To The DL
Orioles placed OF Cedric Mullins on the DL with a hamstring, the second time this season he has tweaked it. He is a speedy center fielder who has been able to pair speed with a .543 slugging percentage and is hitting .318 in Double-A. He’s only gone 5-9 in stolen bases this year, likely the result of his nagging hamstring injury.
Though yesterday was a good day for the Chicago White Sox, RHP Zack Burdi was not celebrating as he was placed on the DL. In 33 1/3 innings of work, the 22-year-old has struck out 51 batters to 17 walks to a 1.42 DRA in Triple-A. He is the brother of Twins RHP Nick Burdi, who is out for a while with TJS.
Mets placed RHP Jordan Humphreys on the DL with…Sorry, folks. I had one look on him, his June 23rd start where he basically threw fastballs his first time through the line up resulting in liners and flyballs everywhere. An anomaly of a start where he clearly was working on fastball command, that showed poor, I will wait on my next look to give you a better look. Stay tuned.
Mets also placed C Ali Sanchez on the DL who has a plus arm, good feel for the position and a lot of weak contact, for an ISO of .034 this 2017 season in A-ball.
Padres CF Michael Gettys was placed on the DL with an undisclosed injury. He was slashing .262/.333/.430 in 81 games in High-A.
After getting called up and in his first Double-A game, Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith is on the DL. He had been hit by a pitch twice in the July 10th game before being removed in the eighth. Dodgers also placed CF Yusniel Diaz on the DL. You can read Wilson Karaman’s report on him here.
Florida Fire Frogs placed LHP Drew Harrington on the DL for an injury undisclosed.
Yankees placed RHP Ronald Herrera on the DL. 40-man’d this past offseason, he debuted this year, just under a month ago against the LA Angels.
Off the DL
Tigers RHP Spencer Turnbull was activated from the DL, producing one of his better game scores this year, 64, tied for second. Against Daytona Tortugas, a lineup that is now without Senzel, LaValley and Long, he pitched five innings, striking out five, walking none and permitting two hits as well as letting only one of them score.
Rays 3B Kevin Padlo was activated from the DL. The 20-year-old was rehabbing with the GCL Rays last week for an undisclosed injury, and had been out since May 3rd.
Blue Jays C Max Pentecost has been activated off the DL. He was dealing with a back injury.
Yankees SS Kyle Holder was activated from the High-A roster. I profiled him when I shared his move to the DL, which you can read here. You can also read Steve Givarz’s scouting report on him here.
Phew, Cardinals RHP Junior Fernandez is off the DL. Unsure on the reason for the initial transaction onto the DL, though another pitcher RHP Derian Gonzalez was consequently placed on the DL. These moves suggest an innings limit move. Nonetheless, all is good in Cardinal Country.
D-Backs SS Domingo Leyba has been activated, spending the minimum seven days.
Up the Ladder
Cardinals 2B Darren Seferina was promoted to Double-A Springfield. A Curacao native drafted from Miami-Dade Community College in 2014, Seferina is a small, agile defender with a slick glove, solid arm (for second), 70 speed (multiple 4.01-4.05 home-to-first times), minimal pop, and solid bat-to-ball skills. Seferina tends to look outpitched and chase—20.1 percent strike out percentage in High-A. When everything is right, his light bat projects to be usable in an emergency capacity valuing the glove before the bat at second.
The Cardinals also promoted 2015 supplemental pick RHP Jordan Hicks from Low-A to High-A. He pitched in Wednesday’s game to a line of five innings, five hits, three earned runs, one walk and seven strikeouts against a very bad Jupiter team.
Staying in the Cards system, OF Johnathon Machado was activated from his suspension. Reason unknown, but he did register two hits in his first pro game this season. As for his compadre, SS Delvin Perez, well, continue reading below.
Dodgers promoted 1B/LF Edwin Rios and RHP Yaisel Sierra from Tulsa, Double-A to Oklahoma City, Triple-A. Rios was the Dodgers’s Minor League PoY last season, and has continued his success this year. In Double-A, he slashed .317/.358/.533 with 15 home runs, 21 doubles, 17 walks, and 69 strikeouts over 77 games. He has continued to mash, recording his first Triple-A homer in his second game.
As for Sierra, he is a 2016 Cuban international signee with a contract worth $30 million over six years. Outside of the signing, it was a difficult year for him. He was outrighted last year from the 40-man and his results as a starter were poor, pitching to a 5.89 ERA over 88 innings in both High-A and Double-A. This season, however, the Dodgers continued his usage from the ‘pen and have been rewarded. Over 49.2 innings facing 211 batters, he’s struck out 64 batters, walked 16 and permitted 14 earned runs resulting in a 2.54 ERA and 2.04 DRA. So yes, Sierra earned the bump to Triple-A, and maybe a roster spot?
Dodgers also promoted C Keibert Ruiz to High-A. A guy I had not heard about, but someone I will remember moving forward (how many Keibert’s do you know?). He slashed .317/.372/.423 in 235 at-bats. The soon-to-be-19-year-old has thrown out 21 percent of base runners across both A-ball and High-A. Keibert’s move was in response to C Will Smith’s move to Double-A. The 2016 first-rounder slashed .232/.357/.393 with 11 homers and 71 strikeouts in 72 games.
