RotoFeed

Roto Riteup: June 19, 2026

Vlad Sedler — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:30:37 +0000

Let's get ready for the weekend with the Roto Riteup!

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The Shallows EP 019 – Goin’ Fishin’

Erik Hinrichsen — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:00:53 +0000

Injuries, replacements, notable performances, mailbag, & goin' fishin'

The post The Shallows EP 019 – Goin’ Fishin’ appeared first on Pitcher List.

Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Notes | First Pitch 6/19/26

Carson Picard — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:00:51 +0000

Everything you need to know to win your fantasy baseball league, daily

The post Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Notes | First Pitch 6/19/26 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Braves, Pirates Swap Joey Bart For Hunter Stratton

Anthony Franco — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 04:59:49 +0000

The Braves announced they’ve traded reliever Hunter Stratton to the Pirates for catcher Joey Bart. Atlanta designated backup catcher Sandy León for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The Braves had designated Stratton for assignment yesterday. He’ll replace Bart on Pittsburgh’s 40-man but won’t join the MLB team, as the Bucs optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Bart is on the 10-day injured list working back from an infection in his left foot. He hasn’t played an MLB game since May 9 but has been on a minor league rehab assignment for the past week. Atlanta will presumably activate him directly onto the big league roster, as they optioned third catcher Jair Camargo back to Triple-A Gwinnett this afternoon.

It’s a homecoming for the 29-year-old Bart, who grew up less than an hour from Atlanta and played his college ball at Georgia Tech. He was part of a run of high-end catchers for the Yellow Jackets over the past couple decades, spanning from Matt Wieters to potential #1 overall pick Vahn Lackey. Bart went second overall to the Giants in 2018, making him the highest drafted player in school history to date.

The draft pedigree certainly makes him the more well known of the two players in today’s trade. Bart hasn’t developed into the franchise backstop many scouts expected, however. He hit .219/.288/.335 over parts of four seasons in San Francisco. Between that lackluster production and Patrick Bailey’s emergence into a Gold Glove caliber defender, the Giants traded him to Pittsburgh at the beginning of the 2024 season.

That change of scenery initially seemed to spark Bart’s career. He hit .265/.337/.462 over 80 games and opened the next season as Pittsburgh’s starting catcher. His numbers backed up slightly the following year, as he posted a .249/.355/.340 line across a career-high 332 plate appearances. Bart opened this season in a split behind the plate with former first overall pick Henry Davis. The Bucs promoted Endy Rodríguez from Triple-A when Bart went on the injured list five weeks ago.

Rodríguez, himself a formerly touted young talent who lost most of the previous two seasons to injury, has seized the primary catcher role. He’s hitting .267/.413/.467 with three home runs through 76 plate appearances. The Pirates could’ve optioned Davis, who has a .138/.242/.285 line across 150 trips.

Davis’ results at the plate have been terrible, but he has hit the ball harder and showed stronger plate discipline in May than he had previously in his MLB career. It seems the Pirates expect that to translate into better numbers over time and didn’t feel he’d gain much out of going back to Triple-A. Even more importantly, Davis has developed a strong rapport with Paul Skenes and has caught all 15 of the ace’s starts this year. They clearly didn’t want to disrupt that routine.

Bart, who hit .259/.290/.379 in 21 games before the injury, is out of options and couldn’t be sent down without going through waivers. The Bucs are already burning a bench spot on a player with no defensive value in keeping Marcell Ozuna on the roster. They could’ve optioned Billy Cook and gone with three catchers, but they’d have left skipper Don Kelly with very limited positional flexibility.

They instead choose to swap Bart to an Atlanta team that has cycled through backup catchers since Sean Murphy broke his finger five weeks ago. They were also without Drake Baldwin for a few weeks but welcomed him back on Monday. It’ll be a Baldwin-Bart catching duo for the foreseeable future.

Pittsburgh is in desperate need of bullpen help, especially from the right side. Stratton isn’t a huge fix but provides a depth arm who can bounce between PNC Park and Indianapolis for the next couple seasons. He’ll be a familiar name to some Bucs fans, as the 29-year-old spent nearly a decade in the organization.

The Pirates drafted him in the 16th round back in 2017. Stratton debuted six years later and posted a 4.30 earned run average across 52 1/3 innings over parts of three seasons. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment last July and traded him to Atlanta for minor league outfielder Titus Dumitru and cash considerations. The Braves cycled him up and down from Gwinnett in the second half last year.

Stratton has spent all but two days in the minors this season. He has a 4.38 ERA while walking more than 14% of opposing hitters across 21 2/3 innings. Stratton has shown better control at the MLB level, where he has a 3.75 ERA over 60 career appearances. He’s working in the 96 mph range with his fastball while throwing a low-90s cutter and mid-80s slider — more or less the same repertoire he had during his first run with Pittsburgh.

Atlanta also takes some money off Pittsburgh’s books. Stratton has yet to qualify for arbitration and would make around the league minimum for any time he spends on the MLB roster (less while in Triple-A). Bart is making $2.53MM, around $1.3MM of which is owed through season’s end. The Braves take that on, plus a 20% overage fee because they’re above the luxury tax line. Bart will be eligible for arbitration for a final time next offseason.

The trade pushes the veteran León off the roster after a six-week stint. He’ll go on waivers in the next couple days, where he’ll presumably clear and be released. León has appeared in 21 games this year and has four hits, all singles, while striking out 18 times in 44 plate appearances. He’s a respected defender and game manager but provides so little offensively that he has been an organizational depth player for the past few seasons.

Image courtesy of Scott Galvin, Imagn Images.

Starting Pitcher Chart – June 19th, 2026

Paul Sporer — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 04:58:48 +0000

It's Miz Day!!

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Al Worthington Passes Away

Anthony Franco — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 04:48:06 +0000

The Twins announced the passing of longtime MLB reliever Al Worthington on Thursday evening. He was 97.

Worthington, a product of the University of Alabama, signed with the Cubs to begin his professional career in 1951. Chicago traded him to the then New York Giants after one minor league season. The 6’2″ righty broke into MLB as a starter with New York in 1953, firing consecutive complete game shutouts in his first two appearances.

Worthington finished his rookie season with a 3.44 earned run average but spent the next couple years in the minors. He made 10 regular season appearances for the ’54 team that swept Cleveland to win the World Series behind an MVP season from Willie Mays. Worthington was on the playoff roster but didn’t make an appearance in a series most famous for Mays’ iconic basket catch at the Polo Grounds in Game 1.

Called back up in 1956, he pitched a couple seasons in a swing role. He was a member of the inaugural San Francisco team when the Giants relocated for the ’58 campaign. Worthington had moved mostly to relief by that point. He played in San Francisco until 1960. Worthington had brief stints with the White Sox, Red Sox and Reds after that. Those were probably most memorable for his outspoken opposition to his teams stealing signs, which he opposed on religious grounds.

Worthington landed with the Twins at the end of the 1964 season. He had the best run of his career with Minnesota in his late 30s, reeling off four straight sub-3.00 ERA campaigns. He allowed one unearned run over four innings in a World Series defeat at the hands of the Dodgers in 1965 and made one appearance in the ’69 AL Championship Series during his age-40 season.

Over parts of 14 MLB campaigns, Worthington managed a 3.39 earned run average. He struck out 834 batters in more than 1200 innings and finished more than half of his 602 career appearances. Although MLB didn’t officially recognize the save statistic until his final season, Worthington was retroactively credited with over 100 career saves. After the end of his playing career, he coached and served as the athletic director at Liberty University. MLBTR sends condolences to Worthington’s family, friends and loved ones.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara Signs With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants

Anthony Franco — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:45:05 +0000

Left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara officially signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball on Thursday. He’d been in Double-A with the Nationals but was granted his release on Monday.

Ogasawara signed a two-year, $3.5MM free agent contract with the Nats over the 2024-25 offseason. The southpaw was coming off a 3.12 ERA across 144 1/3 innings for the Chunichi Dragons in his home country. He was young enough to command a multi-year deal but at a modest price, as MLB teams were skeptical about how his low-strikeout arsenal would play at this level.

The signing didn’t work out. Ogasawara was unable to secure a spot at the back of Washington’s rotation out of camp. The Nats brought him up for his MLB debut in July and used him in mostly low-leverage relief. Ogasawara allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine across 38 2/3 innings and was outrighted off the 40-man roster at the end of the season.

