Cleveland trades Luplow and DJ Johnson to Rays

The Cleveland Baseball Club agreed to a deal that send outfielder Jordan Luplow and relief pitcher DJ Johnson to Tampa.

Some more movement for the Cleveland Baseball Club as they agreed to a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. Cleveland will be sending Jordan Luplow and DJ Johnson to Tampa Bay for Double-A pitcher Peyton Battenfield.

#Rays made one small deal at deadline, getting OF Jordan Luplow and RHP DJ Johnson, both at Triple-A with #Indians, for Double-A RHP Peyton Battenfield.

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 30, 2021

Luplow has only appeared in 36 games this season and struggled, slashing 173/.331/.439/.769. 12 of his 17 hits did go for extra-bases, but the overall lack of consistent and adequate production was an issue.

Johnson appeared in just one game for Cleveland, allowing one run on two hits in just 1.2 innings. The 31-year old reliever has only pitched 33 career innings across three season in the majors.

Battenfield has struck out 32.4% of the batters he has faced during seven games in Double-A this season. The 23-year old pitcher has steadily worked his way through the Rays minor league system this season. Battenfield has a mid-90’s fastball in addition to what has been described as a plus cutter in an article by Eric Longenhagen from Fangraphs.