There’s better news on righty Seth Lugo, who exited last night’s game after taking a 106 mph comebacker to the head. Lugo rather incredibly quickly rose back to his feet, assuring distraught former Mets teammate Brandon Nimmo (who hit the ball in question) that he thought he was OK. Per the Royals, a CT scan was clean. Lugo will continue to be monitored, but for the time being, it seems he’s thankfully avoided any kind of significant injury.

Isbel, 29, has handled the vast majority of the Royals’ center field work this season. He’s long graded as a plus defender on the grass, though his grades in 2026 have dipped a bit. That’s not entirely surprising, given the full context of his season; Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star writes that Isbel has been playing through considerable pain in his left foot for quite some time. He finally reached a point where he couldn’t continue. Even with that ailing foot, Isbel drew a positive grade from Statcast’s Outs Above Average (4) and was only slightly below average in the estimation of Defensive Runs Saved (-2).

At the plate, Isbel has hit at his typical levels. He entered the season with a well below-average .235/.288/.365 batting line in his career (78 wRC+) and has turned in a .244/.298/.354 slash (80 wRC+) that closely mirrors his career marks.

With Isbel sidelined indefinitely, the Royals will piece together the center field mix via in-house options for the time being. Missouri native and Mizzou product Kameron Misner was recalled from Triple-A and is getting the start today. Lane Thomas has also logged some time in center this season and got the start in Isbel’s place last night. Utilityman Tyler Tolbert has four innings in center this season but logged 100 frames there last year. He probably won’t draw many starts in center but could slot in if he’s used as a pinch-runner (as was the case last night) or if the Royals make other defensive/lineup shuffles midgame during Isbel’s absence.

The veteran Thomas signed a one-year deal with Kansas City over the winter. He’s not hitting for any power whatsoever in 2026 but is sporting a career-best 15.8% walk rate in 152 plate appearances. He’s slashing .234/.362/.315 overall and, as is so often the case, has been a menace to left-handed opponents (.262/.395/.361). There’s a natural platoon to be formed between the righty-swinging Thomas and lefty-swinging Misner. Though Misner has batted just .203/.260/.325 in 231 MLB plate appearances with the Rays (and one with Kansas City last night), the former first-rounder has bludgeoned Triple-A pitching at a .276/.373/.547 pace in 252 plate appearances this year. He belted 13 homers and swiped 11 bags with the Storm Chasers prior to yesterday’s recall to the majors.

Breslow, 46 in August, is in his third season as Boston’s chief baseball officer. The team never disclosed the precise length of his first contract as the team’s baseball operations head, nor has it been reported. There have been no indications that the 2026 season is the last on Breslow’s contract. Presumably, his deal runs through at least the 2027 season.

The Red Sox, of course, have already begun to show some signs of frustration. Manager Alex Cora and five members of his coaching staff were fired in late April after a 10-17 start. Triple-A manager Chad Tracy replaced him for the remainder of the season but is holding the title of “interim” manager. The Sox are 17-22 since the change — a nominal improvement but still well shy of expectations for a team that won 89 games last year and spent $130MM to sign Ranger Suarez this offseason while also acquiring Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Caleb Durbin and several others via trade.

Though the season is on the verge of spiraling past them, it seems the Sox aren’t bringing about any further sweeping changes in the organization — at least for now. They’ve reportedly been on the hunt for a right-handed bat on the trade market, though deals of any real magnitude are rare this time of year. Boston famously bucked that trend with last year’s mid-June blockbuster sending Rafael Devers to San Francisco, but it’s typically hard to find clubs willing to part with notable veteran talent at this juncture. That’s particularly true with a slightly later (Aug. 3) trade deadline this year.

The extent to which the Red Sox are able to climb out of this rut could well determine whether Breslow carries on following the season. Generally speaking, it’s common for teams to first make a change in the dugout and then, if the tide still doesn’t turn, look to the front office for further reshaping. For now, Kennedy’s comments signal that Breslow isn’t on the hot seat. That topic will probably be revisited in the offseason, but there are more than three months of games to influence his status in the meantime.

