June 1: Pittsburgh returned Mlodzinski to the restricted list during Monday’s off day, reports MLB.com’s Jason Mackey. The right-hander tells Mackey he hasn’t considered a trade request and will be available to pitch in the first game of the series tomorrow in Houston.
“I want to do what I can to help us win baseball games,” Mlodzinski told MLB.com. “Being around these guys, this team, it’s a great team to be a part of. Of course I want to start and I’ll always want that, but winning games comes first.”
May 31: In an unexpected game, the Pirates put the right hand Carmen Mlodzinski on the list set by the team today. That’s right Cam Sanders was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to replace Mlodzinski on the active roster, and Pittsburgh now has an open spot on its 40-man roster.
As a reminder, players are not paid for any time spent on the restricted list, nor do they receive any MLB service time. Often clubs use a restricted list of players who are suspended, or who are dealing with a personal problem that keeps them away from the club for an indefinite period of time. Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Mlodzinski is expected to be available Tuesday, so he will be out for a while.
The reasons for the station’s placement were revealed today by Pirates Manager Ben Cherington, who told Beazley and other reporters that Mlodzinski “he was not ready to do so” on Sunday.Going into the weekend, we heard and we communicated with Carmen that at some point this weekend we’re going to need her to be ready or we’re going to have to unfairly remove her from the team, so that’s what happened today..”
This issue appears to stem from the Pirates’ decision to release Mlodzinski in a trade Jared Jones returned from the 60-day injured list on Friday. Jones joins Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft, Mitch Kelleragain Bubba Chandler of the starting five, leaving Mlodzinski as the odd man out. As Beazley noted, Mlodzinski made his disappointment public when he spoke to the media on Thursday, and Mlodzinski has previously spoken about choosing to serve as a starter.
Mlodzinski said on Thursday that “I still communicate with the organization and the people in my corner, whether that’s my family or my agency, about the following,” but Cherington said today that the right-hander had not asked for a trade.
Over 55 innings this season, Mlodzinski posted a 3.76 ERA in 11 games — nine correct starts and two outs for a bulk-pitcher working behind the opener. Mlodzinski’s 8.4% walk rate is about the league average but he doesn’t miss a lot of bats and allows a ton of hard contact. The right-hander’s 50.9% strikeout rate ranks only in the second percentile of all hitters. Still, Mlodzinski’s SIERA is just 4.21, as he’s done a good job of limiting the damage of all those tough at-bats by allowing just three home runs.
A case can be made that Mlodzinski could or should have kept the rotation spot over Bubba Chandler, as Chandler has struggled badly with control while posting a 4.85 ERA in 52 innings. With Mlodzinski having more experience as a pitcher or long reliever, the Pirates chose to use that flexibility by moving him to a relief role, knowing that Mlodzinski may have an easier time than Chandler getting back into the starting gig down the road.
It’s understandable why Mlodzinski isn’t happy about the move, but his return on Tuesday probably means there aren’t too many hard feelings. Without gaining much leverage in trade demands, Mlodzinski may have to move on as a trade for now, though obviously any number of circumstances (injuries, more issues from Chandler, etc.) could open up a future trade. Having a top-six player is also a great way for the Pirates to help keep the game clean in what the team hopes will be a push towards the playoffs.