Staying on the West Coast, Padres promoted 1B Josh Naylor and RHP Cal Quantrill to Double-A. Both players appeared in the Futures Game this past Sunday. Naylor hit the rocket to Brendan Rodgers and showed poor running ability. Quantrill, on the other hand, did not do so hot, letting up two runs and two hits with one walk.
I have not written much about the Angels, but here Angels fans, we finally have one: 1B Matt Thaiss was promoted to the Double-A Mobile BayBears. For a first baseman, his numbers are quite a…yawn, slashing .265/.353/.399. Yes, the OBP is nice, but for a first baseman drafted 16th overall, I expected more offense, especially while in the hitter friendly California League.
In an interesting move, Blue Jays moved SS Lourdes Gurriel from High-A to Double-A. This one perplexes me, as he is slashing .197/.217/.245 with a .845 fielding percentage.
Braves continue to be aggressive in their assignments. They promoted 19-year-old Ronald Acuna from Double-A to Triple-A. The dude spent 57 games in Double-A, and absolutely earned the promotion by slashing .326/.374/.520 with nine home runs and 56 strikeouts.
They also promoted both 1B/OF Tyler Neslony and 3B Austin Riley from High-A to Double-A. I raved about Riley, here and here. The hit tool is shaky, but there is athleticism to believe that he will figure it out. As for Neslony, he slashed .309/.378/.442 in 67 games, hitting four home runs and 17 doubles to 22 walks and 43 strikeouts.
Staying in the NL East, Phillies promoted RHP Trevor Bettencourt. He only gets a mention because Jeffrey Paternosto likes him enough to be mentioned. To note, the 2016 25th rounder has struck out 55 guys in 35.2 innings of work to five walks.
Tigers promoted LHP Jairo Labourt to Triple-A from Double-A. Mark Anderson and I highlighted Labourt, with Mark’s Eyewitness report here and my Monday Morning Ten Pack here. Hi, Steve.
Astros promoted RHP Franklin Perez to Double-A. Our guys love Perez, and after reading this scouting report you might, too. Cuban LHP Cionel Perez was promoted from to High-A. Initially signing for $5.15 million, that was later reneged because of medical (yes, we have heard of this before) to the tune of $2 million and a 40-man roster position, Perez expressed frustration, which was written about in detail here.
Arizona D-Backs LHP Jared Miller was promoted to Triple-A, Reno. Aside from looking like Kenny Powers in the Fall League last year, Miller throws strikes and gets outs with some deception, average fastball and fringy off-speed. He will not overwhelm hitters, but can be a serviceable middle reliever.
Some 2017 Draft assignments:
Cubs assigned RHP Jeffrey Passantino to the AZL Cubs, Rookie Ball. Passantino is 2017’s Mr. Irrelevant, and also featured in this article by Jeff Passan because of the similarity in name—Passan vs. Passantino.
Athletics assigned LHP Jared Poche and RF Greg Deichmann to the Vermont Lake Monsters, Short-Season A. Poche in his first pro appearance, pitched two innings, allowing three hits to two k’s.
Brewers assigned 1B KJ Harrison to the Helena Brewers, Short-Season A.
Rays assigned 1B/LHP Brendan McKay to Hudson Valley, Short-Season A.
Brewers also assigned OF Tristen Lutz to the AZL Brewers, Rookie Ball.
Tigers assigned RHP Alex Faedo to the GCL Tigers, Rookie Ball.
Marlins assigned LHP Trevor Rogers to the GCL Marlins, Rookie Ball.
2017 White Sox first and second rounder 3B Jake Burger and 1B Gavin Sheets joins the Kannapolis Intimidators from the AZL White Sox, which sets up the next segment.
The Chi-town Trade assignments:
Every player stayed in their same talent level. RHP Dylan Cease to Kannapolis Intimidators, Low-A and 1B Matt Rose, 2B Bryant Flete and RF Eloy Jimenez to Winston-Salem Dash, High-A. You can read about the transaction here.
Down the Chutes
With these trade assignments, one player bit the dust: 1B Telvin Nash. A third-round selection by the then NL Astros in the 2009 draft, the 26-year-old peaked in Double-A.
Phillies demoted RHP Will Hibbs from High-A Clearwater to A-ball. Having been roughed up in five games, to a 7.88 ERA, the 6’7 245 reliever returns to where he was Mr. Reliable and successfully closing games, Lakewood to work on some things, like his control.
Also demoted was RHP Trevor Richards in the Marlins system. An Indy ball sign, he fared well in his exposure to Southern League hitters. His 3.43 DRA was acceptable in 23.2 IP over four games started. This move is likely not permanent.
Cardinals moved RHP Zac Gallen from Triple-A to Double-A because of Luke Weaver’s option from the major league club. Holding his own against guys more than half a decade older, to a 3.26 DRA over three starts, this will not be the last time he is in Memphis.
Delvin Perez, I want you to be good, (so continue to make over-the-back catches, throw lasers to first, and hit game winning sac flies) but you can’t be good throwing tantrums and getting into arguments with your coaches. I wrote about Perez earlier this year. No surprise that his success is contingent on staying off the suspended list and maturing.
Thank you for reading
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