RosterResource Roundup: April 2-3

by
April 4, 2024

Below you’ll find a roundup of notable moves and roster notes from the past two days, as well as future expected moves and a Minor League Report, which includes a list of recent major league debuts and top prospect promotions. For this column, any lineup regulars, starting pitchers, or late-inning relievers are considered “notable,” meaning that middle relievers, long relievers, and bench players are excluded. You can always find a full list of updated transactions here.

RosterResource News: Last week, we moved our RosterResource pages into regular season mode and introduced a new feature that allows you to view all 30 projected lineups (vs RHP and vs LHP) on one page.

Lineup Regulars

Arizona Diamondbacks
•SS Geraldo Perdomo left Wednesday’s game due to knee discomfort. He’s considered day-to-day.

Even if Perdomo misses a few games, it could give rookie Blaze Alexander a chance to show what he can do at the shortstop position. With top prospect Jordan Lawlar sidelined indefinitely after thumb surgery, the window for someone other than Perdomo to play shortstop has widened a bit.

The 24-year-old Alexander has made four starts, all against lefties, while serving as the designated three times and playing second base in his latest start. He hit his first major league homer against Carlos Rodón on Wednesday and is off to a 5-for-12 start following an impressive spring (22-for-55, 2 HR, 5 SB). He’s played mostly shortstop in the minors and is considered a good defender with an above-average throwing arm.

Roster/Depth Chart  |  Playing Time Projections

Los Angeles Dodgers
•OF Jason Heyward (lower back tightness) placed on 10-Day IL; OF Taylor Trammell claimed off waivers from Mariners.

Trammell was claimed as insurance for Heyward, who had been out of action since Saturday because of back discomfort. Had Heyward not needed an IL stint, it’s possible that the Dodgers would’ve put the out-of-options Trammell right back on waivers. Realistically, Gavin Lux is their only optionable player and they weren’t likely to demote him after 27 plate appearances.

Thus, it’s possible that they see Trammell as someone they hope to get through waivers at some point in order to keep him in Triple-A and find out if they can unlock some of his potential. Or they could throw him right into the fire and give him regular at-bats against right-handed pitching. They faced a lefty on Wednesday — Chris Taylor started in left field — but the 26-year-old could get a start on Friday against Kyle Hendricks.

Roster/Depth Chart  |  Playing Time Projections

Pittsburgh Pirates
•C Joey Bart acquired from San Francisco Giants for SP Austin Strickland; C Jason Delay (knee inflammation) placed on 10-Day IL.

With Yasmani Grandal currently sidelined due to plantar fasciitis and not expected to return anytime soon, the Pirates should get a pretty good look at the one-time “Catcher of the Future” for the Giants. In the one big league season (2022) when he received a good amount of playing time, Bart had a .660 OPS, 11 HR, 26 BB, and 112 K in 291 plate appearances. Not great, but probably enough to earn another opportunity in 2023. He was hurt most of the season, though, and once again struggled at the plate when he did play. Out of options and behind Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy on the depth chart, the writing was on the wall.

The 27-year-old could get his first start as early as Thursday in Washington or sometime this weekend in Pittsburgh versus the Orioles.

Roster/Depth Chart  |  Playing Time Projections

Texas Rangers
•3B Josh Jung underwent surgery on his fractured wrist and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.

Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran are likely to platoon at the hot corner while Jung is out — Smith started at 3B on Tuesday; Duran played there on Wednesday — with the recently-promoted Justin Foscue also an option. If the Rangers are unable to get much production out of that group, it’s possible that Davis Wendzel could get a look. The 26-year-old shortstop/third baseman had an .838 OPS and 30 homers in Triple-A last season. Click HERE for a scouting report.

Roster/Depth Chart  |  Playing Time Projections

 

Washington Nationals
•CF Victor Robles (hamstring) will likely be placed on the 10-Day IL.

Robles exited Wednesday’s game in the second inning after injuring his hamstring while running the bases. No official word, but he could be out for at least the next 10 days.

While the expectation is that Dylan Crews and James Wood will reach the majors at some point in 2024, Alex Call or Jacob Young are more likely to get the call this early in the season to fill Robles’ spot as a fourth outfielder/platoon versus lefties. Eddie Rosario has been playing CF versus right-handers.

Roster/Depth Chart  |  Playing Time Projections

Starting Pitching

Chicago Cubs
•Jameson Taillon is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday.

After a disastrous MLB debut over the weekend, Ben Brown bounced back with a terrific performance as the team’s bulk pitcher on Wednesday (4 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K). That should be enough to lock him into his first big league start next Tuesday at San Diego. Or, at the least, he could pitch after an opener again.

If all goes well with Taillon, he could join the rotation as early as next weekend in Seattle or possibly after a second rehab start.

Roster/Depth Chart

Houston Astros
•Justin Verlander is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday.

It sounds as if the 41-year-old will need at least two rehab starts before he returns from the 15-Day IL.

That would put him on target, if he pitches every fifth day, to make his 2024 debut on April 17 versus the Braves. If they want to give him a bit more rest, he could debut during the weekend series (April 19-21) on the road against the Nationals.

Roster/Depth Chart

New York Mets
•Julio Teheran agreed to 1-yr, $2.5MM contract.

Already down two starters — Tylor Megill and Kodai Senga are on the 15-Day IL — the Mets added the veteran Teheran to help out as they begin a challenging stretch of 14 games over the next 13 days.

José Buttó will start game two of tomorrow’s double-header and then the 33-year-old Teheran should slot in sometime over the following five days, possibly against his former team, the Braves, in Atlanta where he pitched for nine seasons. While in spring camp on a minor league deal with the Orioles, he finished strong with a pair of four-inning starts on March 17 and March 23 while allowing only one run. He might not be prepared to pitch more than five innings, but he should be pretty close.

