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Horns in the Pros


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Brewers reliever Corey Knebel went down with a strained left hamstring. The team recalled infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias to take Knebel’s roster spot. 2020 has been a rough go for Knebel, a former star closer who has slumped in his first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2019. The 28-year-old, who has allowed at least one earned run in five of nine appearances, owns a 9.45 ERA with 9.45 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 across 6 2/3 innings.

 

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He made the Show, congrats. 

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The Reds announced that outfielder Mark Payton’s contract has been selected to the Major League roster.  Payton’s move was one of a few transactions made official by the club, as the Reds also optioned infielder Josh VanMeter to their alternate training site and made a change to their taxi squad — righty Jose De Leon joins the taxi squad, while outfielder Robel Garcia is out.

Payton now seems set to make his MLB debut, which he probably thought was in the cards back in December when the Reds plucked him out of the Athletics’ system via the Rule 5 draft.  In July, however, the Reds returned Payton back to Oakland seemingly as part of a roster crunch, yet then re-acquired the outfielder two weeks ago.  Since Payton is now officially a member of Cincinnati’s roster, he is free of any Rule 5 restrictions, so the Reds can freely option him between the majors and their alternate training site if they so choose.

A seventh-round pick for the Yankees in the 2014 draft, Payton has hit .286/.363/.455 with 62 home runs over 2248 career minor league plate appearances.  Those career numbers are heavily fueled by Payton’s 30 homers and .334/.400/.653 slash line over 447 PA for the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019, though that performance carries some caveats.  2019 was the most hitter-friendly year in the history of Triple-A baseball, the Pacific Coast League was a notoriously hitter-friendly league even prior to 2019, and Payton (then in his age-27 season) was older than most Triple-A pitchers.

Still, obviously the Reds saw enough in Payton’s breakout year to make him a priority in the Rule 5 draft.  Payton does have some center field experience, though he has mostly played as a corner outfielder in recent years.  He will join Travis Jankowski as a left-handed hitting backup outfielder on a roster that also includes Shogo Akiyama and Jesse Winker as more regular lefty-swinging outfielders.

 

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Mark Payton went 0-2 in his first MLB start (LF).    Ground out,  well hit ball to the warning track.   Replaced with a pinch hitter and the OF rotated with another player going to CF, CF to LF. 

Streamed the game.  As can be expected,  he seemed tight,  but more relaxed when he hit the ball to the track. Caught it well.   Worked the count to 3-1, 3-2 in both ABs.

Reds are struggling,  lost 3/4 to the Cards in battle for 2nd place in NL Central.  

Hang tough,  Mark  !

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's a cruel game...

 

Payton was optioned to the Reds' alternate training site Tuesday.

Payton appeared in eight of 12 games during his time on the 28-man roster and hit .167 (3/18) with a double and five strikeouts. He'll return to alternate camp to make room for newly acquired Brian Goodwin on the major-league roster. 

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/reds-mark-payton-optioned-to-alternate-training-site/

 

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Corey Knebel, a 29-year-old reliever who was seemingly on his way to being let go by the Milwaukee Brewers, was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers moments before the non-tender deadline came and went on Wednesday night.

The reigning World Series champions will send a player to be named later or cash considerations to the Brewers in exchange for a former All-Star, who struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery but might possess some upside.

Knebel broke out with a 1.78 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 76 innings in 2017 but tore his ulnar collateral ligament in March 2019 and spent most of the next 16 months working his way back. His 2020 surface numbers -- 6.08 ERA, 15 strikeouts, eight walks and a fastball that averaged less than 95 mph -- were discouraging.

But the Dodgers saw signs of Knebel recapturing his old self when he returned from a hamstring injury in early September and believe there are other adjustments they can help him through to trigger a bounce-back season.

Knebel will be a free agent after the 2021 season and was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to make a little over $5 million in his final year of arbitration.

 

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Thoughts and prayers for Tres and his wife Lindsey (former Texas softball player) who lost their son upon birth.

 

Tragic news from Washington Nationals catcher Tres Barrera and his wife, Lindsey ... the couple just announced their baby boy passed away during delivery last week.

"2020 has been a tough year for many, but it has definitely beaten us more than anything before," Tres said on Instagram on Friday.

"On Sunday November 29,2020 my wife delivered our son at 7:12 am. Unfortunately our God decided he needed him in heaven before he was able to take his first breath."

He continued ... "The emotion, the pain, are all things that one can not describe. As we mourn the loss of our baby boy, our faith remains strong and we will continue to take strides one day at a time in His name."

Tres and Lindsey -- who tied the knot back in January 2018 -- shared the news of the pregnancy back in September ... saying they couldn't wait to meet the "little man."

Tres praised Lindsey's strength through the challenging time ... saying, "I am most proud to call my myself the husband of my wife Lindsey. She is the strongest person I know and she will forever be my hero."

"Forever our angel ... Kaius Lee Barrera"

RIP.

https://www.tmz.com/2020/12/04/mlb-tres-barrera-wife-mourn-loss-of-son-forever-our-angel/

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Still employed. 