Washington kept the 28-year-old in the upper minors to begin this season. He pitched well in Double-A but struggled over a trio of Triple-A starts. It was apparent he wasn’t going to be much of a factor for the MLB team this year, so it’s understandable he preferred to go back to pitching in Japan’s top league.

Angels Announce Seven Roster Moves

Anthony Franco — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:29:50 +0000

The Angels announced seven roster moves before tonight’s series opener in West Sacramento. MLBTR already covered the most notable, with Mike Trout heading to the injured list due to a right hamstring strain and Christian Moore being recalled from Triple-A. Los Angeles also recalled righty Ryan Johnson from Double-A Rocket City to start tonight and activated recently acquired catcher Tyler Heineman. They optioned righty Brett Kerry and catcher Logan Porter in corresponding moves.

Finally, the Halos also released veteran reliever Drew Pomeranz. He’d been designated for assignment on Monday and never seemed likely to attract much trade interest. That made a release all but inevitable, and the 37-year-old southpaw can now look for another opportunity.

Moore makes his first MLB start in left field tonight. The 2024 eighth overall pick was exclusively a second baseman during his rookie campaign. The Angels have gotten him work at third base and his first nine left field starts in Triple-A this season. He has shredded minor league pitching at a .333/.468/.585 clip with almost as many walks as strikeouts.

Johnson, the Halos’ second-round pick in the same ’24 draft, also comes back to the Majors. The Dallas Baptist product will make his second career start and his first MLB appearance in a month. Johnson has been knocked around in his limited big league work but has carved up Double-A opposition this year. He could join Sam Aldegheri in the final two rotation spots after the Angels lost Jack Kochanowicz and Grayson Rodriguez to injuries over the past couple weeks.

The Angels will remain on the hook for the rest of Pomeranz’s $4MM salary. Any other team can add him for the prorated $780K minimum for however long he spends on their MLB roster. Pomeranz had a 5.01 ERA across 23 1/3 innings this season. He allowed five homers, matching his total from last year in more than twice the workload, while walking almost as many batters as he struck out. Pomeranz had posted a 2.17 ERA in nearly 50 frames for the Cubs a year ago.

Buxton On Trade Speculation: “I’m A Twin”

Anthony Franco — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:06:47 +0000

As trade deadline season draws closer, Twins star Byron Buxton again looked to shoot down early speculation about his availability. Buxton, who has full no-trade rights and said multiple times last summer that he’s not interested in leaving Minnesota, doubled down on that this evening.

“I don’t give a f—,” Buxton told Dan Hayes of The Athletic when asked about being in trade rumors. “End of the day, nobody’s in my shoes. Nobody can say anything about what I’m going to do. I know what I’m doing. The only way I’m getting out of here — they’re going to have to come talk to me and tell me something else. Simple as that. … I ain’t said nothing about leaving, nor will I. I’m a Twin.”

The Twins completed a resounding three-game sweep of the Rangers this afternoon. They’ve taken four straight since dropping a season-worst eight games below .500 over the weekend. The Twins are back within a game and half in an AL Wild Card picture in which every team is within seven games. Minnesota sits 4.5 back of the Guardians atop the AL Central, putting them third in the division behind Cleveland and the White Sox.

It hasn’t been a great season, but Minnesota has been more competitive than most outside observers probably anticipated as we near the halfway point. Buxton has been arguably the biggest factor in keeping them in the hunt. He has avoided the injured list and already has 23 home runs, putting him on track to surpass last year’s career-high 35 longballs. He’s hitting .270/.330/.589 across 288 plate appearances. Only Kyle Schwarber and Yordan Alvarez have more home runs, while he trails just Alvarez and Ben Rice in slugging percentage.

FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each have Buxton as the Twins’ most valuable player this season, narrowly above staff ace Joe Ryan. By measure of FanGraphs WAR, only Pete Crow-Armstrong is having a better season among center fielders. Buxton is fourth at the position by B-Ref WAR behind Crow-Armstrong, Andy Pages and Ceddanne Rafaela. He’s on track to start in the All-Star Game, as he was fourth among AL outfielders in fan voting at last check. Aaron Judge, Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger were above him. Judge will miss the All-Star Game, and Trout just landed on the injured list with a hamstring strain.

Buxton is signed through the 2028 season. He’s making a $15MM base salary but can earn up to $2.5MM annually in plate appearance incentives and has a significant MVP bonus. He’d earn $8MM if he wins MVP, $7MM for a runner-up finish, $6MM for third, $5MM for fourth, $4MM for fifth, or $3MM for landing in the back half of the top 10. Buxton narrowly missed the cutoff last year, landing in 11th place for the highest finish of his career — though he did collect a $1MM bonus for reaching 542 plate appearances. He’s trending toward a top 10 finish and potentially top five this season if he stays healthy.

There’s been some thought that Buxton could reconsider his no-trade stance if the Twins go on a scorched earth rebuild. He’ll be 33 in December and has only appeared in four career postseason games between injuries and the team’s inconsistency. Perhaps that’s what he alluded to with his comment about being told “something else,” but ownership seemed uninterested in stripping the roster all the way down last winter regardless. They didn’t make much of an effort to contend either, entering the season with one of the worst bullpens in the league and a top-heavy lineup. Still, they’ve hung close enough to the playoff picture that they probably don’t feel the need to go in that direction.

It will set up an interesting call on what to do with Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers. The former is under arbitration control for one year after this and would command a substantial return — likely one similar to when they landed two Top 100 prospects (Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson) for José Berríos at the 2021 deadline. Jeffers is an impending free agent and would be the best catcher available. He’s on the injured list after undergoing hamate surgery last month but could be back before the end of July.

Santiago Espinal Elects Free Agency

Anthony Franco — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 23:46:19 +0000

Santiago Espinal has cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The Dodgers designated the veteran infielder for assignment on Tuesday when Tommy Edman returned from injury.

Espinal has been outrighted twice this season. The first came when Kiké Hernández returned from the injured list. Hernández quickly went back down with injury, so the Dodgers re-signed Espinal as soon he cleared waivers. The roster fit is tougher with Edman back, as it’d probably require the utilityman accepting a minor league deal and reporting to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

A glove-first infielder, Espinal impressed the Dodgers on a non-roster invite to Spring Training. He hit .268 in 36 games this year but only walked once and recorded four extra-base hits. Espinal had a couple league average offensive seasons with the Blue Jays from 2021-22. He’s a .247/.296/.328 hitter in more than 1000 trips to the plate over the past four seasons.

Tigers To Recall Trei Cruz For Major League Debut

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 22:58:00 +0000

The Tigers are going to recall infielder/outfielder Trei Cruz, reports Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. He’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He’ll take the spot of Wenceel Pérez, who is headed for the injured list, per Chris McCosky of Detroit News. The Tigers are off today, so the move might not be made official until tomorrow.

Cruz, 27, is the grandson of José Cruz and the son of José Cruz. Per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, the Cruzes will soon become the fifth family with a grandfather, son and grandson all to have played in the major leagues. The other four are the Bells (Gus to Buddy to David and Mike), the Boones (Ray to Bob to Bret and Aaron), the Colemans (Joe to Joe to Casey) and the Hairstons (Sam to Jerry to Jerry and Scott).

The Tigers selected Trei with a third-round pick in 2020. He didn’t show too much in his first few seasons as a professional but burst onto the radar last year. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, he stepped to the plate 564 times in 2025. His home run tally of 13 was fairly modest but he drew walks at an exceptional 18.1% pace. That helped him produce a .279/.411/.456 slash line. The resulting 149 wRC+ indicated he was 49% better than league average. He got some help from a .349 batting average on balls in play but it would have been a nice showing even with some more neutral luck.

That prompted the Tigers to give him a roster spot in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He can play all three outfield spots and the three infield spots to the left of first base. He can swipe a few bases, getting to 17 last year. Coming into 2026, Baseball America ranked him the #18 prospect in the system. FanGraphs was a bit more bearish putting him at #32, expressing some concern with the switch-hitter’s lack of power as a righty and his general propensity to struggle with breaking stuff.

Cruz hasn’t carried over that momentum into this year. He was on the minor league injured for over a month, starting about three weeks into April and going through most of May. Around that IL stint, he has a .225/.331/.326 line in 163 plate appearances this year.