That Skubal is set to return this quickly is remarkable. The Tigers announced in early May that their ace would require an arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow. That procedure took place not even five full weeks ago. Skubal has already made one rehab start, pitching five shutout frames with only two hits allowed and six strikeouts for Detroit’s High-A affiliate.

Skubal underwent an experimental new procedure — a “NanoNeedle” scope that figures to grow in popularity following Skubal’s incredibly swift return to a big league mound. (The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen detailed the manner in which the NanoNeedle differs from a traditional elbow scope back in mid-May, for those who are interested.) Blake Snell underwent the same procedure about a week and a half after Skubal and is on a similarly fast track; he started a throwing program last week, not even three weeks out from his procedure (via MLB.com’s Sonja Chen).

Prior to landing on the injured list, Skubal looked well on his way to a third straight Cy Young-caliber season. While he faces some steep competition this year — Yankees righty Cam Schlittler and White Sox righty Davis Martin have broken out with dominant performances — Skubal was sitting on a terrific 2.70 ERA with a strong 27.1% strikeout rate and a 3.6% walk rate that would be a career-best mark were he to sustain it. Metrics like FIP (2.11) and SIERA (2.88) support Skubal’s continued dominance.

While Skubal will draw the most headlines — understandably so — Mize’s return is also a major development. The former No. 1 overall pick had a career year in 2025 when he took the ball 28 times and turned in a 3.87 ERA with a career-best K-BB% (16.7) over 149 frames. He’s been even better this season, sprinting out of the gate with a 2.27 ERA in 47 2/3 innings over nine starts. Mize’s 26.5% strikeout rate and 12.8% swinging-strike rate are both career-highs by a wide margin. His 6.5% walk rate is an exact match for his career mark entering the season. Mize has largely moved away from his curveball and sinker to focus more heavily on a four-seamer/splitter/slider repertoire — and done so to great effect thus far.

If Mize indeed returns, he’d push rookie Troy Melton back to Monday, per Jason Beck of MLB.com. Melton has been far too good in his four starts with the big league club to consider removing from the rotation or sending to Triple-A Toledo. He’s pitched 25 2/3 innings with a 2.81 earned run average. That includes seven innings of one-run ball against the White Sox in Chicago and eight innings of two-run ball against the Rays in St. Petersburg. Melton’s 13.7% strikeout rate raises some skepticism about his ability to sustain this pace, but he’s fanned nearly 20% of his opponents over his past two starts — far closer to the 22% league average.

A six-man rotation for the Tigers looks like a logical step for the starting staff, Hinch noted. Skubal and Mize would join Melton, Framber Valdez, Jack Flaherty and Keider Montero in that scenario. The Tigers will face a decision when Justin Verlander returns from a hip injury later this month. Montero has pitched well in 12 starts. Flaherty has had a tough season but has improved over the past five weeks — and over his past three starts in particular. Valdez has a pedestrian 4.40 ERA overall, but a disproportionate amount of the damage against him has come in two meltdown starts earlier this season; he allowed 15 earned runs over eight innings between those two appearances but has a 2.97 ERA in his other 12 starts.

For an injury-ravaged Tigers club, tough decisions of that nature are good problems to have. Detroit’s season looked to be on the brink not long ago, but they’ve rattled off six wins in their past eight games. The Tigers are still a shocking 12 games under .500, but the lackluster competition in the American League leaves them only five and a half games back of a Wild Card spot. Detroit has a lot of work to do if there’s any hope of climbing back toward the top of the division, but the Tigers play three games in Cleveland this weekend and host the White Sox for three next week (with a series against a disappointing Astros club between those two); there’s a real opportunity for them to close some ground in the coming days, right as two key arms are ready to rejoin the fray.

1. Giants cap comeback with walk-off grand slam

The Giants seemed to be heading toward getting swept by the Nationals through seven innings on Wednesday. San Francisco entered the bottom of the eighth inning trailing 9-1. The Giants then put together a five-run inning with the help of solo homers from Rafael Devers and Matt Chapman. Washington scored once in the ninth inning to extend the lead back to four runs. The first three batters reached base against reliever Gus Varland in the bottom of the ninth inning, cutting the deficit to three. Jung Hoo Lee singled to load the bases, setting the stage for Bryce Eldridge. The rookie yanked a 2-0 slider from Mitchell Parker into the right field seats to finish the wild comeback.