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The Brewers announced that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Hoby Milner and outfielder Dylan Cozens to minor league contracts. Both players will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

Milner, 30 next month, put up a strong 2.01 ERA but questionable peripherals through 37 1/3 innings as a rookie with the Phillies back in 2017. He’s yet to come close to replicating that level of run prevention; in 24 1/3 frames since that debut effort, he’s been rocked for a 7.77 ERA.

That sky-high ERA is an eyesore, but Milner excels at limiting hard contact (career 83.4 mph opponents’ exit velocity and 27.9 percent hard-hit rate). He also comes with a terrific minor league track record, having tallied 146 innings of 3.08 ERA ball with 11.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in four seasons out of the bullpen at the Triple-A level. He’s seen big league time each year since 2017, so there are clearly some clubs who believe there’s another level possible despite the overall lackluster results.

 

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Hadn’t seen this name in awhile. 

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The Astros signed Houston native C.J. Hinojosa to a minor league deal. Hinojosa was actually drafted by the Astros in the 26th round of the 2012 draft, but instead chose to attend the University of Texas at Austin where he starred as a sophomore in the College World Series. After a disappointing junior season, he was then made an 11th round draft choice by the Giants in 2015. A versatile defender who can play all over the infield, he was ranked among the Giants’ top-30 prospects by Baseball America in both 2017 and 2018. Prior to the 2018 season, BA wrote, “He’s best when he’s spraying the ball around the field, and is especially pesky at poking line drives down the right-field line, but he has a lot of fringe-average to average tools and no real plus tool on his scouting report. He plays shortstop plausibly enough defensively to fill-in, but he lacks the range to play there everyday. Hinojosa missed the start of the 2017 season with a quad strain, but when he returned he went right back to looking like a future big league utility infielder.” He tore his Achilles during the 2017 season, but eventually returned to Double-A during the 2018 season where he slashed .261/.327/.360 across 283 plate appearances. The 26-year-old played independent ball in 2020.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Could be his last hurrah. 

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The Angels announced that left-hander Dillon Peters was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  Peters will be invited to the team’s Spring Training camp after being designated for assignment last week.  The southpaw pitched in just one MLB game in 2020, getting hit for four runs (three earned) over 1 2/3 innings for the Angels.  A groundball specialist while coming up in the Marlins’ farm system, Peters has a 5.83 ERA and only a 16.7K% over 132 2/3 career Major League innings with Miami and Anaheim.

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Figured this was as good of a spot as any.   Talked to the Elder family recently and Bryce has been throwing well during minor league spring training stuff.  He’s headed to Rome (Atlanta High-A) Thursday and there’s a good chance he’ll be the opening day starter for them from what he’s been told.

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On 4/27/2021 at 9:22 PM, BurntOrangeBlooded15 said:

Figured this was as good of a spot as any.   Talked to the Elder family recently and Bryce has been throwing well during minor league spring training stuff.  He’s headed to Rome (Atlanta High-A) Thursday and there’s a good chance he’ll be the opening day starter for them from what he’s been told.

 

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1 minute ago, Starfleet Command said:

I'm not very familiar with the Braves' farm but that's quite impressive for him to be the opening day starter in A+ considering his age and lack of pro experience.  Will be interesting to see if he has picked up any velo since leaving Texas.  

Been told he’s held his own.  Was in Florida with the AAA fringe and injury rehab guys working out and throwing pens once the Braves started ST games against other teams.  Threw some games on the back fields against some other teams AA guys near the end of ST and impressed the pitching coaches. 
 

Not sure on velo.  He’s always been a location guy so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s around what he was throwing in Austin last year.  

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19 minutes ago, BurntOrangeBlooded15 said:

Been told he’s held his own.  Was in Florida with the AAA fringe and injury rehab guys working out and throwing pens once the Braves started ST games against other teams.  Threw some games on the back fields against some other teams AA guys near the end of ST and impressed the pitching coaches. 
 

Not sure on velo.  He’s always been a location guy so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s around what he was throwing in Austin last year.  

Braves didn't worry about velo when they signed him for 850K, about 4.5K over slot value.   They like that sinker/slider and the other great tangibles.

Thanks and keep us updated.   

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3 hours ago, Starfleet Command said:

I'm not very familiar with the Braves' farm but that's quite impressive for him to be the opening day starter in A+ considering his age and lack of pro experience.  Will be interesting to see if he has picked up any velo since leaving Texas.  

Not very surprising honestly. He reminded me of Chance Ruffin. He had a very good sophomore campaign and he looked like he was gonna be THE shutdown guy on Friday with Madden on Saturday and Hansen polishing em off. That’s pretty identical to pretty much all our college World Series teams since Augie took over. Ruffin and Elder types who are just fighters on the mound and ultra competitive, then a Saturday guy that’s gonna be a first rounder then a Sunday dude who’d be a Friday starter for like 90% of the D1 teams out there. 
But yeah Elders improvement from his freshman to sophomore year. Fuck 2020

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