Sammons has been with Triple-A Toledo this year, working as a starter. Two of his ten appearances were officially as a reliever but he tossed at least 4 1/3 innings in both of those. On the whole, he has thrown 41 innings, allowing 4.83 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 19.8% of batters faced, given out walks at an 11.3% pace and induced grounders on 30.8% of balls in play.

It’s possible that the transaction is due to an injury. His last appearance was on May 21st, a game he started but in which he threw only 11 pitches. As seen in this clip of that game from Tigers ML Report, Sammons slips on the mound and is in obvious discomfort.

Now that Sammons is on the open market, he can look for his next opportunity, though his health status will obviously be a factor. His major league track record consists of 27 1/3 innings with the Tigers in 2024. He had a solid 3.62 ERA in that time, though he got some help from a .143 batting average on balls in play and 85.2% strand rate. He was outrighted off the roster after that season and then signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for 2025. He put up a 3.78 ERA for the Marines before re-signing with the Tigers on a minor league deal coming into the 2026 season.

The Tigers have lost Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize to the injured list in the past month. Both pitchers could return fairly soon but they have joined Justin Verlander, Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson on the IL. The Tigers are currently running a four-man rotation consisting of Framber Valdez, Keider Montero, Jack Flaherty and Troy Melton, with Ty Madden and Enmanuel De Jesus in multi-inning relief roles. They have Sawyer Gipson-Long and Jake Miller on optional assignment. They could try to re-sign Sammons for more depth if he’s healthy in the near future but they could also look to other options.

Darnell has spent the entire season on the Triple-A injured list. He was recovering from a labrum procedure on his left hip at the time of signing and wasn’t expected to pitch until at least May. Darnell made his MLB debut last season with nine appearances for the Rockies. He allowed five runs with seven walks and five strikeouts across 11 2/3 innings.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

A 28-year-old swingman, Wilson has pitched parts of eight seasons in the big leagues. He hasn’t reached the Majors yet in 2026, spending the entire season with Lehigh Valley. Wilson signed an offseason minor league deal and has started nine of 10 appearances in Triple-A. He has an ugly 7.23 earned run average across 47 1/3 innings. Wilson’s 22.1% strikeout rate and 52.4% ground-ball percentage are more encouraging, as he’s been victimized by opponents batting nearly .400 on balls in play.

The release and quick re-signing are fairly common this time of year. Wilson presumably triggered an opt-out in his previous agreement. Even if his camp knew a big league contract was unlikely, he’d get a couple days to explore his options and potentially renegotiate future opt-out/upward mobility dates into his new deal.

Wilson has pitched nearly 500 MLB innings across four teams. He owns a 4.82 ERA with a modest 16.6% strikeout rate at the highest level. The Phillies are light on Triple-A rotation depth, so Wilson could get a look as a swing option this summer if his minor league results start to align with the peripherals.

San Diego also reinstated righty Jhony Brito from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to El Paso. Ramón Laureano, who is likely done for the season after undergoing hip surgery, was transferred to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move.

San Diego rolled the dice on Castellanos after he was released by the Phillies going into Spring Training. He had a career-worst .191/.221/.339 showing in 39 games, striking out 34 times in 122 plate appearances (28%). The Padres pulled the plug this week and will use a combination of Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andujar for the majority of the designated hitter work. Sheets will also be pressed into some left field reps because of the Laureano injury.

There was no financial cost for the Padres. Philadelphia is paying Castellanos’ $20MM salary, minus the prorated $780K league minimum for any time he spent on another team’s roster. The Padres paid that but would’ve needed to pay the same amount to anyone they called up from the farm system instead. It’d be the same arrangement if Castellanos finds a big league opportunity with any other team this season, though he’d probably need to accept a minor league deal if he wants to continue playing.

On the pitching side, Brito returns to the roster for the first time since last May’s elbow surgery. He was nearing the end of his rehab window after beginning a minor league assignment in early May. He has made four rehab starts at Double-A, getting up to six innings. He’ll continue his ramp-up with El Paso but could be an option for a rotation that doesn’t have much certainty beyond Michael King and Randy Vásquez. If he spends another 20 days in the minors this year, he’ll be out of options going into 2027.

