019 campaign, though, owing in part to shoulder troubles. He totaled 15 2/3 frames, recorded a 4.02 ERA/5.46 SIERA and experienced a severe drop in strikeout percentage (16.9) before his season ended in mid-May.

The 33-year-old Miller, also a former Tiger and Rockie, spent time with the Blue Jays and Reds organizations last season. He didn’t appear in the majors with either team.

Miller, whom the Blue Jays signed to a minor league contract last winter, had been at their alternate training site. The former Tiger, Rockie and National, 33, has recorded a 4.43 ERA/4.35 FIP with 9.15 K/9 and 3.11 BB/9 over 156 1/3 innings in the majors. He most recently tossed 15 2/3 frames as a Nat in 2019 and logged a 4.02 ERA (with a disastrous 7.11 FIP), posted 6.11 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, and registered a career-worst 19.1 percent groundball rate.

Miller, 32, has the most notable recent experience at the MLB level among the newly known signees. He spent the 2018-19 seasons pitching out of the Nationals’ bullpen and looked to be a savvy bargain find in the first of those two campaigns. The 2018 season saw Miller work to a 3.61 ERA with 10.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 33.6 percent ground-ball rate. He was prone to home runs (1.72 HR/9), but Miller’s ability to miss bats and limit walks allowed him to produce a rather solid season.

Things went south in 2019, as Miller’s already homer-prone arsenal was clobbered among a leaguewide home-run surge; in 15 2/3 innings he posted a 4.02 ERA but a 7.11 FIP thanks to five home runs allowed. Those 2019 struggles notwithstanding, Miller has averaged better than a strikeout per inning in 156 1/3 MLB frames.

Aumont, 30, was also in the Jays’ system back in 2015. The Gatineau, Quebec native spent the 2019 season pitching with the Ottawa Champions of the independent Canadian-American Association, where he logged a 2.65 ERA with a scintillating 145-to-23 K/BB ratio in 118 2/3 innings (18 starts). He’s struggled mightily in 43 2/3 MLB innings but has averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. Walks have previously been an issue for him, but his control was exceptional in ’19. Aumont has worked for more as a reliever than a starter in his professional career, but perhaps the Jays could utilize him as rotation depth this time around.

Kivlehan, 30 later this month, had a productive season between Toronto’s Double-A and Triple-A clubs in 2019, so it’s not a surprise that they opted to bring him back. He’s a career .208/.302/.401 hitter in 242 MLB plate appearances but a .262/.325/.480 hitter in his Triple-A career. He has experience at all four corner positions.

Burns, another familiar face for Toronto fans, followed up a nice two-year run in the KBO from 2017-18 with a .275/.364/.470 showing with the Jays’ Triple-A club in Buffalo in 2019. With the exception of that two-year stint in South Korea, Burns has spent his entire career in the Blue Jays organization.

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 Nationals designated the right-handed Miller for assignment on Monday, but it didn’t free up a 40-man roster spot because he was already on the 60-day injured list. Shoulder problems have kept the 32-year-old off a major league mound since May 17. In the 15 2/3 innings Miller has thrown this season, he has worked to a 4.02 ERA with 6.32 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a microscopic 19.1 percent groundball rate.

Miller was healthier and more effective in 2018, his first season with the Nationals, as he pitched to a 3.61 ERA with 10.32 K/9, 2.92 BB/9 and a 33.6 percent grounder rate in 52 1/3 frames. The Nationals would have signed up for more of that this year during what has been a trying season for their bullpen. They addressed the unit before Wednesday’s trade deadline by acquiring Roenis Elias, Hunter Strickland and Daniel Hudson.

Miller, 32, was working back from shoulder issues. Though he was ready to be activated, the club obviously decided that he wasn’t going to be a significant part of the relief mix going forward. The unit has struggled badly as a whole, but is likely going to receive reinforcements in the next two days.