Pérez injured himself in a freak accident this week when a plyo band snapped and hit him near his eye, per McCosky. The Tigers will give him some time to recuperate and add Cruz into an outfield mix that also includes Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Zach McKinstry, James Outman, Jahmai Jones and Matt Vierling. Since Cruz can also play multiple infield spots, he’ll give Detroit some extra flexibility on the dirt as well. The infield group currently consists of Spencer Torkelson, Kevin McGonigle, Colt Keith, Hao-Yu Lee and McKinstry.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Angels To Place Mike Trout On Injured List

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 22:35:24 +0000

The Angels are going to place outfielder Mike Trout on the injured list with a hamstring injury, report Sam Blum and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Infielder Christian Moore will be recalled to take his place on the roster.

At this point, there are no details on the cause or the severity of Trout’s injury. He played in last night’s game and there wasn’t any indication that anything was amiss. Presumably, something popped up after the game or earlier today.

Regardless of the details, it’s a rough development for him and the team. The 34-year-old Trout continues to put up good numbers when on the field. He has been back in center field after mostly being a right fielder and designated hitter last year. He has 17 home runs. He is drawing walks at a massive 19.7% clip, one of the best such marks of his career. His 24.8% strikeout rate is above average but a nice improvement over last year, when that figure spiked to 32%. His .234/.394/.472 line leads to a 139 wRC+, indicating he has been 39% better than the league average hitter.

That will now be put on pause, which has become a common theme of Trout’s career as he has pushed into his 30s. Due to various injuries, he hasn’t played more than 130 games in a season since 2019. He has only twice topped 82 games in that span. He had stayed healthy this year until this point, appearing in 74 of the club’s 75 games. Unfortunately, he’s now going to be on the IL once more.

For the team, it’s a brutal blow, even if it’s a fairly minor injury. The Angels are 30-45 right now. The Rockies are the only team in the majors with a worse record. The Halos can’t really afford setbacks of any kind. Losing their best player for any amount of time only worsens their already-bleak prospects.

Without Trout, the Angels will probably have a regular outfield alignment of Jo Adell, Wade Meckler and Jose Siri. Moore has only played second base in his big league career but the Halos have started playing him in left field in the minors in recent weeks. Infielder Donovan Walton also has some outfield experience. It was reported a month ago that the club was doing some outfield work with Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza but neither infielder has been sent to the grass in official game action yet.

Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images

Big Kid Adds (Week 12)

Jeff Zimmerman — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 22:30:08 +0000

Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even larger entry fees ($2.5K to $15K). They are named Elite leagues (previously called High Stakes Leagues), and there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to […]

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Dustin May Is Boosting His Free Agent Stock

Leo Morgenstern — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:50:32 +0000

On Monday night at Busch Stadium, Dustin May made the most impressive start of his major league career. The right-hander was perfect through six and finished with a one-hit, one-walk shutout. He threw 101 pitches. He struck out nine. If it weren’t for Jacob Misiorowski’s 15-strikeout tour de force last Friday, this might have been the best-pitched game of the season.

With that gem, May brought his ERA under 4.00 and moved into the NL’s top 10 in quality starts and FanGraphs WAR. He owns a 3.38 xERA and a 3.75 SIERA. Only two qualified pitchers in either league have a lower home run rate, a lower walk rate, and a higher strikeout rate this season: Cam Schlittler and Cristopher Sánchez.

A shutout will juice anyone’s numbers, and not everything May is doing right now is sustainable. His home run-to-fly-ball ratio won’t stay so low forever. It’s currently less than half his rate from 2019-25. At the same time, his BABIP is significantly higher than his career average, while his strand rate is markedly lower. That means he’s run into some bad luck to balance out his good fortune. The result is a matching 3.75 ERA and SIERA. Baseball Prospectus agrees that his “deserved ERA” is 3.77, while the ZiPS projection system forecasts a 3.78 mark for him over the rest of the season. The PitchingBot model suggests the quality of his arsenal translates to 3.85 earned runs per nine. All of those metrics use disparate methods to reach their conclusions, but when it comes to May, they end up at the same one: He has earned his success so far in 2026.

May was an honorable mention on MLBTR’s last Top 50 Free Agents ranking. The $12.5MM guarantee he secured from the Cardinals was surprisingly high to some, but it wasn’t a mistake to leave him off the top 50; in terms of total salary, his contract was the 51st largest of the offseason. This winter, May could be much higher on the list. Not only is he healthy and pitching well, but the 2026-27 free agent class is notably thin. It’s so thin that Michael Soroka was one of five players who just missed the top 10 on MLBTR’s latest Free Agent Power Rankings.

Soroka isn’t just catching strays here. I bring him up because he’s a shockingly apt comparison for May. Watch them pitch this year, and you won’t see many similarities between the two. May leads with a sinker that touches 99 against righties and a four-seam that touches 99 against lefties. Soroka’s max velocity is three ticks slower, and his primary pitch is an 80-mph slurve. Yet, the two right-handers, born 33 days apart in 1997, are more alike than you might realize.

Their stories are two chapters from the same book. Once star prospects, May and Soroka lived up to the hype in their debut seasons, only for a series of injuries to derail their careers. Finally, in 2025, they both made double-digit starts for the first time since their rookie campaigns. They proceeded to sign one-year contracts (with mutual options for 2027) in free agency. Here are the career numbers through 2025 that earned them those deals:

3.86 ERA, 4.25 SIERA, 21.9% K rate, 8.3% BB rate, 46.6% GB rate
3.85 ERA, 4.29 SIERA, 21.8% K rate, 8.0% BB rate, 47.1% GB rate

The first bullet point is May, and the second is Soroka, but I left them unlabelled to drive home the message. For all intents and purposes, the stats are identical. Soroka has thrown more innings in his career, but May has thrown more recently. And on a per-inning basis, these two were pretty much the same pitcher for the first six seasons of their respective careers.

Through their first 14 starts in 2026, May ranks ninth in the National League in FanGraphs WAR. Soroka is one spot ahead, with a lead so small that a rounding error could wipe it out. Soroka has the better ERA, but May has the edge in xERA. Soroka has the lower walk rate, but May has induced more ground balls. SIERA favors Soroka, but most of the major pitch models prefer what May brings to the table. ZiPS projects nearly identical performance from each of them for the rest of the season.

So, if Soroka is on track to be one of next winter’s top 20 free agents, May belongs in that conversation as well. Soroka is a bigger name, thanks to the All-Star appearance, Rookie of the Year runner-up finish, and down-ballot Cy Young votes on his resume. All of that is impressive, but all of that was seven years ago. If either of these two still has an All-Star ceiling, it might be May instead. He throws harder and boasts an even deeper arsenal, with six pitches that he throws at least 5% of the time. In 2026, only three starting pitchers (min. 50 IP) have thrown six different pitches at least that often with an average fastball harder than May’s: Dylan Cease, Sandy Alcantara, and Eury Pérez. There’s more to being an ace than high velocity and a diverse pitch mix, and Pérez is all the proof you need. Nonetheless, those are valuable traits – perhaps even valuable enough to engender a bidding war among teams that think they can get the most out of them. Just last winter, the Blue Jays gave Cease $210MM because they saw the blueprint for a more consistent ace. So far, it’s looking like they were right. May won’t command anything close to nine figures, but that only increases the number of teams that might be interested in his services.

It’s far too soon to start writing May’s blurb for the top 50 list. When the last Free Agent Power Rankings came out, he still had a 4.59 ERA. That was less than two weeks ago. Things can change quickly. May also has to stay healthy, which is far from a given. This is a pitcher who has already torn his UCL twice. The elbow neuritis he suffered last September proved to be minor, and the esophageal tear that ended his 2024 season had nothing to do with baseball activities. Still, he has never topped 24 starts or 150 innings in a season, at the major or minor league level. But this could be the year that changes.

All he needs to do is stay on the field and keep pitching the way he has. If he can pull that off, Dustin May will be a name to watch this winter. That might be an indication of a weak free agent class, but it would also be a huge accomplishment for a pitcher who has dealt with more than his fair share of setbacks. With every start he makes in 2026, May can boost his free agent stock.

Images courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images.