Porter backfills the catching depth after the Halos traded Austin Wynns to the Braves on Thursday. Atlanta selected Wynns onto the MLB roster, so it’s likely his minor league deal contained some kind of upward mobility provision. That left them with Omar Martinez and 28-year-old non-roster catcher Zach Humphreys at the Triple-A level. Martinez is the only healthy catcher on the 40-man aside from the MLB duo of Logan O’Hoppe and Sebastian Rivero.

The 30-year-old Porter spent two days on the Giants’ active roster in early May. They called him up after trading Patrick Bailey to Cleveland, getting him into one game as a pinch-runner after Christian Koss was hit by a pitch. Porter was quickly optioned back to Triple-A, where he hit .241/.292/.362 in 65 plate appearances this season. He’s a .244/.359/.389 batter over five Triple-A campaigns and has appeared in 17 big league contests over parts of three seasons.

Azout also notes that infielder Maximo Acosta underwent surgery last month to address a UCL sprain in his right thumb. Acosta has been on the minor league injured list and last played on May 10. That came with an 8-10 week timeline from the date of the surgery.

White’s loss in the much more significant of the two. The left-hander is Miami’s top prospect, according to Baseball America. He placed even more prominently coming into the season; BA had him behind only Nolan McLean among MLB pitching prospects during their offseason Top 100 ranking. They had him 15th overall and fourth among pitchers in their updated Top 100 earlier in the week.

The 21-year-old lefty is coming off a season in which he turned in a 2.31 ERA with a monster 39% strikeout rate over 21 starts from High-A to Triple-A. Injuries have limited him to seven appearances and 24 2/3 frames this year. There’s no indication surgery will be necessary, but a major shoulder injury clouds his outlook going into the 2027 campaign. It almost certainly delays his big league debut, as White stood a good chance of getting to loanDepot Park this year had he stayed healthy.

Miami has had some rough luck on the injury front with their young pitchers. Robby Snelling, their second-best pitching prospect, made his MLB debut in early May. His elbow gave out during a between starts throwing session and he underwent UCL surgery that’ll sideline him well into next season. They’re also without Eury Pérez for the next couple months with a gracilis strain.

Max Meyer has stayed healthy so far and is pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level. The rest of the rotation has been underwhelming, leaving Miami with a 4.75 ERA from their starters. It’s the third-worst mark in the National League from what was expected to be the team’s strength.

White is not on the 40-man roster and would not be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until the 2027-28 offseason. There’s no incentive for Miami to put him on the roster this year. Acosta does occupy a 40-man spot and could go on the 60-day injured list if the Marlins need space for a corresponding move. That would require paying him the prorated $780K MLB minimum as opposed to the minor league salary he’s making while on the Triple-A injured list.

Acquired from the Rangers in the 2024 Jake Burger deal, Acosta debuted last season and hit .204 in 19 games. He was batting .200 with one home run across 17 Triple-A contests this year. Most evaluators feel he projects as a glove-first depth infielder.

Natera is up for the first time in his career. The 26-year-old southpaw, a native of Mexico, pitched his college ball at New Mexico State. The Halos drafted him in the 17th round in 2022. Natera spent his first year as a starter, then lost almost of 2024 to injury. Los Angeles moved him to the bullpen a year ago. He showed a high strikeout, high walk profile in Double-A that has carried over at the top minor league level this year.

The 6’4″, 230-pound lefty owns an even 3.00 earned run average across 30 innings this year with Triple-A Salt Lake. He has punched out an excellent 34.4% of opponents but issued walks to more than 14% of batters faced. It’s a typical fastball-slider reliever profile, with Natera averaging 94-95 mph on the heater and sitting in the mid-80s with the breaking ball.

Baseball America has never rated Natera among the top 30 prospects in a weak Halos farm system. However, Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs slotted him 21st in the system last offseason. Gawlowski credits him with a plus slider but noted that a high-effort delivery has given him problems with his control. Natera joins Drew Pomeranz, Brent Suter and Mitch Farris in a rare four-lefty bullpen.

Anderson is off the roster in what has become a familiar routine. The Angels call him up, typically designate him for assignment after an appearance or two, then run him through waivers. He usually elects free agency and immediately re-signs on a minor league deal. His most recent call-up came on Wednesday, but he didn’t make an appearance in that day’s 11-4 blowout win over Colorado. The team was off yesterday. Anderson did get into nine MLB games in March and April, allowing a 5.94 ERA through 16 2/3 innings.

