White Sox designate Jeff Keppinger for assignment

3 Comments

Jeff Keppinger has been rehabbing a shoulder injury since last season and today the White Sox decided to simply drop him from the 40-man roster, designating the veteran infielder for assignment.

Keppinger is under contract for $4 million this season and $4.5 million in 2015 as part of an odd three-year deal handed out by then-general manager Ken Williams in December of 2012. He hit .253 with four homers and a .600 OPS in 117 games in Year 1 of the contract and now the White Sox are willing to eat the rest of the deal.

Even if he’s healthy Keppinger is best suited to be a bench player at age 34 and he was hitting just .256 with a .707 OPS in 11 games rehabbing at Double-A. No team is going to claim his contract off waivers, so once he’s released by the White Sox expect Keppinger to latch on elsewhere with a minor-league contract.

MLB homer leader Pete Alonso to IL with bone bruise, sprain in wrist

pete alonso
Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports
4 Comments

PITTSBURGH — The New York Mets will have to dig out of an early-season hole without star first baseman Pete Alonso.

The leading home run hitter in the majors will miss three-to-four weeks with a bone bruise and a sprain in his left wrist.

The Mets placed Alonso on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to June 8. Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton in the first inning of a 7-5 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Alonso traveled to New York for testing on Thursday. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but the Mets will be missing one of the premier power hitters in the game as they try to work their way back into contention in the NL East.

“We got better news than it could have been,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “So we take that as a positive. It could have been worse.”

New York had lost six straight heading into a three-game series at Pittsburgh that began Friday. Mark Canha started at first for the Mets in the opener. Mark Vientos could also be an option, though Showalter said the coaching staff may have to use its “imagination” in thinking of ways to get by without Alonso.

“I’m not going to say someone has to step up and all that stuff,” Showalter said. “You’ve just got to be who you are.”

Even with Alonso in the lineup, the Mets have struggled to score consistently. New York is 16th in the majors in runs scored.

The team also said Friday that reliever Edwin Uceta had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Uceta initially went on the IL in April with what the team called a sprained left ankle. He is expected to be out for at least an additional eight weeks.

New York recalled infielder Luis Guillorme and left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets sent catcher Tomás Nido to Triple-A and designated reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment.

Nogosek is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 games this season.