2. Callihan gets on the board

Pirates outfielder Tyler Callihan joined the big-league club at the end of May. He’s played sparsely since being promoted, but put together a huge game against the Dodgers yesterday. Callihan took Shohei Ohtani deep in the fourth inning for the first homer of his career. He then erased a two-run deficit in the eighth inning with a three-run shot off Kyle Hurt. Pittsburgh entered the seventh inning down five runs, but scored eight times in their final two trips to the plate.

3. Scherzer climbs the strikeout list

Blue Jays righty Max Scherzer made his return to the mound on Wednesday against the Phillies. The veteran had been sidelined since late April with forearm and ankle injuries. Scherzer wasn’t at his best against Philadelphia, allowing five earned runs over 3 1/3 innings. He did pick up four strikeouts, bringing him to 3,503 for his career. Scherzer is the 11th pitcher to reach 3,500 punchouts. He needs just seven strikeouts to move past Walter Johnson and into the top 10 on the all-time leaderboard.

Photo courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Imagn Images

Onto the questions...

Peter asks...

With Rafael Devers hitting again (and his defense at first base very good) how would you rate his value on the open market taking into account his remaining contract? What level of return would you expect the Giants might get for him and what teams do you think would be most interested in him? Would the Giants have to pay down any of his remaining contract?

Devers is indeed hitting better after an awful start to the season. Following a disastrous .207/.248/.289 slash and 31% strikeout rate through the end of April (129 plate appearances), he's rebounded with a .257/.321/.500 line over his 165 most recent trips to the plate. It's an encouraging turnaround, but there are some red flags worth mentioning.

First and foremost, that 31% strikeout rate that dogged Devers through his dreadful early slump hasn't abated. Over this stretch of 165 plate appearances, he's fanned at a 30.9% clip -- effectively the exact same rate. The biggest differences have been a modest bump in power (six homers in this stretch) and a huge spike in Devers' batting average on balls in play. His BABIP in that slump was a roughly league-average .288. During this turnaround, he's at .344.

That doesn't all come down to luck. Devers' exit velocity has jumped from an average of 89.8 mph during that cold snap to a huge 93.4 mph in his hot streak. His hard-hit rate has soared from a solid 41.5% to an elite 55.6%. Devers is making better contact, so it only stands to reason that more of his balls in play should be landing for hits.

Be that as it may, however, Devers still isn't walking much. His contact rate on pitches within the strike zone, even during his recent surge, is 75% -- well shy of the league-average 85.9%. And while Devers has been good during this span, he hasn't been his peak self. By measure of wRC+, Devers has been about 27% better than average since early May. That's very good, but it's not close to his best output. Back in 2021-22, for instance, Devers crushed 65 homers in 297 games and did so with rate stats that placed him about 36% better than average: .287/.355/.530. His strikeout rate over those two years was 20.1%. His contact rate on balls in the zone was still below average but was five percentage points higher than during this recent revival.

All of that is to say, Devers has been performing like an above-average but flawed hitter since the beginning of May. That's a nice development after he looked lost to begin the season -- and after he dealt with a disk injury in his lower back last summer -- but does it restore any semblance of trade value? I don't believe so.

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This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

• The June update to MLBTR’s 2026-27 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:45)
• Brandon Lowe’s free agency (7:10)
• Casey Mize (13:55)
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Check out our past episodes!

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The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

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Smith has been nursing a stiff neck for the past few days. He hasn’t played since Friday. The Dodgers can backdate his IL placement for up to three days, so he’ll be down until at least next Wednesday. Roberts downplayed the level of concern.

It has been a relatively slow start to the season for Smith. He’s hitting .249/.338/.382 with six home runs in 201 plate appearances. His plate discipline and batted ball metrics are mostly in line with those of previous seasons, so the Dodgers surely aren’t worried. Smith remains on the short list of the best catchers in the sport even if the slight dip may keep him from a fourth straight All-Star appearance.

Rushing, who is hitting .275/.352/.532 on the season, would be the #1 catcher on most other teams. He’s more than capable of holding the primary job for what should be a short-term absence. Rushing has started four straight around Monday’s off day. The Dodgers don’t have another day off until next Thursday, so they needed to get a healthy catcher up at some point.