Laureano first had an issue with his right hip five years ago. He missed a few weeks in June 2021 with a hip strain while still playing in Oakland. Laureano had managed to play through any subsequent discomfort but evidently found the current issue too serious to avoid surgery.

There’s a decent chance this will mark the end of his Padres tenure. San Diego acquired Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn in a package deal from the Orioles at last summer’s trade deadline. O’Hearn was a rental, while the Padres had a $6.5MM club option on Laureano that looked like a bargain. He was one of the team’s best hitters after the trade, batting .269/.323/.489 over 50 games until a broken right index finger ended his season.

[Related: The Padres’ Problems Are Mounting]

It remained an easy call for San Diego to exercise the option and plug Laureano into the Opening Day lineup as their left fielder. He got out to a quick start, batting .288 with four homers and nine extra-base knocks through his first 19 games. It seems the hip became increasingly problematic in the back half of April. Laureano would hit .147 with three homers over his next 34 contests before going on the injured list on Tuesday.

Left field now becomes yet another issue for an already woeful offense. The Padres have been the lowest-scoring team in MLB. Over the past month, they have an unfathomably poor .191/.270/.325 team batting line. A diminished version of Laureano was a big part of that, but nearly the entire lineup has struggled. Ty France, Gavin Sheets and Fernando Tatis Jr. have been above-average hitters in the last 30 days. Everyone else who is still on the roster has been at least 34 percent worse than league average, by measure of wRC+, over that stretch.

That includes fourth outfielder Bryce Johnson, who’s in the starting lineup for the second straight night. The 30-year-old Johnson ran an inflated batting average on balls in play to some small sample success last season. That hasn’t carried over this year. The Padres called up 25-year-old Jase Bowen earlier in the week; he’s 1-8 with five strikeouts in his first three career games.

Manager Craig Stammen said left field will feature a combination of Sheets, Johnson, Bowen and light-hitting utility player Samad Taylor (link via Kevin Acee of The Union-Tribune). Sheets is already an everyday player between the corner outfield, first base, and designated hitter. He probably shouldn’t play the outfield, but the Padres have no choice but to keep him and France in the lineup to get any kind of offense.

Jackson Merrill is locked in as the everyday center fielder and hopefully beginning to break out of his season-long rut. Tatis is moving between right field and second base. If the Padres remain in the hunt for a Wild Card spot into July, they’ll need to find a way to add multiple bats. Left field will probably be the priority in that search. Mickey Moniak, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell and Jacob Young are speculative outfield trade candidates who could be available closer to the deadline.

Laureano will hit free agency at the end of the season. He’ll almost certainly be looking at a one-year reclamation contract for his age-32 campaign. He’d have been well positioned for two or three years if he’d stayed healthy and hit at anything close to last season’s level, making this a particularly frustrating injury for him personally.

Woodford, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Rays in the offseason. He triggered an upward mobility clause in that deal and got flipped to the Brewers just before Opening Day. The righty has been working a long relief role for Milwaukee since then. He has thrown 23 1/3 innings over 16 appearances, allowing 6.94 earned runs per nine. That probably exaggerates how bad he has pitched this year. His .378 batting average on balls in play and 62.5% strand rate are both unlucky figures. His 3.96 FIP and 3.92 SIERA suggest he has deserved far better.

The Brewers got beat up a bit yesterday, in a few ways. They lost 12-9 to the Giants, with both Hall and Grant Anderson departing due to injury. As mentioned, Hall is now on the IL due to his pec injury. Woodford tossed the final three frames, allowing four earned runs, throwing 56 pitches in the process.

Milwaukee plays three games at Coors Field against the Rockies tonight, followed by three games against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. Those are two of the most hitter-friendly venues in the league. Rather than go into that stretch with a banged-up Hall and a gassed Woodford, they have decided to bring some fresh arms onto the roster. Since Woodford is out of options, he needed to be removed from the 40-man entirely.

He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to see if there’s trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that. Players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to reject outright assignments and elect free agency. Woodford qualifies on both counts and could opt for the open market if he clears waivers again.