Angels Reportedly Receiving Early Interest In Reid Detmers

Steve Adams — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:42:05 +0000

The trade deadline is still more than six weeks away, but pitching-hungry clubs have already been checking in with Angels GM Perry Minasian about the potential availability of breakout lefty Reid Detmers, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today. There’s no indication there have been any serious talks. To the contrary, Nightengale suggests that the Angels may be more inclined to hang onto the 26-year-old southpaw.

It’s a familiar refrain for Angels fans. Detmers is controlled only for two more seasons beyond the current campaign. The Angels, tied with the Royals for the American League’s worst record and sporting one of MLB’s weakest farm systems, aren’t going to be competitive in that time.

One could easily argue that Detmers ought to be an extension candidate. There’d be good sense in that for the Halos, but it doesn’t seem likely. The last time the Angels signed any player to an extension was more than four years ago, when catcher Max Stassi signed for three years and $17.5MM. A look at MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that since the hiring of GM Perry Minasian in Nov. 2020, Stassi and utilityman David Fletcher (five years, $26MM in 2021) are the only two players who have signed extensions buying out would-be free agent years.

Detmers, the No. 10 overall draft pick back in 2020, moved back to the rotation after a year spent in the bullpen in 2025. He’s out to an excellent start, sporting a 3.68 ERA through 88 innings across his first 15 turns back in the Angels’ rotation. His underlying rate stats are even better. Detmers has fanned 28.2% of opponents against a 6.8% walk rate. He’s touting better-than-average chase, contact and swinging-strike rates.

A significant amount of the damage against Detmers this season came in one lone start: an eight-run drubbing at the hands of the A’s back on May 19. Detmers responded to that outing by bouncing back with eight innings of one-run ball and a career-high 14 strikeouts. He hasn’t slowed down. In five starts since that Athletics hiccup, Detmers has pitched 33 innings, allowed five runs (1.36 ERA) on 12 hits and five walks. He’s set down 33.9% of his opponents on strikes in that span and only walked 4.3% of the batters he’s faced. Metrics like SIERA (3.33), FIP (2.81) and xERA (2.76) feel Detmers has performed far better than his already-solid earned run average might suggest.

Given his prospect pedigree, age, remaining club control and upward trendlines, Detmers would be one of the most sought-after trade pieces on the entire market. Any team acquiring him would be adding the southpaw for potentially three playoff races. He’s being paid just $2.625MM this season and will likely cost less than $20MM for his remaining two seasons of club control. He’d fit into any club’s playoff rotation, and organizations with a better track record of pitcher development might feel there’s another gear to be unlocked.

Trades of starters with two-plus seasons of left are rare at any point but especially midseason. The Marlins added four prospects from the Yankees in the trade sending Ryan Weathers to the Bronx and added a three-player package (headlined by consensus top-100 prospect Owen Caissie) when they traded Edward Cabrera to the Cubs. Both players had three full seasons of club control remaining, though Detmers is arguably more accomplished and more desirable than both former Fish hurlers. The White Sox picked up a pair of top-100 prospects (Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery) plus a nearly MLB-ready infielder (Chase Meidroth) when trading two seasons of Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox.

Detmers is just one of several potential high-end trade chips the Angels possess. He, Jose Soriano and Zach Neto, in particular, could net the sort of trade deadline haul that would completely overhaul an Angels farm system that entered the year ranked 27th of 30 per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, 28th at Baseball America and at MLB.com, and 29th via The Athletic’s Keith Law.

As I recently explored in a piece for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, however, the Angels have repeatedly refused to acknowledge their bleak long-term outlook and held onto just this set of marketable asset until they either reached free agency or completely eroded their trade value. Only time will tell whether barreling toward a fifth straight season of at least 89 losses — they’re on pace to lose 97 games in 2026 — will prompt a philosophical change from owner Arte Moreno.

MLB Proposes Significant Changes To Amateur Draft

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:35:21 +0000

Negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association continue for the next collective bargaining agreement. Today, MLB proposed significant changes to the draft. J.J Cooper of Baseball America was among those to cover the developments.

The league’s proposed framework would be a significant drawdown of the way the draft has operated for years. High school players would no longer be eligible to be selected. In fact, anyone under 20 years old by September 1st of the draft year would not be eligible, so that would take many college and junior college players off the table as well.

The draft itself would be dropped from 20 rounds to 12. The current 20-round format is already a significant reduction, as the draft has been much longer in the past. It was 50 rounds through 2011, when it was dropped to 40. That length lasted through 2019. Another notable element of the proposal is hard draft slots, meaning a drafted player would have no ability to negotiate his signing bonus.

Teams would also have more freedom to trade picks. Currently, only the Competitive Balance Round picks can be traded. Under this proposal, all picks could be traded, with a few restrictions. A pick could not be traded until the prior draft has taken place, so picks can’t be traded years in advance. A team would not be allowed to trade a first-round pick two years in a row. A team could not add more than three picks in the first three rounds of any individual draft. Trades while the draft is actually taking place can only be made until the first round has been completed.

The Competitive Balance Round picks would be eliminated. That aligns with the league’s salary cap and floor proposal with shared league revenues. Those picks currently exist to provide a boost to the lower-spending clubs. Since the goal of the cap-and-floor system is to eliminate financial imbalances between clubs, the need for those picks would theoretically be eliminated as well. The lottery would also be altered as there are different rules for revenue-sharing payors versus payees.

A common theme of the proposed changes is cutting costs for big league clubs. In terms of costs directly associated with the draft, fewer rounds means fewer signing bonus to pay. The hard slot values also provide the teams with cost certainty.

Less directly, the rules would limit the upside of certain players, as it would become harder to approach or reach free agency at a young age. For instance, Konnor Griffin was drafted out of high school at the age of 18. He made it to the majors prior to his 20th birthday and would have been on a path for free agency in his mid-20s. That would not be possible under this current system. The trajectory gave Griffin enough leverage to secure a nine-year extension worth $140MM, a record deal for a player with just a handful of days in the majors. (Though Kevin McGonigle would get to $150MM one week later.) Cooper lists Mike Trout, Álex Rodríguez, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr., Bryce Harper and Johnny Bench as other examples from the past of guys rising to the majors as teenagers.

It would also probably lead to other indirect cost savings. The proposed setup would effectively outsource player development of younger players to colleges. That means big league teams would probably dedicate fewer resources to staffing at the lower levels. Teams cut also cut corners when it comes to scouts, as scouring the continent to see high school players would no longer be as important.

The proposal would also include an international draft, which is something not currently in existence. Players from outside the United States, Canada and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico are currently free to sign with any club if they are going to be 17 years old by September 1st of the signing year. Each team has a hard-capped spending pool in the range of $5MM to $9MM, so no one gets more than a few million.

Under today’s proposal, players would not be eligible for selection until one year later, the year in which they are 18 prior to September 1st. An international draft was discussed as part of the last round of CBA negotiations but ultimately didn’t get agreed to, so the pool system stayed in place. In previous proposals, the international draft had significantly smaller pools than the domestic draft. This proposal would see them lined up, though that would be done by reducing the domestic pools.

Given that the measures would cut the amount of spending going to players, the MLBPA is unsurprisingly opposed. The union released a statement saying that the new rules would lead to a $400MM drop in player compensation just when comparing the 2026 draft/pool systems to what the league is proposing for 2027, as well as a loss of over a billion over the next five years.

As with all proposals made this early in the process, it’s worth pointing out that there’s still a long way to go and most things that hit the table won’t come to fruition. The current CBA runs through December 1st. When the last CBA expired, MLB locked out the players. That lockout lasted over three months, going over a week into March. This far out, both sides are going to stake out positions that they know the other won’t accept. Over time, the sides will each back off some demands as the negotiating process plays out.

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

Rookie Check In: Get a Jump Start on These Four Deep-League Starting Pitchers

Corbin Young — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:30:49 +0000

Should we buy, sell, or hold these four starting pitchers in deep-league keeper and dynasty formats?

Source

Top 150 Hitters for Fantasy Baseball 2026 – Week 12

Scott Chu — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:00:24 +0000

Scott Chu updates his top 150 hitters for fantasy baseball.

The post Top 150 Hitters for Fantasy Baseball 2026 – Week 12 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Phillies Sign Kolby Allard To Minor League Deal

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 20:20:38 +0000

The Phillies have signed left-hander Kolby Allard to a minor league deal, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. He’ll head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and provide the Phils with some non-roster pitching depth.