That’ll fall to the 31-year-old Robinson, an organizational depth type. He played one game for the Dodgers last September and has had brief MLB stints with the Reds and White Sox. The Dodgers re-signed him on a minor league deal over the offseason and have kept him at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Robinson missed the first month of the season but has come back with a solid .274/.338/.466 start over 20 games. He’s a career .131/.169/.192 hitter at the big league level.

It’s the second time this year the Rox have gotten Thompson through waivers. He was designated for assignment at the end of Spring Training after failing to break camp. Thompson is out of options and can’t be sent down without going through waivers. The Rox selected him back onto the roster when Victor Vodnik went on the injured list in late May.

Thompson only got into five games over his three weeks on the MLB roster. He worked in mop-up relief and allowed 11 runs through 12 innings. Thompson had a solid enough 11:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he allowed 19 hits and tossed three wild pitches. That was his first MLB work in two seasons. Thompson spent last year in Triple-A in the Cubs’ system.

The 31-year-old will likely return to Albuquerque. He has the right to elect free agency but would forfeit his split contract if he does so. Thompson is making $350K while in the minors and is paid at a prorated $1.3MM rate for any time on the big league roster. He presumably won’t walk away from that to pursue a minor league contract elsewhere. He has worked 32 1/3 innings in a swing role for the Isotopes, pitching to a 3.34 ERA despite a subpar 13.6% strikeout rate.

It’s another flier on a left-handed hitting outfielder for the Astros. They added LaMonte Wade Jr. on a big league deal last week, but he almost immediately went on the injured list with a hamstring strain. That moved Joey Loperfido back to the big league level. CJ Alexander and Zach Cole are on the Triple-A roster as lefty-hitting outfielders.

Brooks, 30, is back in affiliated ball after beginning this season in Korea. He signed with the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes on a $700K contract. Brooks didn’t perform as the team hoped, batting .217/.286/.259 over 41 games. KBO teams have a roster limit on foreign-born players, so they’re quick to move on from those who struggle. The Heroes waived him in mid-May to sign Keston Hiura.

A former 17th-round pick, Brooks has played 37 games at the major league level. He debuted with the Giants in 2024 and got some run with the Padres last year. Brooks has hit .136 with one home run and 19 strikeouts in 72 trips. As one would imagine, he has a much better track record against minor league arms. Brooks is a lifetime .279/.382/.472 slash line with nearly equal walk and strikeout rates in nearly 2000 career Triple-A plate appearances.

Pratto had spent the season on a minor league contract with Texas. The Rangers released him just yesterday and he quickly finds a new landing spot. Pratto had spent the first month of the season on the development list, which is a non-injury reserve list for minor league players. That’s typically used when a player is making mechanical adjustments outside of game action.

The 27-year-old Pratto reported to Triple-A Round Rock at the end of April. He appeared in 26 games and hit .237/.287/.473 across 101 plate appearances. Pratto slugged five home runs among 10 extra-base knocks but struck out 33 times while only taking six walks. The swing-and-miss has been an issue throughout his career.

A first-round pick of the Royals in 2017, Pratto hit .216/.295/.364 for Kansas City between 2022-23. He made one appearance as a late-game substitute in 2024 but has otherwise spent the last two and a half years in the minors. The former top prospect has a .226/.327/.430 slash line with a 30% strikeout rate over six Triple-A seasons.

Isbel is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Manager Matt Quatraro tells Anne Rogers of MLB.com that the team is awaiting results of an MRI before they’ll have a return timeline. Isbel has been playing through foot discomfort but needed to make an early exit from last night’s game.

The 29-year-old has gotten the lion’s share of playing time in center field for a fourth consecutive season. He’s providing his usual combination of solid defense and below-average production at the plate. Isbel is hitting .244/.298/.354 with three home runs over 183 plate appearances. The Kansas City outfield has yet again been an issue, ranking 22nd in OPS with a .239/.329/.355 batting line.

Isbel’s injury should give Misner a chance to make his team debut. A Missouri native who played his college ball at the University of Missouri, Misner hit .203/.260/.325 in 79 games with the Rays between 2024-25. Kansas City acquired him early last offseason in a DFA trade but have kept him on optional assignment all year.