In his career, he has generally been around the strike zone and induced ground balls but without missing a ton of bats. In 279 1/3 innings, he has a 5.25 ERA, 15.2% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 44.4% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Groover, now 24, was a second-round pick in the 2023 draft. As a hitter, Groover is known for his quality plate discipline, though there are questions about how much impact he can make when he does connect.

In 2024, he missed time due to a broken wrist and only got into 61 games. Last year, he stayed healthy enough to play 123 Double-A contests. He stepped to the plate 547 times. He walked at a 11.5% pace and only struck out 14.4% of the time, both strong figures, but he hit only 12 home runs. On the whole, his .309/.399/.434 line led to a 120 wRC+, but got some help from a .347 batting average on balls in play.

He has been in Triple-A this year, with some similarities in the output. His 14.5% walk rate and 16.8% strikeout rate are good but he has just three home runs in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His .322/.421/.452 line leads to a 116 wRC+ but has gotten a lot of help from a .381 BABIP.

Defensively, Groover has primarily been a corner infielder, with some very limited second base experience. Baseball America currently lists him as the #5 prospect in Arizona’s system. FanGraphs put him at #9 in the offseason.

Arizona has Nolan Arenado at the hot corner, so Groover will perhaps be used more in the first base/designated hitter mix. Pavin Smith just came off the injured list and should be getting regular playing time, though he is a left-handed hitter with notable platoon splits. Groover is a righty and could cover Smith, though perhaps the Snakes would also be comfortable with him facing righties.

While Smith was out, the Snakes used a combination of Fernández and Ildemaro Vargas to cover first, with Adrian Del Castillo getting a lot of DH time. Del Castillo is hitting just .192/.252/.325 on the year. Vargas started his season with an amazing 24-game hit streak, which was actually a 27-game streak dating back to last season, but he has hit .186/.218/.237 since then. Fernández also hit .342/.359/.500 through 78 plate appearances to start the year but just .180/.232/.225 in 99 plate appearances since.

Rashi, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks in the offseason. He was added to the roster in early April, though he was optioned to the minors after allowing four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Combined with his work from last year, he now has 20 big league innings under his belt, with a 5.40 earned run average, 29.9% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 44.2% ground ball rate.

His numbers in the minors are somewhat similar, as he gets strikeouts but also has subpar control. Dating back to the start of 2025, he has thrown 67 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.48 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate is a bit high but he has punched out 24.7% of batters faced and induced grounders on about half of the balls in play he’s allowed. He is able to get punchouts despite subpar velocity, as his four-seamer barely averages 90 miles per hour. He also throws a splitter, slider and curveball.

DFA limbo can last as long as a week, though the waiver process takes 48 hours. That means the Snakes could take five days to explore trade interest, though they could also put him on waivers sooner. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick around as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of service time nor a previous career outright, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Kuhnel, 31, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason. He was added to the big league roster a week into April. The early results were really encouraging, as he posted a 2.14 earned run average through 21 innings. He was probably a bit lucky, as his .254 batting average on balls in play and 84.1% strand rate were both to the fortunate side. Regardless, he quickly earned a leverage role with the A’s, racking up four saves and three holds in that span.

Regression came hard in the past week-plus. Kuhnel has allowed seven earned runs in his past 4 2/3 innings. The biggest blow came at Wrigley last night. Kuhnel was sent into the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 6-3 lead. He faced six batters and allowed five hits. He technically recorded two outs but only because Nico Hoerner got caught stealing. He was replaced by Luis Medina with the score 6-5, though Medina allowed a couple of hits as the Cubs walked it off to win 7-6.

Kuhnel was charged with four earned runs in the process, bumping his ERA for the year to 4.21. That’s not a horrendous figure but, as mentioned, the early results were a bit fortunate and the recent results were really rough. Since he’s out of options, he was bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the A’s could take five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that.

The book on Kuhnel is that he has big velocity and throws strikes but his primary pitch is his sinker, so he gets more grounders than strikeouts. He has logged 119 1/3 innings for various clubs with a 5.51 ERA. His 17.5% strikeout rate is subpar but his 5.8% walk rate and 51.3% ground ball rate are both strong figures. Since he has a previous career outright, he would have the right to elect free agency if he clears outright waivers again.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Many Mets fans are -- understandably! -- waving the white flag already and calling for the team to be deadline sellers. The Mets, unsurprisingly, aren't in any rush to part with veteran players. No team is pivoting to sellers in early June. The Mets might very well end up in that bucket come late July/early August, but unless they're 10 or more games back at that point, the expected return doesn't necessarily outweigh the faint playoff chances they might still harbor. That's sure to be an unpopular sentiment among a vocal portion of the fan base, but let's take a look at who and what the Mets could reasonably peddle. The list of appealing trade candidates isn't especially compelling (which is a big reason they're in this mess in the first place).