It’s still possible that Miller will end up clearing waivers and landing at Triple-A with the Nats, though he’d have the right to elect free agency instead. He had a strong comeback showing last year in D.C., but never got things going this season.

To open the current campaign, Miller threw 15 2/3 innings of 4.02 ERA ball with 11 strikeouts and four walks. He did rack up 18 strikeouts without a single free pass in his 12 2/3 total rehab frames, but evidently the Nats did not expect that to carry over into the majors.

As anticipated, the D.C. organization has also selected the contract of righty Michael Blazek. To create a 40-man opening, reliever Justin Miller was shifted to the 60-day injured list.

In other roster tweaks, the Nats have recalled outfielder Andrew Stevenson. To open the additional active roster spot, right-hander Kyle McGowin was optioned down.

Zimmerman already missed a lengthy stretch owing to the nagging foot issue. The 34-year-old has endured a rough campaign when he has been available, though he had been on a nice run this month. It seems Zimmerman will look to let the flare-up die down and return to action once he’s able to tolerate the pain, as Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic tweets. It stands to reason that Matt Adams will pick up the bulk of the playing time while Zimmerman is down, with Howie Kendrick likely stepping in against lefties.

As for Blazek, he’s now formally back in the bigs for the first time since 2017. He has a solid 28:10 K/BB ratio in 26 Triple-A innings, but has also coughed up 16 earned runs in that span. With the Nats continuing to search far and wide for passable relief pitching, they’ll give the 30-year-old a shot to get his career back on track. Blazek owns a 4.39 ERA through 123 career MLB innings.

Robles – whose 22nd birthday is tomorrow – joins a long list of injured Nats this season, most notably Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner, who also missed time this season after being hit by pitches. As a team, Washington has been plunked 22 times season – or about once every other game – tied with the Twins for 4th most in the league.

The timing is a particular bummer for the Nationals, who just got Turner back from injury last night for the first time since the season’s first week. Robles has been one of the more consistent performers for a disappointing Nats offense, hitting .255/.302/.465 with a team-leading eight long balls and eight stolen bases. The approach is lacking at times, he continues to be frustratingly bunt-happy, and more than once mental mistakes on the basepaths have demonstrated his youth and put him on the wrong end of the highlight reel. Still, the Nationals need Robles healthy if they are going to turn things around this season. Michael A. Taylor can replace him defensively, but Michael A. is lost at the plate and there’s not another natural replacement on the 40-man roster (not with Andrew Stevenson also on the IL). The Nats could use Adam Eaton in center with Gerardo Parra and Howie Kendrick seeing more time in the outfield.

Further adding to the injury ledger, Justin Miller appears headed to the injured list for the second time this season with a rotator cuff strain (per Dybas). Miller has pitched well in stretches across 17 appearances this season, going 1-0 with a 4.02 ERA. The ERA may be buoyed by a .256 BABIP, as FIP paints a decidedly different picture for the bearded righty (7.01 FIP). His fastball has been down a tick at 92.2mph from 93.9 mph last year, though his back pain early in the season – and the current shoulder strain – certainly deserve consideration as part of that story. More to the point for Miller, he has struggled to keep the ball on the ground or in the park (2.87 HR/9, 19 GB%), as was the case last night when he surrendered the first of Kris Bryant’s three home runs.

Despite continued struggles from the bullpen ahead of Sean Doolittle, major personnel changes do not appear in the offing, per MLB.com’s Jamal Collier. With Erick Fedde likely ticketed for the rotation at least for a start, they’ll need another arm in the bullpen as early as before tonight’s game. In a perfect world, Trevor Rosenthal would be ready to contribute, but as Collier notes, his wildness has continued during a rehab stint with Double-A Harrisburg, and it’s hard to imagine trusting him with major league innings at this juncture. Per Mick Reinhard, the host of @MinorConvsPod (via Twitter), Rosenthal pitched on third of an inning in his last outing, giving up one hit, walking one, and throwing two pitches to the backstop. Austin Voth, Tanner Rainey and James Bourque are the most likely 40-man candidates to take Miller’s roster spot.