Roster/Depth Chart  |  Payroll

 

Click HERE to view our Starting Pitcher Probables Grid.

 

Late-Inning Relievers

Chicago White Sox
As was anticipated, Michael Kopech got the first save chance for the White Sox on Tuesday. And he had to work very hard for his first MLB save. Facing the Braves, he entered with a two-run lead, one out, and two runners on in the 8th. He quickly loaded the bases with a walk, but got Austin Riley to hit into an inning-ending double play. After allowing a solo homer to Marcell Ozuna in the 9th, he allowed two more baserunners to reach before finally closing out the victory on his 39th pitch.

It’s unlikely that the White Sox will be stringing together too many victories, so multi-inning save chances could be a common occurrence for Kopech in 2024.

Roster/Depth Chart

Kansas City Royals
After picking up his first save on Tuesday when he closed out a 4-1 win over the Orioles, Will Smith got his first blown save on Wednesday. Given only a one-run margin to work with this time, the 34-year-old lefty walked the leadoff man to start things off. Anthony Santander followed with a single and both runners advanced to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Three batters later, with the bases loaded and two outs, James McCann delivered a walk-off two-run single.

That makes two really bad outings out of three for Smith — he allowed four earned runs (IP, 2 H, 2 BB) in Saturday’s game against the Twins. His long track record of success and a few shaky outings from James McArthur, who was so dominant as the Royals’ closer to finish last season (16.1 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 19 K, 4 Sv, 2 Holds in last 12 appearances), make it less likely that any change will happen so quickly. But if McArthur can regain the form that made him so effective last September, he could quickly regain the closer’s gig.

Roster/Depth Chart

Milwaukee Brewers
Abner Uribe has taken a hold of the closer’s job, but he’ll be without one of his top setup men, Trevor Megill, for at least the next few games as he landed on the 7-Day IL with a concussion. The Brewers’ other setup man, Joel Payamps, couldn’t hold a 3-1 lead over the Twins on Wednesday, allowing four runs in the 7th inning and picking up a blown save and loss.

Roster/Depth Chart

San Diego Padres
Robert Suarez picked up his 3rd save in three chances on Wednesday. The good news is that he now has a 4-out save and a 5-out save, something that wasn’t possible with last year’s closer, Josh Hader, who had limited himself to one-inning stints. The bad news is that the rest of the Padres’ bullpen seems to be highly unreliable. It could be a tough task to get Suarez a lead very often or to close out a game when he is unavailable, which will be often if he’s pitching more than one inning at a time.

Roster/Depth Chart

 

Click HERE to view our Closer Depth Chart.

 

Minor League Report

Major League Debuts 

  • Ryan Fernandez, RP, St. Louis Cardinals: IP, 0 R, H, BB, 3 K  4/3/24
  • Jorge Barrosa, PH, Arizona Diamondbacks: 1-for-1, 2B  4/1/24
  • Shota Imanaga, SP, Chicago Cubs: 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 9 K, W  4/1/24
  • Nick Avila, RP, San Francisco Giants: 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K  4/1/24
  • Matt Sauer, RP, Kansas City Royals: IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, K  3/31/24
  • Kai-Wei Teng, RP, San Francisco Giants: 3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K  3/31/24
  • Justin Slaten, RP, Boston Red Sox: 0 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 0 K  3/30/24
  • Ben Brown, RP, Chicago Cubs: 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, K  3/30/24
  • Jordan Leasure, RP, Chicago White Sox: IP, 0 R, H, BB, K, Hold  3/30/24
  • Cade Smith, RP, Cleveland Guardians: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 5 K  3/30/24
  • Oliver Dunn, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers: 1-for-4, K  3/30/24
  • Austin Martin, PR, Minnesota Twins: 0-for-0  3/30/24
  • Jared Jones, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates: 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 K, W  3/30/24
  • Austin Shenton, PR, Tampa Bay Rays: 0-for-1  3/30/24
  • Trey Lipscomb, 3B, Washington Nationals: 1-for-4, SB 3/30/24
  • Clayton Beeter, RP, New York Yankees: IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 0 K  3/29/24
  • Mitch Spence, RP, Oakland Athletics: 3 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K  3/29/24
  • Landen Roupp, RP, San Francisco Giants: IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K  3/29/24
  • Blaze Alexander, DH, Arizona Diamondbacks: 2-for-5, RBI, 2 K  3/28/24
  • Anthony Molina, RP, Colorado Rockies: 0.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, BB  3/28/24
  • Colt Keith, 2B, Detroit Tigers: 1-for-4  3/28/24
  • Darell Hernaiz, PH, Oakland Athletics: 0-for-1  3/28/24
  • Victor Scott II, CF, St. Louis Cardinals: 0-for-3, SB, K  3/28/24
  • Jung Hoo Lee 이정후, CF, San Francisco Giants: 1-for-3, RBI, K, CS  3/28/24
  • Erik Miller, RP, San Francisco Giants: IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, K  3/28/24
  • Wyatt Langford, DH, Texas Rangers: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, K  3/28/24
  • Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers: IP, 5 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K  3/21/24
  • Stephen Kolek, RP, San Diego Padres: 0.2 IP, 2 ER, 0 H, BB  3/21/24
  • Jackson Merrill, CF, San Diego Padres: 0-for-3   3/20/24
  • Graham Pauley, PH, San Diego Padres: 0-for-1, K  3/20/24
  • Yuki Matsui, RP, San Diego Padres: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, BB, K  3/20/24

Promotions: Top 101 Prospects





 

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vincentspicksMember since 2019
1 year ago

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