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Seager hit the IL a little over two weeks ago due to low back inflammation. His absence wasn’t too bad since Ezequiel Durán has stepped in and is having a good season, currently sporting a .287/.340/.454 line. He has played well enough to stay in the regular lineup, probably at second.

Josh Smith had that spot earlier in the year but struggled before hitting the IL with a glute strain. While on the IL, he was set back by meningitis and his timeline is still unclear. Justin Foscue held second for a while and hit well but some shaky defense led the Rangers to go with Nicky Lopez, who is good with the glove but is hitting .226/.250/.323.

Langford hit the IL three weeks into April due to a flexor strain. It was initially hoped that he would only require a minimal stint on the IL but it turned into an absence of over six weeks. He’ll now jump back into the regular outfield group alongside Brandon Nimmo and Evan Carter.

Haggerty signed a minor league deal with the Rangers ahead of the 2025 season. He was added to the roster in May and held that spot for the rest of the season. He hit .253/.328/.370, stole 12 bases and split his time between second base and the outfield. The Rangers were happy enough with that production to tender him a contract for 2026, agreeing to a $1.25MM deal in November.

Unfortunately, his numbers have backed up this year, as he is hitting just .15/.213/.182. He is only walking in 4.3% of his plate appearances and is striking out at a huge 34% clip. The Rangers have decided to move on.

Haggerty has at least five years of big league service time. That means he has the right to reject outright assignments in favor of free agency while keeping his salary commitments in place. The Rangers might skip that formality and release him. Either way, he will likely be on the open market in the coming days. In that scenario, the Rangers would remain on the hook for the money. Another club could then sign him and pay him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what Texas pays.

Though his numbers have been poor this season, he could garner interest based on his track record. He has often been a solid utility guy, like he was for the Rangers just last year. From 2020 to 2023, he slashed .241/.322/.365 for the Mariners while stealing 32 bases and bouncing around the diamond. An Achilles tear wiped out most of his 2024, leading to a non-tender. That allowed the Rangers to scoop him up and benefit from last year’s bounceback.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

It’s a remarkable turnaround timeline for Skubal, who just underwent surgery to remove a loose body in his elbow a month ago. A procedure like that would normally come with a timeline about three months, if not more.

Skubal was the first MLB player to have surgery performed with a tool called a NanoNeedle, which some are now calling a SkubalScope. Basically, it’s like other arthroscopes but smaller. The reduced size and smaller incision theoretically leads to less pain and swelling, which hopefully leads to a quicker recovery time.

Based on how things have gone for Skubal, the theory appears to be holding true, at least so far. He began throwing less just over a week after going the procedure. Less than three weeks after going under the knife, he threw a three-inning sim game. If the next steps go smoothly, he could be back with the Tigers less than six weeks from the operation.

Though it’s a great development for Skubal, the impacts are potentially broader than that. Cutting the recovery time in half for a common injury could have all kinds of positive ramifications for the pitchers and the sport. Though of course, it still remains to be seen if all will go according to plan in the next few weeks. It’s also unclear if all pitchers will be this lucky. Blake Snell underwent surgery in the middle of May, using the NanoNeedle, to remove multiple loose bodies from his elbow. The Dodgers quickly put him on the 60-day injured list, so that club expects Snell’s timeline to be at least two months.

Time will tell on whether the medical aspect is a game-changer or not. For now, it’s huge for baseball and the 2026 season. The Tigers were 18-17 and tied with the Guardians atop the American League Central when news of Skubal’s surgery was revealed. Since then, they have gone into a bad slump and fallen to 25-38, with the Angels the only A.L. club with a worse record.

Thanks to widespread struggles among A.L. clubs, the playoff race is still wide open. The Tigers are only 5.5 games back of the Athletics and Rangers, who are tied for the last Wild Card spot with records of 30-32. Getting Skubal back into the rotation so quickly will be a big boost to the Tigers as they try to climb back into the mix.