Earlier today, president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com; Twitter link) that Rosenthal has been dealing with a stomach malady that had spurred significant weight loss and muscle fatigue. After a trip to the doctor today, the decision was made to place him on the IL.

It’d be foolish to pretend that the 28-year-old’s issues on the mound aren’t a factor here, too. He has managed to secure only nine outs in seven appearances, coughing up a dozen earned runs on seven hits and nine walks while recording three strikeouts. Though he’s sitting just below 99 mph with his fastball, Rosenthal is missing the zone far more often than he’s accustomed to and is failing entirely to entice opposing hitters to chase his offspeed offerings.

The Nats have activated Justin Miller from his own IL stint to take the active roster spot. They’ll hope that he can sort things out after a rocky start to the year and help settle a tumultuous relief corps.

Having bought some breathing room for Rosenthal, the organization can then get to work on trying to straighten him out as well. He inked a $7MM deal before the season after missing all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Here’s some more injury news from around the league…

• Wade LeBlanc left during the fifth inning of last night’s game due to right oblique strain, and the Mariners southpaw is likely headed to the injured list.  (MLB.com’s Greg Johns was among those with the details.)  Tommy Milone or possibly Justus Sheffield seem like the top candidates to replace LeBlanc in Seattle’s rotation, though nothing will be confirmed until LeBlanc undergoes an MRI today to access the damage.  The 34-year-old LeBlanc has been a solid arm for the M’s since rejoining the team on a minor league deal in March 2018, posting a 3.79 ERA while starting 30 of 35 games.  This success resulted in an option-heavy extension between LeBlanc and the Mariners last July.
• Blue Jays righty Ryan Borucki’s bothersome elbow will be re-evaluated in two weeks after the hurler received a cortisone shot, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes.  Borucki first experienced the problem in the final week of Spring Training, and hasn’t thrown since a bullpen session on April 3.
• In other Blue Jays injury news from Davidi’s piece, Ryan Tepera has begun a rehab assignment and could potentially join the team as early as this weekend, as the reliever tries to bounce back from his own elbow problems.  David Phelps is set to begin bullpen sessions next week as the reliever continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery, with an eye towards a midseason return.  Devon Travis is scheduled for baseball activities next week, though a 60-day IL placement in the wake of meniscus surgery means that Travis isn’t eligible to return to the Jays’ big league roster until late May.

Miller enjoyed a solid season with the Rockies in 2015 (4.05 ERA, 38 strikeouts, 11 walks in 33 1/3 innings), but he has little Major League track record outside of that, owning a lifetime 4.99 ERA in 88 1/3 big league frames. That said, one would be hard pressed to suggest that the journeyman is anything less than wholly deserving a promotion to the Majors based on his utter dominance at the game’s top minor league level this season. In 13 2/3 innings with Syracuse, Miller is unscored upon and has turned in a ridiculous 23-to-3 K/BB ratio with a 45 percent grounder rate.

[Related: Washington Nationals depth chart]

Miller’s heater sat in the 93-94 mph range in his previous stints with the Rockies from 2015-16, though Janes notes that his velocity has trended up in the minors this season. And even if he’s struggled to prevent runs in the Majors to this point in his career, he’s never had much issue in the way of missing bats. Miller posted a 13.5 percent swinging-strike rate in that aforementioned 2015 season and carries a career 10.5 percent mark in that regard during his limited MLB time.

The Nats are currently carrying a seven-man bullpen, so the arrival of Miller will push the team to an eight-deep relief corps. He’ll join closer Sean Doolittle and a bullpen unit that also consists of Brandon Kintzler, Shawn Kelley, Sammy Solis, Tim Collins, Trevor Gott and Wander Suero for the time being.