The lefty-hitting Misner has an intriguing tool set. He’s a plus runner with big bat speed and a strong arm, all of which made him a supplemental first-round draft choice back in 2019. The production hasn’t matched up, as the 6’3″ Misner hasn’t made enough contact at the big league level. He has mashed Triple-A pitching this season, batting .276/.373/.547 with 13 home runs and 11 stolen bases. He’s striking out at a 27% clip, though, which remains in line with his prior swing-and-miss rates.

Misner can play anywhere in the outfield, so he could replace Isbel as the left-handed part of a center field platoon. Lane Thomas is in the lineup tonight with Texas sending left-hander MacKenzie Gore to the mound. Thomas is flanked by the usual corner tandem of Isaac Collins and Jac Caglianone.

Elsewhere on the roster, the Royals have made a change at the back of their bullpen. Alex Lange fired a scoreless inning with a couple strikeouts to nail down a 5-3 win in the series opener. It was the righty’s fourth save in as many appearances over the last week. Lange is riding a nine-game scoreless streak and has tossed 16 1/3 innings of three-run ball since the beginning of May.

Quatraro declined to anoint a closer when speaking about the ninth inning last week, framing it as a matchup situation (link via MLB.com’s Mike Petraglia). The usage certainly suggests that Lange is the preferred choice right now.

The Royals have been without Carlos Estévez since Opening Day. Lucas Erceg was the obvious first choice to step into the closing role, but he hasn’t found his footing all year. Erceg has allowed an even 6.00 ERA with a career-low 18.8% strikeout rate while walking more than 14% of opposing hitters. He had given up runs in four consecutive appearances leading up to June 3.

That opened the door for Lange, a Kansas City native who signed with his hometown club for $900K over the winter. The LSU product saved 26 games for the Tigers back in 2023. His career was thrown off track after that, as he struggled early in ’24 and was optioned to Triple-A. Lange suffered a significant lat injury almost immediately after going to the minors and required surgery that cost him 14 months. Detroit released him at the end of last season.

Despite Lange’s recent success, the Royals have had one of the shakier bullpens in the American League. That’d be an obvious area to upgrade if they’re in position to add at the deadline. Kansas City has the third-worst record in the AL and are 11 games under .500, but they’ve won three straight and are only 4.5 back in a still wide open Wild Card race.

Unsurprisingly, the front office is in no rush to determine their deadline trajectory. “There are so many teams that are still in this. If you look at where we are right now, we’re (4.5) games out of a wild-card race,” president of baseball operations J.J Picollo said on Tuesday (link via Pete Grathoff of The Kansas City Star). “Last thing we’re thinking about is the trade deadline right now.” Picollo suggested they’re unlikely to make any real trade decisions before the All-Star Break.

Waguespack, 32, began the season with the Brewers on a minor league deal. Milwaukee granted him his release in early May. After exploring his opportunities for a little over a week, they re-signed him to a new minor league deal.

He has been having a good year on the whole, though with some important notes. He has tossed 21 2/3 innings over 16 Triple-A appearances, allowing 1.66 earned runs per nine. He has received some help from a .238 batting average on balls in play and 73.2% strand rate. His 16.5% walk rate is very high but he has also punched out 36.3% of batters faced. He has 105 2/3 innings of big league experience with the Blue Jays and Rays, posting a 5.11 ERA in that time. He struck out 18.9% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 10.1% clip.

The Tigers have been working through a huge number of pitching injuries this year, with nine arms currently on the big league injured list. Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander, Casey Mize and Kenley Jansen are all expected back soon, which could lead to some roster shuffling.

As they sort things out in the coming days and weeks, Waguespack can give them some extra depth without taking up a roster spot, unless his minor league deal had some sort of contract provision that will lead to the Tigers adding him to their 40-man. If that is the case, Waguespack is out of options and will need to be added to the active roster.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Tromp, 31, has seen scattered big league playing time over seven seasons. He has stepped to the plate 205 times in 79 games. That includes six games with Baltimore last year. On the whole, he has a .218/.225/.371 line in his career. He has generally received solid grades for his glovework but the light offense has kept him in a depth role. He has exhausted his options over the years, which has led to him bouncing on and off rosters, mostly as an injury replacement.