If Detroit can’t gain ground in that race, then Skubal will be the most talked-about player ahead of the trade deadline. There have already been whispers about Skubal trade possibilities for a long time, since he is an impending free agent and doesn’t seem likely to sign an extension. An offseason trade never made much sense from the team’s perspective since they have been in win-now mode for a few years, though their recent skid has made the possibility seem much more realistic.

Combine all those factors and Skubal should be in the spotlight in the coming weeks and months. Him coming back healthy and pitching like his old self will obviously be important. The club’s record will also be closely watched by fans in Detroit and elsewhere.

Given the magnitude of the decision, the front office will presumably try to delay picking a lane as long as possible. If Detroit gets into playoff position or falls further back, the choice will become easier. If they stay a few games out of a playoff spot, that’s a much tougher call. The Tigers know well that a lot can happen in a short amount of time. In 2024, Detroit was 10 games out of a playoff spot in the middle of August but got red hot to make it in. Last year, the Tigers had a 15.5-game lead on the Guardians in July but saw Cleveland storm back to take the division.

In addition to Skubal, the Tigers have Casey Mize, Justin Verlander, Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson on the IL. Olson is done for the season due to shoulder surgery. Jobe had Tommy John surgery a year ago and could perhaps be a factor in a few months. Verlander is dealing with hip inflammation and Mize a groin strain. Verlander made a five-inning rehab start on Tuesday, so he and Skubal could both be back soon. Mize could be a bit behind them, potentially starting a rehab assignment soon.

The Tigers are currently running a four-man rotation consisting of Framber Valdez, Keider Montero, Jack Flaherty and Troy Melton, with Ty Madden and Enmanuel De Jesus in multi-inning relief roles. 

If everyone stays healthy while Skubal, Verlander and Mize get back in the mix, it could lead to some tricky decisions about that group. Flaherty has the highest earned run average  of the bunch at 5.31. He hasn’t been helped by a .333 batting average on balls in play and 64.1% strand rate, so his 4.40 FIP and 4.18 SIERA are much more encouraging. Given his veteran status and hefty salary, it might be tough to move him to the bullpen. Montero, Melton, Madden and De Jesus all have options and could be sent to the minors, if that’s what the club decides.

Sweeney began the season on the 10-day IL due to a shoulder strain. He was moved to the 60-day IL in the second week of April, suggesting the Tigers didn’t expect him back soon. Presumably, he and the club were exploring non-surgical options but hit a wall with those pursuits and 2026 will go down as an entirely lost season for him. He’ll continue to collect big league pay and service time while on the IL.

The Tigers are without Sweeney and Javier Báez in their middle infield group at the moment. Kevin McGonigle is playing both shortstop and third base, with Zack Short covering short when McGonigle is at the hot corner. Gleyber Torres was also on the IL for a while but recently returned to take over second base. Jace Jung, Hao-Yu Lee, Trei Cruz and Gage Workman are on the 40-man but currently on optional assignment. Torres is a free agent at season’s end, so the second base job is up for grabs in 2027.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas,Imagn Images

June 3rd: The Cardinals will activate Lars Nootbaar from the 60-day injured list for Friday’s series opener against the Reds, manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat). St. Louis will need to make an active roster move. They already have an opening on the 40-man roster after returning Rule 5 pick Matt Pushard to the Marlins.

Nootbaar will make his season debut after a two-month plus absence. He underwent surgery to shave down bones on both heels last October. Nootbaar has appeared in 11 minor league rehab games, hitting .233 with a pair of home runs while gradually building up to Triple-A Memphis.

The injuries seemed to impact the 28-year-old outfielder last season. Nootbaar had a career-worst .234/.325/.361 slash over 583 plate appearances. His 13 home runs were similar to the totals he posted in less playing time over the prior three seasons. Nootbaar’s rate production was down from the .246/.351/.426 line he managed from 2022-24.

If he’d been healthy, Nootbaar may well have been traded over the offseason. He’s down to his final two years of arbitration control. The Cards committed to a retool in dealing a lot of shorter-term pieces. That included Brendan Donovan, who is also in his penultimate arbitration season. The Cardinals would’ve been accepting pennies on the dollar to move Nootbaar, so it made sense for them to hold him as a deadline trade chip.