Allard, 28, just opted out of a minor league deal with the Guardians. He had been pitching well at the Triple-A level prior to getting out of that deal. He had thrown 30 2/3 innings for Columbus, allowing 4.11 earned runs per nine. He struck out 22.4% of batters faced, gave out walks to 7.2% of opponents and induced grounders on 45.3% of balls in play.

The lefty doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging around 90 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker. But he has nonetheless been able to find some major league success at times. He had a 2.63 earned run average in 65 innings with Cleveland last year, though he had some help from a 79.2% strand rate. His 3.54 FIP and 4.41 SIERA pointed to him being a regression candidate. For his big league career as a whole, he has a 5.47 ERA over parts of nine seasons. That includes a 10.38 ERA in a small sample of 8 2/3 innings with the Guards earlier this year.

For the Phillies, the back of their rotation is a big question mark right now. The first three spots are golden, as they have Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo in those. Aaron Nola is struggling but there’s not much the club can do about that, given his contract and status in the organization. Andrew Painter has been in the rotation all year until this week. He has a 7.06 ERA for the season. His struggles finally became too much to bear yesterday, as he was sent down to the minors.

Bryse Wilson was added to the roster today. He could take a rotation spot or be used as a long reliever. Alan Rangel and Jean Cabrera are on the 40-man roster, though Cabrera has a 9.39 ERA on the farm this year. Rangel’s 3.99 ERA is more palatable but he has just 14 innings of big league experience.

The Phillies have reportedly been exploring the market for back-end starters. Even if they don’t put anything together soon, they will likely enhance their efforts to add starting pitching as the deadline draws nearer. For now, Allard gives them an experienced depth arm who has been putting some decent numbers lately. If Allard eventually gets a roster spot, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Adolis García To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:50:01 +0000

The Phillies announced that outfielder Adolis García will undergo right latissimus dorsi repair surgery on Wednesday, June 24th. The recovery period is six to eight months, so he will miss the remainder of the season. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2027 schedule. He is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the campaign. He will be a free agent at season’s end.

García’s injury was clear at the moment it occurred, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. In a game against the Blue Jays last week, García came up throwing as George Springer tried to score from third on a fly out off the bat of Kazuma Okamoto. García made a strong throw, though Springer was safe on the play. Immediately after the throw, García was in obvious pain. He received attention from the training staff and then departed the contest.

Two days later, the Phillies placed García on the 60-day injured list, indicating they knew pretty quickly that he was going to miss at least a few months. Now he’ll miss even more than that and won’t be a factor in the second half.

The news closes the book on Philadelphia’s planned switch in right field for 2026. They had Nick Castellanos in that position for many years and he was still signed through this year but it was clear all offseason that they would be moving on from him before the campaign kicked off. They signed García to a one-year, $10MM deal in December and then released Castellanos in February.

That pivot has not worked out. Moving on from Castellanos was sensible enough. His numbers had been declining for a while and he hit .191/.221/.339 for the Padres this year. But García couldn’t meaningfully patch that spot. He hit .195/.270/.329 while striking out at a 32.4% pace before this shoulder injury wiped out the rest of his season.

The Phils are reportedly on the look for outfield help and they will almost certainly do something prior to the trade deadline. They still have Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford in two spots. Marsh is having a good season but Crawford has a .238/.293/.330 line in his first 222 career plate appearances. Since García’s injury, the Phils have been using a platoon of Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Edmundo Sosa to cover another spot. Sosa has a .234/.269/.378 line on the year and Rinconces has a .071/.071/.286 line through 14 plate appearances.

For García, it’s a rough position to be in. He had some strong seasons with the Rangers from 2021 to 2023, helping that club win the World Series in the final of those three seasons. His numbers slipped from there, as he slashed .225/.278/.397 over the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Texas decided to move on, non-tendering him after last year.

His strong defense and his past success were still enough to get him his aforementioned deal with the Phillies but he performed poorly and will still be recovering from this surgery when the offseason begins. It’s widely expected that there will be a lockout at the start of December, like there was in the 2021-22 offseason. That winter saw a rush of transactions before and after the lockout. If that happens again this time, García might be trying to draw some attention amid that frenzy with some kind of showcase after he is recovered.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

Phillies Select Bryse Wilson

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:20:19 +0000

The Phillies announced that they have selected Bryse Wilson and recalled righty Seth Johnson. Left-hander Tanner Banks was optioned in a corresponding move. There was already one vacancy with righty Andrew Painter being optioned yesterday. The 40-man had a vacancy for Wilson with outfielder Adolis García being placed on the 60-day injured list last week.

Wilson, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason. He was released in June, perhaps after triggering an opt-out clause, but then re-signed with the club on a new minor league deal. It was reported yesterday that Wilson had triggered an upward mobility clause in that deal.

It’s understandable why the Phils would give him a roster spot. The back of their rotation has become an issue. They started the year with both Taijuan Walker and Andrew Painter in rotation spots. When Zack Wheeler was able to return from his surgery recovery, Walker was jettisoned. Painter held his spot but his struggles mounted. His outing yesterday bumped his earned run average for the year to 7.06, which led Philly to kick him to the minors.

The Phils have a strong front three in Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo. They aren’t getting good results from Aaron Nola but he’s not going anywhere due to his contract and his stature within the organization.

Wilson could be a candidate to fill Painter’s spot, at least for a while. Wilson has some big league track record, both as a starter and a reliever. He has appeared in 163 games, 57 of those being starts. He has logged 461 innings, allowing 4.82 earned runs per nine. His 16.6% strikeout rate isn’t strong but he has limited walks to a 7.5% pace.

This year, his results have been trending up. For the year as a whole, he has a 6.29 ERA in 54 1/3 Triple-A innings, but with most of the damage coming early on. He has a 3.94 ERA since the start of May, with a 24.1% strikeout rate, and his past three outings have been scoreless.

The Phils are reportedly searching the market for back-end starters. They have an off-day on Friday, so they may not need to decide on a fifth starter right away. For now, Wilson gives them a length option in the bullpen, but he could perhaps make a start next week if they don’t find any other options. Alan Rangel and Jean Cabrera are spot starter candidates on the 40-man, although Cabrera has a 9.39 ERA on the farm this year. If Wilson is nudged out of the club’s plans at any point, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Orlando Arcia Accepts Outright Assignment With Twins

Steve Adams — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:09:46 +0000

Veteran infielder Orlando Arcia went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Twins, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. He had the right to elect free agency but will instead accept an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul.

The Twins selected Arcia to the major league roster last month after they optioned Royce Lewis to third base and moved Brooks Lee from shortstop to the hot corner. The 31-year-old wound up appearing in 19 games and taking 50 plate appearances. He hit .271/.300/.354 with a homer in that span. He’ll now return to the Saints (the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate), for whom he slashed .318/.376/.556 with eight homers in 165 plate appearances prior to his call to the majors.

Arcia has played in parts of 11 major league seasons and accrued nearly nine years of service in the process. The younger brother of former Twins outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, Orlando once ranked among the sport’s 10 best prospects but never came close to reaching his ceiling with the Brewers, his original organization. He had a nice two-year run with the Braves after being traded to Atlanta, hitting .258/.319/.419 in 767 plate appearances from 2022-23.

Since that quality run in Atlanta, Arcia’s bat has regressed. He’s batted .217/.265/.338 over his past 866 big league plate appearances and is now a lifetime .240/.292/.369 hitter in 3587 plate appearances as a major leaguer. He’ll have plenty of playing time in St. Paul right now with top shortstop prospect Kaelen Culpepper recently hitting the injured list due to a hip strain. Even if the Twins give Culpepper a shot to prove he’s their shortstop of the future once he returns, Arcia could work his way back to the big leagues with another injury in the Minnesota infield or if infielder/outfielder Tristan Gray (.244/.288/.370) continues to struggle.

Cardinals Designate Chris Roycroft For Assignment

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:00:13 +0000

The Cardinals announced that right-hander Chris Roycroft has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a 40-man spot for Max Rajcic. MLBTR covered Rajcic’s promotion earlier today.

It’s an unfortunate early birthday present for Roycroft, who turns 29 on Sunday. An undrafted free agent in 2019, the righty started his professional career in independent ball before the Cards scooped him up in 2022. He worked his way up through the minors as a reliever who could generate ground balls. He was added to the 40-man roster in May of 2024.