The Orioles currently have a bit of uncertainty in their catching mix. Adley Rutschman has a left hamstring issue while Samuel Basallo is dealing with a left wrist ailment. Sam Huff was added to the roster recently and has started the three most recent games, including tonight. Rutschman hasn’t appeared in a game since Sunday, when he served as the designated hitter. Basallo hasn’t started since Sunday, though he has made pinch-hit appearances in the past two games.

Tromp will give the O’s some non-roster depth while they navigate those injuries. If Rutschman or Basallo ultimately need a stint on the injured list, or both, Tromp could be added to the roster. If both manage to get healthy in the coming days, Huff is out of options and could end up designated for assignment. Huff was designated for assignment earlier this year and cleared waivers, which allowed the O’s to re-sign him to a new minor league deal after he elected free agency. But there is no guarantee that the same thing would happen again, so there’s sense in having Tromp around as a contingency for various scenarios.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

It appears that the injury occurred on Saturday, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. Cruz was trying to score from first on a double when he was tagged on his hand. He hasn’t been in the starting lineup since then, though he did appear as a pinch runner on Sunday. He was in yesterday’s initial lineup but was scratched before game time with left hand discomfort. It appears that further testing found the fractures and he will be on the shelf about a month. The All-Star break is from July 13th to 16th, so perhaps Cruz will end up returning after that.

It’s a rough blow for the Pirates. Cruz is a flawed player since he strikes out a ton and he’s still a work in progress in the outfield, but all his tools are elite. He crushes the ball when he makes contact, in addition to having great speed and a strong throwing arm. He has 14 home runs this year, 21 stolen bases, a .264/.350/.472 line and a 128 wRC+. Even with his questionable defense, FanGraphs has credited him with 1.7 wins above replacement on the year.

The Bucs also lost Konnor Griffin to the IL a couple of weeks ago and Joey Bart landed on the shelf before that. Perhaps due to the injuries, the club has been in a bit of a slide, having lost four in a row. That has dropped them to 34-33 and just outside a playoff spot.

They will now have to try to climb out of that hole without Cruz. Jake Mangum has been covering center field for the past few days while Cruz has been hurt, so he seems likely to become the everyday guy there for the next month. He is a strong defender, so the Bucs should get a boost there, but the lineup should be worse. Mangum has a .293/.332/.359 line and 94 wRC+ in his career, even with a very high .345 batting average on balls in play.

Photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images

10:31am: The Angels are set to select the contract of catcher Logan Porter, reports Ari Alexander of 7News. He signed a minor league deal with them five days ago after choosing free agency over an outright assignment with the Giants. Porter hasn’t even suited up for a game with the Halos’ Triple-A affiliate yet, but he’ll jump right to the big leagues after backup catcher Sebastian Rivero exited last night’s game due to an apparent hand injury.

Porter, 30, is joining his third big league team. He has brief experience in the majors with both the Royals and Giants, for whom he’s totaled a combined 47 plate appearances. Porter is just a .184/.326/.289 hitter in that time, but he’s a .244/.359/.389 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He’s light on power but has walked at a gaudy 14.4% clip in more than 1200 Triple-A plate appearances.

Porter also gives the Angels a defensively sound backup to starting catcher Logan O’Hoppe. He’s thrown out a roughly average 22% of runners who’ve attempted to steal on him in the minors (33% dating back to last season) and drawn quality framing grades with slightly below-average marks for his blocking abilities, per Baseball Prospectus.

The Angels have already utilized four different catchers in 2026. Porter will be the fifth, joining the quartet of O’Hoppe, Rivero, Travis d’Arnaud and Omar Martinez. He has a full slate of minor league options remaining, so the Angels don’t necessarily need to designate him for assignment when d’Arnaud and/or Rivero get healthy. The Halos will need to open 26-man and 40-man roster spots for Porter, but that should be pretty straightforward. His selection to the majors seems to point to an IL trip for Rivero, and righty Jack Kochanowicz can be shifted to the 60-day IL after undergoing Tommy John surgery this week.