That calculus may have changed with the team’s surprising start. St. Louis has won 32 of their first 60 games, putting them firmly in a muddled Wild Card picture. They’ve been a league average offense and one of the league’s better defensive teams, helping paper over a pitching staff that still doesn’t miss many bats.

While the position player group has been solid, the Cards have had one of the weaker left field situations in the National League. The lefty-hitting Nathan Church has mostly operated in a platoon with one of José Fermín or Thomas Saggese. Church is out with a minor shoulder strain but expected to begin a rehab stint tomorrow. He has a middling .247/.282/.390 batting line across 156 plate appearances. Saggese and Fermín haven’t been any better. Recent call-ups Bryan Torres and Nelson Velázquez have gotten some work over the past week.

Velázquez and Fermín are out of options and would need to be designated for assignment if taken off the MLB roster. The Cardinals probably wouldn’t have selected Velázquez’s contract on Friday if they anticipated dropping him that quickly. Torres and Saggese each have options — as does Church if the Cardinals don’t want to open an MLB spot once he’s back from injury.

June 4th: The Red Sox are optioning right-hander Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester, reports Dan Roche of WBZ. Boston will add recently acquired lefty reliever Joe La Sorsa to the active roster for tomorrow’s series opener in The Bronx.

Bello was knocked around again this afternoon, giving up eight runs over five innings to take the loss against the Orioles. He’s now sitting on a 6.34 earned run average over 61 frames on the season. He’s striking hitters out at a career-low 15.6% rate. Bello has a career-worst average exit velocity allowed while giving up a lofty 1.48 home runs per nine innings.

The primary issue is that Bello has had no answers for left-handed batters. They carried a .323/.384/.554 line with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 147 plate appearances into today’s start. He hasn’t been good against right-handed hitters either, but the numbers against lefties are completely untenable. That was also an issue for Bello early in his career.

Boston has tried to work around that by using a left-handed opener in front of Bello on four occasions. He has pitched very well in those outings, but the opener (Jovani Morán or Tyler Samaniego) has allowed at least one run in each. The Sox have gone 1-3 in those games despite Bello having a combined 0.71 ERA across 25 1/3 innings.

The 27-year-old righty was asked about the stark difference between his performance as a bulk arm versus starts. He was clearly unhappy with the question.

“First of all, just stop talking about bullpen and starting games,” he said in Spanish via the team’s interpreter (link via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). “I’ve always been a starter, and when I’ve been successful as a starter, no one asks your question (about) whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games. So, just starting from there, just stop that talk, because I’m just having a bad season. That’s it. It’s not whether I’m a starter or I’m a reliever. It’s just, having a bad season. I know that I can turn it around.”

Marcos Grunfeld of El Emergente, a native Spanish speaker on the Boston beat, directly translated Bello’s comments a little more firmly:

“First of all, just stop talking about this bullpen-starter crap because when I’m pitching well as a starter, nobody talks about it. Now that I’m having a bad season as a starter, everybody wants to talk crap about it. The first thing is that we should stop talking about it and focus on the good things. Yes, I’m having a bad season as a starter, but I believe things are going to get better.”

In any case, the Sox probably would’ve proceeded with the demotion based on Bello’s performance alone. He’s in the third season of a $55MM extension signed in Spring Training 2024. Bello posted a 4.49 ERA that year and had a career season in 2025. He turned in a 3.35 mark across 166 2/3 innings, albeit with a drop in strikeouts that has only heightened this year. Bello is playing on a $6MM salary and guaranteed $44.5MM from 2027-29 (including a buyout on a 2030 club option).

Pitchers must spend at least 15 days on an optional assignment unless they’re recalled to replace an injured player. Boston can carry an extra reliever until his next scheduled start on Tuesday. Rookie southpaw Jake Bennett, who made his first two career starts earlier in the season, seems the likeliest candidate to come up. He owns a 1.60 ERA with plus strikeout and walk marks in Triple-A.

The Red Sox still need to create a 40-man roster spot to select La Sorsa’s contract. Garrett Crochet could move to the 60-day injured list, assuming he won’t be back from his low-grade lat strain within the next three weeks. A transfer would backdate to his initial April 26 placement.