His first season in the bigs was fairly successful. Roycroft logged 34 1/3 innings out of the St. Louis bullpen, allowing 4.19 earned runs per nine. His 21.3% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate were both a bit worse than average but he induced grounders on 53.5% of balls in play.

Since then, the results haven’t been nearly as pleasant. Dating back to the start of last season, he has a 9.35 ERA in 26 innings. He has still generated grounders on 53.1% of balls in play in that time but he only struck out 13.6% of opponents and gave out walks at a 14.3% pace. He has mostly been in the minors this year and has put up a 5.84 ERA at the Triple-A level.

That performance has led the Cards to push him off the roster and into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cards could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put him on the wire sooner than that. If he were to clear waivers, he would stick around as non-roster depth. Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright nor three years of big league service time, he would not have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

White Sox Place Everson Pereira On Injured List, Recall Junior Perez For MLB Debut

Steve Adams — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:53:11 +0000

The White Sox on Thursday placed outfielder Everson Pereira on the 7-day injured list due to concussion symptoms. Fellow outfielder Junior Perez has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte in his place. Perez will be making his MLB debut the first time he steps onto the field.

Pereira, 25, only just returned from a six-week absence due to a pectoral strain. He took six hitless plate appearances between IL stints, dropping his season line to .232/.299/.420 in 77 trips to the plate. Pereira suffered his injury when he crashed into the center field wall while making an outstanding catch against Yankees slugger Ben Rice (video link). He’ll be sidelined for at least the next week.

The 24-year-old Perez was only acquired from the A’s back in mid-May. Chicago sent minor league lefty Jackson Nove back to the Athletics to acquire Perez, who’d previously been designated for assignment. Perez has hit .230/.326/.432 in 80 Triple-A plate appearances since landing in the ChiSox organization. He’s popped a pair of homers and swiped five bags while fanning at an alarming 37.9% clip.

Perez was only selected to the 40-man roster back in November. The A’s were understandably unwilling to risk letting him go unprotected ahead of the Rule 5 Draft after he’d slashed .231/.348/.478 with 26 homers, 27 steals and a 14.8% walk rate between Double-A and Triple-A in 2025. His production this season hasn’t kept up; between the two organizations, he’s hitting .217/.292/.401 with a 35% strikeout rate.

Perez is a right-handed hitter with plus speed and above-average power. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and has spent the bulk of his minor league tenure in center field, where scouting reports peg him as serviceable. There are clear hit tool concerns with him — he also fanned at a 28% clip in 2025 — but the power/speed/defense combination and a full slate of minor league options held appeal for the White Sox. The South Siders now have Pereira, Austin Hays, Brooks Baldwin and Tanner Murray on the injured list, which has helped to open a path for Perez to get his first major league look.

Reds Select Will Banfield, Outright P.J. Higgins

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:40:41 +0000

The Reds announced that catcher Will Banfield has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Fellow catcher P.J. Higgins has been outrighted to open a 40-man spot. It wasn’t previously reported that Higgins was off the 40-man roster so it seems Cincinnati quietly put him on waivers a few days ago.

Banfield, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He presumably had some kind of opt-out or upward mobility clause in that deal, as that usually explains why a team would add a player to its roster but then immediately option him back to the minors. Giving him the 40-man spot prevents him from getting away but doesn’t require the team to bump anyone else off the active roster.

It has been a good season in Louisville for Banfield so far. He has six home runs in 189 plate appearances, a .281/.337/.439 line and 103 wRC+. That indicates he has been 3% better than league average, though he’s gotten some help from a .344 batting average on balls in play.

Banfield has a good defensive reputation, so it’s possible the Reds view any offensive output as a bonus. He hit just .233/.285/.343 at the Triple-A level across 2024 and 2025 but still got a brief look in the majors with the Reds last year, getting into seven games. He was non-tendered at the end of the year and then re-signed his aforementioned minor league deal.

The Reds have Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino as their catchers at the big league level. Higgins was on the 40-man but on optional assignment. It seems the Reds preferred Banfield in that job, so they have swapped him in. Stephenson is an impending free agent and Trevino’s deal is only guaranteed through 2027, so there could be some long-term openings for playing time. Banfield can be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season.

Higgins, 33, also signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He was added to the roster in April, outrighted in May, but then selected back to the roster a few days later. Around the transactions, he took 32 plate appearances in 14 games and hit .231/.276/.269. He now has a .212/.289/.340 line in 286 career trips to the plate. He has generally received favorable marks for his defense in the minors.

Since Higgins has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject this outright assignment and elect free agency. The last time the Reds outrighted him, he accepted and was back on the roster a few days later. Now that Banfield is ahead of him on the chart, perhaps that makes him more likely to test the open market.

Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images

Cardinals To Select Max Rajcic

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:10:48 +0000

The Cardinals are calling up right-hander Max Rajcic, reports Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Fellow righty Chris Roycroft will be optioned as the corresponding active roster move. Rajcic will also need a spot on the 40-man.

Rajcic, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Cards in 2022. He was a prospect of note as he climbed the ladder, working as a starter, but his results backed up as he reached the higher levels of the minor leagues. This year, the Cards have been using him exclusively as a reliever. He did technically make one start but that was for two innings as an opener.

The results of the switch have been encouraging. Rajcic has thrown 40 2/3 Triple-A innings over 26 appearances, allowing 2.88 earned runs per nine. His 8.6% walk rate is around average while his 28.4% strikeout rate and 48.5% ground ball rate are both notably better than par. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging around 95 miles per hour as he also mixes in a slider, curveball and changeup.

Roycroft has been up and down all year and it took him 42 pitches to get through an inning and a third in last night’s game. He was probably going to be unavailable for a bit after that performance anyway, so he has been sent down once more. That will give Rajcic a chance to potentially make his major league debut and see how his stuff plays against big league hitters. Since this is the first time Rajcic has been added to a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be easily sent back to the farm when the Cards need a fresh arm again in the future.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Playing Time Trends: Week 13

Mark Steubinger — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:00:47 +0000

Covering the position players trending up and down in playing time.

The post Playing Time Trends: Week 13 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 6/17

Rick Graham — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:33:27 +0000

A Review of Key Bullpen and Reliever Usage from Yesterday's Games

The post Fantasy Baseball Relief Pitcher Roundup: 6/17 appeared first on Pitcher List.

PPP 805 – Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitchers To Add And Drop – 6-18-26

Nick Pollack — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:31:24 +0000

Nick Pollack's latest episode of his SP focused Plus Pitch Podcast.

The post PPP 805 – Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitchers To Add And Drop – 6-18-26 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Starting Pitcher Streamer Ranks Fantasy Baseball: 6/18 & 6/19 & 6/20

Nick Pollack — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:03:32 +0000

Best SP streamers and rankings for today & tomorrow & day after.

The post Starting Pitcher Streamer Ranks Fantasy Baseball: 6/18 & 6/19 & 6/20 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Mariners Sign Weston Wilson To Minor League Contract

Steve Adams — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:57:43 +0000

Infielder/outfielder Weston Wilson has signed a minor league contract with the Mariners after electing free agency in lieu of an outright assignment from the Orioles late last week. The team never formally announced the signing, but Wilson made his organizational debut with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma two days ago. He’s picked up a pair of three-hit games for the Rainiers already.

Wilson, 31, appeared in 21 games with the O’s and took 46 plate appearances prior to being designated for assignment. He hit .231/.348/.333 in that brief stretch, which marked his fourth season with some degree of major league experience. Wilson debuted with the 2023 Phillies and has totaled 291 plate appearances in the majors since. In that time, he’s slashed .240/.331/.413 — about 8% better than league-average production, by measure of wRC+.

Solid as that overall showing is, it came in frontloaded fashion. Wilson posted big numbers in brief auditions with the 2023-24 Phils before struggling to a .198/.282/.369 performance in a career-high 125 plate appearances with Philadelphia last year. He’s a right-handed hitter who’s batted .248/.351/.456 when facing lefties but just .229/.302/.352 against fellow righties.

Wilson has played first base, second base, third base and both outfield corners in the majors. He’s a career .248/.340/.462 hitter in parts of six minor league seasons. He gives the Mariners some righty-swinging depth at several positions and a generally productive Triple-A bat to round out the Tacoma roster. Seattle is currently without righty-swinging left fielder Randy Arozarena, lefty-hitting infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan and righty-hitting utilityman Will Wilson (the latter of whom is reportedly weighing season-ending surgery).

