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Tanner Tully

Guardians Designate Tanner Tully For Assignment

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The Guardians announced a couple of roster moves today, activating right-hander Carlos Vargas from the 60-day injured list and optioning him to Double-A Akron. To make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Tanner Tully has been designated for assignment.

Tully, 27, has been on and off the Guardians roster all year. He was first selected as a COVID substitute in April, being removed from the roster five days later. (COVID substitutes can be removed from rosters without being exposed to waivers.) He was selected to the roster in the more traditional sense in June, before being designated for assignment a couple of days later. A few days ago, he was selected back to the team but has now been DFA’d for a second time this season.

With all of that roster shuffling, he’s only been able to throw six MLB innings this year, his first taste of the majors. Though those innings came in three relief appearances with the Guardians, he’s been working as a starter in the minors. In 14 Triple-A starts this year, he’s thrown 76 1/3 innings with a 4.95 ERA, 51.4% ground ball rate, 16.9% strikeout rate and 3.3% walk rate.

The Guardians will have one week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. If he were to clear waivers, he would be eligible to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency by virtue of having previously been outrighted in his career.

Guardians Claim Kirk McCarty, Designate Alex Young

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The Guardians have claimed left-hander Kirk McCarty off waivers from the Orioles, according to an announcement from Baltimore. It’s a reversal of a transaction from just last week, when the O’s nabbed him from Cleveland. Mandy Bell of MLB.com relays a series of additional transactions for the Guardians (on Twitter). They’ve also selected the contract of southpaw Tanner Tully from Triple-A Columbus, placed starter Aaron Civale on the 15-day injured list with a sprained right wrist and designated lefty Alex Young for assignment. Additionally, outfielder Óscar Mercado has gone unclaimed on waivers and sent outright to Columbus.

McCarty has spent the bulk of his five-year professional career in the Cleveland system. A 7th-round pick in 2017, he reached the majors for the first time in April as a COVID replacement. The following month, the Guardians selected him permanently onto the 40-man roster, and he started two of his three big league appearances. McCarty allowed 13 runs in his first 12 MLB innings, and Cleveland designated him for assignment two weeks ago. Baltimore grabbed the Southern Miss product off waivers, but he made just one start for their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk before being taken off their 40-man roster earlier in the week.

Now that he’s been reclaimed by Cleveland, McCarty will resume his role as a depth swingman. He’s been optioned to Columbus, where he posted a 3.77 ERA with a modest 18.7% strikeout rate but a strong 7.1% walk percentage through 43 innings before his first DFA. He’ll no doubt hope to stick on the 40-man for a more extended stretch this time around. McCarty is only in his first minor league option year, so the Guardians can move him between Cleveland and Columbus for the next few years if he holds a 40-man spot.

Tully, an Ohio State product, has followed a similar path. First added to the roster as virus substitute, he was formally selected last month. Cleveland designated the former 26th-rounder for assignment a few days later, and he passed through waivers unclaimed. Tully has been hit hard in five MLB innings, but he’s been a strike-throwing rotation arm in Columbus.

Through 14 starts with the Clippers, the 27-year-old owns a 4.95 ERA. He’s only fanned 16.9% of batters faced, but he has a pristine 3.3% walk percentage and has induced grounders on over half the batted balls against him in the minors. Like McCarty, Tully has all three options remaining. He’ll join a rotation mix that has to navigate an injury to Civale, who left yesterday’s start against the White Sox early with wrist soreness. The club hasn’t provided a firm table for the righty’s return, but he’ll at least miss the next couple weeks.

It’s the second IL stint of the season for Civale, who has had a rough year even when able to take the mound. Through 12 starts, the 27-year-old sports a 6.17 ERA. That’s easily a career-worst and more than two runs higher than the 3.84 mark he put together through 124 1/3 innings last year. Civale’s strikeout and walk numbers are virtually unchanged relative to last season, but he’s seen a marked decrease in ground-balls and given up quite a bit more hard contact.

Young, meanwhile, loses his roster spot after a lone appearance as a Guardian. Cleveland selected the former Diamondback southpaw on July 3, and he recorded an out in a game against the Tigers a day later. He was promptly optioned back to Columbus and now will be made available to other teams. That’s in spite of his strong production with the Clippers, as Young owns a 3.77 ERA through 31 innings of relief. He’s punched out an excellent 35.9% of opponents, walked only 5.5% of hitters and racked up grounders at a 51.4% clip.

That stellar minor league showing could draw Young some attention from other clubs in the next week, as Cleveland will have to deal him or try to run him through waivers. The former second-round pick hasn’t had much big league success (4.90 ERA through 182 career innings), but he’s not yet arbitration-eligible and still in his second option year. Young has been outrighted in his career before, so he’d have the right to elect minor league free agency even if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

That isn’t the case for Mercado, who has never previously cleared waivers nor eclipsed three years of big league service time. He’ll have to accept an assignment to Columbus and hope to play his way back onto the roster before the end of the year. It’s at least a temporary end of a roster flux for Mercado, who’d been designated for assignment three times in fairly rapid succession. He was let go by Cleveland late last month, claimed off waivers by the Phillies, then brought back by the Guardians before being DFA again.

