The Nationals are planning to advertise Juan Yepez, based on Andrew Golden of The Washington Submit. The primary baseman signed a minor league contract with the crew this previous December.
Yepez signed with the Braves as a world free agent in 2014, and three years later, the Braves traded him to the Cardinals in trade for Matt Adams. One other 5 years after that, Yepez made his MLB debut with St. Louis in 2022, showing in 76 video games, hitting 12 house runs, and producing a 107 wRC+. He went 2-for-5 with one other lengthy ball within the playoffs, driving in two of the three runs the Cardinals managed to attain in opposition to the Phillies within the Wild Card Sequence.
Regardless of his sturdy first impression, Yepez didn’t make the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster in 2023. He hit poorly in spring coaching (60 wRC+), poorly at Triple-A (82 wRC+), and poorly throughout a number of transient stints with the massive league squad all through the season (51 wRC+). St. Louis non-tendered him after the yr.
The Nationals took an opportunity on Yepez this previous winter, signing him to a minor league deal and issuing the 26-year-old an invite to spring coaching. He didn’t make the main league roster out of camp, however the righty batter had a a lot better spring this time round, slashing .382/.405/.559 and placing out solely as soon as in 37 journeys to the plate. His Triple-A stats aren’t fairly as spectacular, however he has continued to restrict his strikeouts, and his numbers are a lot better throughout the board than they had been final season. He has been scorching over his final 14 video games, going 21-for-54 (.389) with a 1.070 OPS and 178 wRC+.
Washington optioned first baseman/designated hitter Joey Meneses to Triple-A Rochester earlier right this moment. Meneses has struggled all season, slashing .235/.294./.310 (72 wRC+), and evidently, the goodwill he earned with the Nationals throughout his breakout 2022 season has lastly run out. He hit poorly final season as properly (96 wRC+), however his numbers this season are considerably worse. Meneses ranks among the many backside 5 certified hitters in OPS and wRC+.
Presumably, Yepez will see most of his enjoying time at first base. The Nationals will hope he can present a few of the right-handed thump they had been trying to get from Meneses. With Joey Gallo on the injured listing and Harold Ramírez hitting just about simply as poorly as Meneses, Washington doesn’t have a ton of different choices at first. Yepez additionally performed the nook outfield with the Cardinals, however he has not performed the outfield this yr at Triple-A. Extra to the purpose, the Nationals don’t want any assist in the outfield, with Lane Thomas, James Wooden, Jacob Younger, and Jesse Winker on the roster.
The Nationals didn’t instantly substitute Meneses on the energetic roster, so there’s an open spot for Yepez on the 26-man roster. Nevertheless, the crew might want to make a corresponding transaction so as to add Yepez to the 40-man. Probably the most easy transfer could be to switch Josiah Grey from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Grey has already missed considerably greater than 60 days nursing an elbow damage.