At the moment, the Mariners are carrying a pair of veteran infield/outfield options on the bench: Rob Refsnyder and Connor Joe. Refsnyder has struggled greatly in his first season with the M’s. He signed a one-year, $6.25MM deal in free agency after a nice four-year run in Boston but has hit only .143/.214/.242 in 104 plate appearances. Joe is batting .189/.302/.324 in 43 plate appearances as a Mariner. Should either (or both) continue to struggle, it’s possible the Mariners could view the newly signed Wilson as a right-handed alternative off the bench.

Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup 6/17: Ode To Leahy…Who?

Nick Pollack — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:14:31 +0000

Nick Pollack reviews every starting pitcher performance from Wednesday.

The post Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup 6/17: Ode To Leahy…Who? appeared first on Pitcher List.

Buy & Sell 6/18 – Identifying Who to Add & Who to Drop

Ben Pernick — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:00:31 +0000

Ben Pernick recommends the hottest and coldest hitters to add and drop.

The post Buy & Sell 6/18 – Identifying Who to Add & Who to Drop appeared first on Pitcher List.

Jensen Does a Bit of Everything – Fantasy Hitting Recap 6/17/26

Ben Solow — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:33:35 +0000

Breaking down notable hitting performances from yesterday’s games.

The post Jensen Does a Bit of Everything – Fantasy Hitting Recap 6/17/26 appeared first on Pitcher List.

In Search of Some Luck

Jack Martin — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:30:38 +0000

Finding the leagues unluckiest hitters.

Source

Quinn Priester To Undergo Thoracic Outlet Surgery

Steve Adams — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:23:09 +0000

Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester will undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery on Monday, Priester himself tells Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (video link). Priester, who’s spent the entire season on the injured list, will miss the remainder of the season as a result.

Priester has been dealing with thoracic outlet symptoms since spring training. As the righty himself explained, diagnosing thoracic outlet syndrome is often a “process of exclusion,” meaning the best way to definitively diagnose it is to eliminate other potential causes. They’ve done that and attempted various alternate treatments in hopes that Priester could avoid going under the knife, but while Priester has gotten to the point of being pain-free at times, he’s not able to consistently repeat his mechanics because of the nerve issues that are plaguing him. Priester made eight minor league rehab appearances but walked 25% of his opponents and plunked another 4.1% of them.

Some fans may wonder why Priester didn’t get the surgery in spring training, when his symptoms first arose. That stems from the exclusionary nature of the diagnosis process but also is likely due to the expected timetable for recovery. Priester said he’ll be down from throwing for three months following the surgery and will need a total of eight to ten months before he’s game-ready.

That eight-month timeline would’ve wiped out his entire season anyhow, even if he’d had surgery in late March. He’s now hoping to be ready when pitchers and catchers report next spring, though that’ll depend on his recovery. It’s obviously possible that his rehab could push later into spring training or even early in the season.

Priester is already on the 60-day IL. He’ll spend the entire season there, accruing major league service time and pay while he’s on the mend. He’ll finish the season with 2.134 years of major league service, which could put him on the bubble of Super Two eligibility. That’d make him arbitration-eligible for the first time this coming winter and for each of the three subsequent offseasons. If he falls just shy of Super Two designation, he wouldn’t be arb-eligible until the 2027-28 offseason.

Even with Priester missing the season and possibly being arb-eligible, there’s no scenario in which he’d be a non-tender candidate. The former first-round pick and top prospect came to Milwaukee in what’s become a potential heist with the Red Sox. Minor league outfielder Yophery Rodriguez, minor league righty John Holobetz and the Brewers’ Competitive Balance draft selection in 2025 went back to Boston in that swap. The Sox selected righty Marcus Phillips with that pick. Boston’s return still has potential. Phillips and Holobetz entered the season ranked ninth and 14th among Red Sox farmhands, per Baseball America.

Priester, however, broke out as a high-end, playoff-caliber starter with Milwaukee last year and is still controlled four years after the current season. The 6’3″, 225-pound righty pitched 157 1/3 innings for manager Pat Murphy and logged a sharp 3.32 ERA. Priester’s 20.2% strikeout rate was a bit shy of average, but he countered that with good command (7.7% walk rate) and one of the highest ground-ball rates in the game (56.1%). Priester took some time to find his footing, but after a shakier start in the rotation, he closed out the season with a 2.95 ERA and even better rate stats over his final 17 appearances.

With Priester out for the season, the Brewers will lean more heavily on Cy Young candidate Jacob Misiorowski and lefty Kyle Harrison, whose 2026 breakout closely mirrors that of Priester. (Like Priester, Harrison is a former first-rounder and top prospect who’d been traded from his original organization to the Red Sox — only to be dealt a second time to Milwaukee.) The rest of the rotation has been more fluid, in part due to injury. Robert Gasser, Brandon Sproat and Shane Drohan have rotation spots right now, but Brandon Woodruff, Logan Henderson and Coleman Crow have all started games for Murphy and are currently on the injured list. Chad Patrick has bounced between the rotation and bullpen, giving the Brewers another solid back-end option.

Relief Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball: 6/18

Rick Graham — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:18:30 +0000

The Best Reliever Streamers for Today with Updated Bullpen Usage Charts

The post Relief Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball: 6/18 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Giants Outright Will Brennan

Steve Adams — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:15:40 +0000

The Giants announced that outfielder Will Brennan went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Sacramento. He was designated for assignment a week ago.

The 28-year-old Brennan reached three years of big league service with the Giants this season, which technically gives him the right to reject his assignment in favor of free agency. However, Brennan signed a split major league contract with San Francisco this offseason after being non-tendered in Cleveland. That deal pays him at a $900K rate in the majors and a $400K rate in the minors. Rejecting an outright would mean forfeiting those rates of pay, so Brennan will almost certainly accept the assignment and stick with the Giants as depth.

Brennan appeared in 11 games for rookie skipper Tony Vitello’s club this season. He picked up 23 plate appearances and tallied only two hits — both of them singles. Brennan didn’t draw a walk but also only punched out three times. He posted a huge 93.9% contact rate, but despite the frequency of contact, Brennan didn’t hit the ball hard. He also popped up to the infield three times in that tiny sample.

It may only have been 23 plate appearances, but those 23 turns at the plate are a microcosm of Brennan’s broader career. He’s played parts of four seasons in the majors with the Guardians and showed a similar penchant for high contact rates but low impact when he puts the ball in the play (with a susceptibility to infield flies). Brennan is a career .263/.301/.365 hitter in 889 big league plate appearances. He’s only struck out at a 12.7% clip but sports just a 4.7% walk rate. The 2019 eighth-rounder has averaged a well below-average 85.9 mph off the bat in the majors and has just a 31% hard-hit rate.

Brennan is a solid right field defender with plus-bat-to-ball skills, above-average speed and a pair of minor league options remaining. His low-power, contact-driven approach dates back to the minors, evidenced by a career .324/.368/.464 line and 12.6% strikeout rate in 744 Triple-A plate appearances. The Giants have Harrison Bader, Heliot Ramos and Jared Oliva on the major league injured and Grant McCray on the minor league injured list. Casey Schmitt, Drew Gilbert and Jung Hoo Lee are getting frequent run in the outfield right now, but Brennan might only be one injury away from getting another look on the big league roster. For now, he’ll play regularly with the RiverCats and wait for another opportunity.

MLB News & Moments: Corbin Carroll’s Grand Turn

Asher Dratel — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:30:28 +0000

E-Rod Hits 100, Matt Olson Plays The Field, and Dinger Changes

The post MLB News & Moments: Corbin Carroll’s Grand Turn appeared first on Pitcher List.

The Opener: Bradish, Espino, Rodriguez

Charlie Wright — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:25:19 +0000

Athletics infielder Zack Gelof pushed his hitting streak to 21 games with a solo homer on Wednesday against the Pirates. Injuries and poor performance have limited his time in the majors recently, but Gelof is back to being a fixture in the A’s lineup.