Mercado, 27, is still a strong defensive outfielder, but he’s run into marked offensive troubles since a solid rookie season in 2019. Over the past three years, he has a .200/.258/.330 line in 459 trips to the plate. The extent of those struggles eventually squeezed him off the roster. Mercado is out of options, so he first needed to clear waivers before he could be sent back to the minors. Now that he’s done so, he’ll get his first crack against Triple-A arms this year and try to right the ship.

Guardians Outright Tanner Tully

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The Guardians have outrighted left-hander Tanner Tully to Triple-A Columbus, tweets GuardsInsider. He’d been designated for assignment on Monday, just two days after being selected onto the roster.

Tully, 27, also saw brief major league action in April. That promotion came as a designated COVID-19 substitute, while he was added as a more traditional call-up over the weekend. The Ohio State product has made a pair of big league appearances, allowing four runs in five innings with five walks and a strikeout. He soaked up three innings out of the bullpen during Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox.

A former 26th-round pick, Tully will remain in the upper levels of the farm system. He’s never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an assignment, so he’ll head to Columbus. He’s spent much of the season there, making 12 starts and tossing 63 2/3 innings of 5.23 ERA ball. Tully only has a 14.9% strikeout rate at the minors highest level, but he’s walked a meager 3.5% of opponents and induced grounders on over the half the batted balls against him.

Guardians Select Tanner Tully

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The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tanner Tully. To create space on the active roster, right-hander Yohan Ramirez was optioned to Columbus. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy, thanks to Oscar Mercado being designated for assignment earlier this week.

This will be Tully’s second stint with the Guardians, though this one will be more official. As the club was dealing with a COVID outbreak in April, Tully was one of several players select to join the team and help fill in. Three days later, he was returned to the minors. As a COVID replacement player, Tully was deemed eligible to be removed from the 40-man roster without first being exposed to waivers.

Tully, 27, was able to make his MLB debut in that short window of time where he was on the roster. He made one appearance, logging two innings with one earned run. He’s been working out of the rotation in Triple-A, starting all 12 of his appearances. He’s thrown 63 2/3 Triple-A innings on the year with a 5.23 ERA. His 14.9% strikeout rate is well below average, but his 3.5% walk rate is quite good. He’ll likely be deployed as a long man out of the bullpen.

Guardians Promote Richie Palacios, Activate Luke Maile

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The Guardians announced they’ve recalled left fielder/second baseman Richie Palacios to make his major league debut. Cleveland also activated catcher Luke Maile from the 10-day injured list. In corresponding moves, backstop Bryan Lavastida was optioned to Triple-A Columbus, while left-hander Kirk McCarty was returned to the minors and removed from the 40-man roster.

Palacios was already on the 40-man, having been selected before Rule 5 protection day last November. A third-round pick out of Towson in 2018, the left-handed hitter has played his way up the minor league ladder with strong numbers at every stop. Palacios had a nice run in the low minors during his post-draft summer, but he missed the entire 2019 campaign after tearing the labrum in his shoulder. The canceled 2020 minors season cost him another year, but the Brooklyn native played his way onto the 40-man roster with an impressive showing last year.

Splitting the season between Double-A Akron and Columbus, Palacios hit .297/.404/.471 in 428 plate appearances. While he only hit seven home runs, he rapped 33 doubles and swiped 20 bases. As his excellent on-base percentage attests, Palacios drew walks in a robust 13.6% of his plate appearances against just a 16.4% strikeout rate. Baseball America named him the #14 prospect in a deep Guardians’ farm system this winter, praising his hit tool, plate discipline and gap power while noting some questions about his best defensive fit.

The Guardians signed Maile to a one-year deal over the winter to serve as the #2 backstop behind Austin Hedges. He missed the first few weeks of the year with a left hamstring strain, leading Cleveland to turn to the 23-year-old Lavastida for a brief first look. He collected just one hit and three walks in 15 plate appearances, but that was to be expected for a player with just 36 games above High-A coming into the year. Lavastida will have a chance to get more regular reps at Triple-A with Maile back to spell Hedges as needed.

McCarty, meanwhile, was selected to the majors as a COVID substitute last week. Cleveland was without Cal Quantrill, Owen Miller and Anthony Castro at the time, but Quantrill and Miller have since made it back. Tanner Tully, who had also been selected as a COVID replacement, was returned to Columbus over the weekend. Cleveland now has one open 40-man roster spot, but both Castro and Yu Chang remain on the COVID injured list and will have to be reinstated once healthy.

AL Central Notes: Guardians, Plesac, Quantrill, Tully, White Sox, Anderson

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White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has been served a one-game suspension for making an obscene gesture towards the fans at Progressive Field, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Anderson apologized for the gesture. He’s appealing as well, so the suspension will not occur right away. Let’s stay in Cleveland for a few other updates…

  • The Athletic’s Zack Meisel thinks the Guardians are probably done handing out extensions for now. Shane Bieber is the big name remaining without an extension, with Franmil Reyes often mentioned as another player on that hypothetical list, despite his slow start to the season. Both Bieber and Reyes are set to enter free agency following the 2024 season.
  • On another payroll note, starter Zach Plesac is making $2MM this season, despite still being a year shy of arbitration. The contract is the result of a league and union decision stemming from the Guardians’ treatment of Plesac after he violated the team’s COVID protocols in 2020. The Guardians can certainly afford the small bump in payroll, as they’re still well under $80MM in terms of total contributions for the season.
  • Cal Quantrill has been cleared to return from the COVID-19 list and he will start today’s ballgame, per Joe Trezza of MLB.com (via Twitter). Tanner Tully will head back to Triple-A to make room on the active roster, notes Meisel (via Twitter). Tully tossed two innings in last night’s loss, serving up one earned run on two hits and a walk.

Guardians Announce Several Roster Moves

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11:20am: Mandy Bell of MLB.com relays word from manager Terry Francona, who confirms that Quantrill, Miller and Castro are on the Covid-IL. Zack Meisel of The Athletic provides a quote from Francona, who says “I don’t know that we’re out of the woods yet. I hope we are, but I don’t know that that’s going to be the case. We’ll see.”

10:45am: The Guardians announced a series of transactions prior to today’s doubleheader against the White Sox, placing right-hander Cal Quantrill, infielder Owen Miller and righty Anthony Castro on the injured list. No designation was provided, likely indicating that all three are being placed on the Covid-related IL. In their place, Cleveland has selected the contracts of right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and lefties Kirk McCarty and Tanner Tully. Additionally, top shortstop prospect Gabriel Arias is up as the 29th man for today’s twin bill — as first reported last night by Andrea Alejandra Gil of Brujula Deportiva 106.3 FM in Maracay, Venezuela (Twitter link).

It’s not clear whether any of the players placed on the injured list today tested positive or have been deemed close contacts and thus require testing that leaves them unavailable for today’s games. The 2022 health and safety protocols jointly agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA technically call for a 10-day absence for players who test positive, but players are able to return more quickly than that — provided they receive a pair of negative PCR tests, show no signs of fever and are then subsequently approved by a team medical staffer and a joint committee of one MLB-appointed and one MLBPA-appointed medical expert. Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, for instance, returned to the team in less than half that 10-day window.

Of the players added to the big league roster today, only De Los Santos has prior MLB experience. A well-regarded prospect during his time with the Padres and the Phillies, De Los Santos debuted with Philadelphia in 2018 but has yet to carry his strong Triple-A production over to the big league level. He’s seen action in parts of three MLB seasons but carries a 6.06 ERA in 65 1/3 innings. De Los Santos has fanned 24% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate, but he’s also yielded an average of 1.9 homers per nine frames — far too many to succeed over any lengthy sample. He’s fared vastly better in Triple-A, where he sports a career 3.37 ERA in 237 2/3 innings and just 1.1 HR/9.

The 27-year-old Tully, meanwhile, was a 26th-rounder back in 2015 who posted a 3.50 ERA in 113 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year. He’s never posted particularly high strikeout or ground-ball rates, but Tully has walked only 4.5% of the hitters he’s faced in his pro career.

McCarty, 26, was Cleveland’s seventh-rounder back in 2017 and has gotten out to a fast start in Triple-A Columbus, holding opponents to one run on seven hits and five walks with a dozen punchouts through 11 1/3 innings. He was knocked around for a 5.01 ERA in 124 Triple-A frames a year ago.

As for Arias, the 22-year-old infielder is regarded as a potential key piece down the line for the Guardians. Acquired from the Padres (alongside Miller and Quantrill) in the trade that sent Mike Clevinger to San Diego, Arias entered the season ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at Baseball America (No. 100), MLB.com (No.  73), Baseball Prospectus (No. 57), FanGraphs (No. 95) and ESPN (No. 73).

Arias hit .284/.348/.454 with 13 home runs, 29 doubles, three triples and five steals in 483 trips to the plate last season, and he’s out to a near-identical start in 2022, hitting .278/.350/.472 in 40 plate appearances. He’s starting at second base in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader.

In all likelihood, it’ll be a one-day look for the highly touted Arias, but he’ll give Cleveland fans a brief glimpse of the future. The fact that he’s both on the 40-man roster and being considered for roles like this speak to his general proximity to MLB readiness, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he were to get a lengthier audition at some point in 2022. Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez are getting a good portion of the middle-infield time early in the season, but Rosario has at least some outfield experience and, of course, injuries are inevitable over the course of a 162-game schedule. Arias is one of many high-end middle infield prospects in the upper levels of the Cleveland system; Brayan Rocchio, Tyler Freeman and Jose Tena, among others, have all received a good bit of fanfare.

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