1. Bradish punches out a dozen

Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish was knocked around for five earned runs over four innings against the Mariners last week. He got his revenge in a rematch on Wednesday, striking out a career-high 12 over 7 2/3 innings in a win over Seattle. Bradish has flashed strong swing-and-miss skills the past two seasons. He posted a 32.5% strikeout rate over eight starts in 2024 before needing UCL surgery. The righty came back for six outings last year and punched out opponents at a 37.3% clip. The strikeouts have been down in 2026, as Bradish came into Wednesday’s start with a 22.6% strikeout rate. More concerning might be the 12.1% walk rate, which went up after two free passes against the Mariners.

2. Espino makes his debut

Former top pitching prospect Daniel Espino finally got into a game on Wednesday after being called up last week. The right-hander fired a perfect sixth inning, striking out two. Espino only tossed 12 pitches in his clean frame, but they were impressive. He sat at 99.8 mph with the four-seamer. The Brewers swung at it four times, and all were whiffs. Espino’s three sliders averaged 91.6 mph. This appearance was clearly a low-leverage spot, with Cleveland trailing by three runs in the middle innings, but Espino might have the stuff to push for late-inning opportunities.

3. Rodriguez reaches career milestone

Diamondbacks left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a win over the Angels last night. The veteran earned the 100th victory of his career. Rodriguez is having a resurgent season in his third year in Arizona. He’s posted a 2.45 ERA across 15 starts. The expected stats don’t buy the strong start, as Rodriguez has a 4.91 xERA and a 4.41 xFIP. His 4.78 SIERA looks a lot like the ERAs over 5.00 he’s put up the past two seasons. Rodriguez has been buoyed by a career-low .256 BABIP and a sub-10% HR/FB rate, but he’s also made a pitch tweak that could explain his improvement. The lefty has added an inch of induced vertical break and a bit more arm-side run to his four-seamer. The fastball has a +6 Run Value and has paired well with his changeup (+3 Run Value).

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Picks: 6/18/26

Ryan Amore — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:00:26 +0000

Goldy and Eldridge Won't Stop

The post Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Picks: 6/18/26 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Starts and Sits - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball (June 15 - June 21)

Nick Mariano — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:00:02 +0000

Limber up that arm and get ready to dominate with some updated starting pitcher starts/sits for fantasy baseball for the week ahead - Monday, June 15 through Sunday, June 21. We'll tell you who is pitching, their opponent, and a confidence/startability score based on our winning tools. This is all built to provide you with […]

Roto Riteup: June 18, 2026

Vlad Sedler — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:30:36 +0000

Roto Riteup time, let's rock!

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WAF 217 – Buy, Sell, Hold

Steve Gesuele — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:00:23 +0000

Van and Steve buy, sell or hold notable first-half performances.

The post WAF 217 – Buy, Sell, Hold appeared first on Pitcher List.

Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Notes | First Pitch 6/18/26

Jake Crumpler — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:00:12 +0000

Everything you need to know to win your fantasy baseball league, daily

The post Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Notes | First Pitch 6/18/26 appeared first on Pitcher List.

The Giants’ More Appealing Expensive Trade Candidate

Anthony Franco — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:58:40 +0000

Above only the Rockies in the National League, the Giants are seemingly beginning preparation to sell at the deadline. The early focus has been on impending free agents Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray — as well as the team’s openness to shedding the Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman contracts.

Those are all self-explanatory. Arraez is an obvious trade chip if they’re not going to sign him to an extension. They can pay down a portion of Ray’s $25MM salary to get a mid-tier prospect back for him. The other three contracts are above market value, especially the Adames and Devers deals. They’re not going to offload those entire contracts. Are they motivated enough that they’d pay down half the money to find a trade partner for Adames or Devers? Chapman’s deal isn’t as unfavorable but is also complicated by his full no-trade clause; he told Evan Weckek of The California Post last night that he hasn’t given the no-trade clause any thought because he hasn’t heard anything from president of baseball operations Buster Posey.

Adames, Devers and Chapman have three of San Francisco’s five significant long-term contracts. The team’s early messaging is that they’re not looking to move ace Logan Webb. There hasn’t been much speculation about Jung Hoo Lee, whom they could more easily replace than Webb but whose contract would be less onerous than those of their other three expensive hitters.

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MLBTR Podcast: The Giants Prepare To Sell, Milwaukee’s Extension Strategy, And The Busy AL Central

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:57:46 +0000

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

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

The Giants reportedly preparing to sell at the deadline (2:35)
The Brewers extending Luis Lara and calling up Cooper Pratt (26:40)
How should teams like the White Sox, Cardinals and Nationals approach the deadline when they are sort of rebuilding but keep winning? (33:25)
The Tigers have reinstated Tarik Skubal from the injured list but still aren’t in a good spot (45:10)
The Guardians losing José Ramírez to the injured list (recorded prior to the injury news on Angel Martínez and Chase DeLauter) (48:10)
The Royals putting Vinnie Pasquantino and Seth Lugo on the injured list while dropping in the standings (49:55)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

What would it take for Bo Bichette to opt out of his deal with the Mets? (52:20)
Who says no: Pirates receive Bryan Abreu and Isaac Paredes while the Astros receive Esmerlyn Valdéz, Rafael Flores and Tom Harrington? (58:15)

Check out our past episodes!

A Free Agent Power Rankings Update And The Yankees Without Aaron Judge – listen here
The CBA Standoff Begins – listen here
Gage Jump, Tigers Trade Speculation, And The Twins’ Roster Shuffle – listen here

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

Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images

Bryse Wilson Triggers Upward Mobility Clause

Anthony Franco — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:17:37 +0000

Right-hander Bryse Wilson has exercised an assignment clause in his minor league contract with the Phillies, report Charlotte Varnes and Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The Phils will need to make him available to other teams, and if any other club is willing to add him to the MLB roster, Philadelphia either needs to promote him themselves or let him depart.

Wilson has spent the entire season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was briefly granted his release in early June, presumably after exercising an opt-out, but quickly re-signed on a new minor league deal. That’s common practice, as it allows a player to negotiate a higher salary and/or additional upward mobility opportunities that weren’t present in the first contract.

The 28-year-old Wilson has a 6.29 earned run average across 54 1/3 innings for the IronPigs this season. His 23.5% strikeout rate and 52% grounder percentage are better than the ERA would imply, as Wilson has been victimized by a .373 average on balls in play. His recent results have been better. The 6’2″ righty hasn’t allowed a run over his past 12 innings.

Wilson has a near-5.00 ERA over 461 MLB innings. He has logged most of his big league work in long relief while holding a Triple-A rotation spot all season. Philadelphia granted Wilson his release rather than add him to the MLB roster a couple weeks ago, but they’re now without a fifth starter after optioning Andrew Painter on Wednesday afternoon.

Padres Outright Ty Adcock, Release Marco Gonzales

Anthony Franco — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 03:38:58 +0000

The Padres announced they’ve outrighted reliever Ty Adcock after he was designated for assignment over the weekend. San Diego also released starter Marco Gonzales from his minor league contract yesterday, according to the MLB.com transaction log.

Adcock was pushed off the 40-man roster when San Diego needed to select another catcher, Blake Hunt, onto the MLB team. The Padres are without their top two catchers, Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano, so they’ve needed 40-man spots for Rodolfo Durán and Hunt. Adcock, who signed a major league contract in December, did not appear in a big league game with San Diego.

The 29-year-old righty has pitched parts of three seasons at the big league level. Adcock has suited up with the Mariners and Mets, working to a 5.48 ERA across 23 innings. The Elon product spent the first two months of the season on the minor league injured list. He was only activated at Triple-A El Paso on June 3. Adcock walked three of five opponents and allowed two runs in his first appearance. He rebounded with perfect frames in his next two outings before being bumped from the roster.

Adcock has a prior outright and can elect free agency instead of remaining with the Chihuahuas. He’d likely be limited to minor league offers if he tests the market.

Gonzales signed an offseason minor league deal. He’d spent all of last year unsigned after undergoing flexor surgery at the close of the 2024 season. Gonzales started 12 of 13 Triple-A appearances and allowed nearly eight earned runs per nine across 47 1/3 innings. The 34-year-old southpaw had a modest 15.2% strikeout rate while sitting in his usual 90 mph range with his fastball.

Starting Pitcher Chart – June 18th, 2026

Paul Sporer — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 03:38:53 +0000

I can see a spot for all but 1 of the 18 pitchers going on Thursday

Source