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MLB Draft Recap: Winners & Losers

Trevor Powers — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 19:00:11 +0000

Breaking down Winners and Losers from the MLB Draft

The post MLB Draft Recap: Winners & Losers appeared first on Pitcher List.

Mining the News (7/15/26)

Jeff Zimmerman — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 18:30:18 +0000

Some players need to be dropped with just a couple months left.

Source

Playing Time Trends: Week 17

Mark Steubinger — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 18:00:59 +0000

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

The post Playing Time Trends: Week 17 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Starting Pitcher Streamer Ranks Fantasy Baseball: 7/16 & 7/17 & 7/18

Nick Pollack — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 17:34:06 +0000

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

The post Starting Pitcher Streamer Ranks Fantasy Baseball: 7/16 & 7/17 & 7/18 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Starts and Sits - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball (July 16 - July 19)

Nick Mariano — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:35:52 +0000

There's nothing but nonstop baseball the rest of the way with the All-Star break behind us, so let's kick the second half off strong with our starting pitcher starts/sits for fantasy baseball for the week ahead - Thursday, July 16 through Sunday, July 19. As is tradition, this article will cover who is pitching, their […]

Reds, Chase Burns Agree To Seven-Year Extension

Steve Adams — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:30:13 +0000

The Reds and breakout righty Chase Burns are in agreement on a seven-year, $105MM contract extension, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The Vayner Sports client was already under control via arbitration through the 2031 season. The deal begins next season and runs through 2033 with no deferred money or option years, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. That means the Reds are picking up an additional two years of club control over the former No. 2 overall draft pick.

Still just 23 years old, Burns has broken out as one of the best pitchers in baseball. The former Wake Forest standout has started 18 games, totaled 102 2/3 innings, and pitched to a pristine 2.54 earned run average in his first full season at the big league level. He’s punched out 28.6% of his opponents against a 9% walk rate. Burns is a fly-ball pitcher in a homer-friendly park, but he’s managed to avoid hard contact nicely and surrendered an average of only 1.05 homers per nine frames this year.

Listed at 6’3″ and 210 pounds, Burns has a prototypical starter’s frame and the sort of high-octane arsenal required to front a big league rotation. He’s averaged a blazing 97.8 mph on his heater this season, pairing the pitch with a devastating slider that sits 90.5 mph and a show-me changeup with similar velocity that he’s only thrown at a 5.7% clip this year. Opponents have chased nearly 34% of Burns’ pitches outside the strike zone. Their overall contact rate (71%) is six points shy of the league-average 77%. Burns’ 14.1% swinging-strike rate is three percentage points higher than average. Opposing batters simply aren’t able to make consistent contact with his overpowering repertoire.

Burns’ four-seamer and slider are his bread and butter. He could use a more effective changeup to help him keep lefties off balance, but southpaw hitters haven’t exactly lit him up. They’ve batted .214/.307/.409. He’ll run into some occasional trouble against lefties — 10 of the 12 long balls he’s surrendered have been versus left-handed opponents — but they haven’t posed any sort of egregious problem thus far. Meanwhile, right-handed opponents should hardly even bother stepping into the box. They’re hitting just .195/.230/.286 in 161 plate appearances this season.

Cincinnati selected Burns with the No. 2 overall pick back in 2024. He was in the majors less than a year later, making his debut on June 24, 2025. He didn’t dominate in 2025 but held his own, logging a 4.57 ERA with a gaudy 35.6% strikeout rate in 43 1/3 innings during that debut campaign. Burns finished the 2025 season in relief as Cincinnati monitored his workload, but the signs of a potentially dominant arm were there. He fanned 10 opponents four times despite never topping six innings in an appearance, and he closed out the year with only three runs allowed and a 22-to-4 K/BB ratio over his final 16 frames.

Burns’ contract is the largest ever signed by a pitcher with fewer than four years of major league service. The mere fact that it’s a precedent-setter illustrates the risk-averse approach teams take to signing young pitchers. Top position prospects like Colt Emerson ($95MM), Konnor Griffin ($140MM) and Kevin McGonigle ($150MM) received massive paydays this season with barely any major league experience at all (literally none, in Emerson’s case). Pitchers, on the other hand, rarely receive weighty long-term contracts.

A look at MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that prior to today’s deal, the largest contract extension for a pitcher with fewer than four years of service was Logan Webb‘s five-year, $90MM deal, which he signed in April 2023. Burns now becomes just the ninth pitcher ever to sign a $100MM+ contract prior to accruing six years of service and reaching free agency.

Burns now cements himself at the top of the Reds’ rotation alongside a player whom Cincinnati also selected second overall (albeit seven years prior): Hunter Greene. Greene missed the first several months of the season recovering from surgery to remove a loose body from his elbow, but from 2024-25 he gave the Reds 258 innings with a 2.76 ERA, a 29.2% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate. Like Burns, Greene is a flamethrowing righty who leans primarily on a four-seam/slider combo with seldom-used offerings (splitter, sinker) to round out his arsenal. As they did with Burns, the Reds extended Greene early in his career. He’s locked in through 2029: $15MM next season, $16MM in 2028 and a $21MM club option ($2MM buyout) for 2029.

So long as they remain healthy, Burns and Greene will form one of the more imposing one-two punches in the game. The Reds have a nice supporting cast of controllable arms behind them; Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Rhett Lowder and Chase Petty are all controlled beyond the 2026 season. The latter two have yet to establish themselves in the majors but are former first-round picks and top prospects. Abbott and Lodolo could see their names arise in trade rumors over the next two-plus weeks or in the offseason. The Reds are nine games under .500, last place in the NL Central and eight games back in the Wild Card hunt. Abbott is controlled three more years beyond the current season, but Lodolo is controlled only through 2027.

As shown in MLBTR’s newly rolled-out Payroll Tracker, the Reds had just three guaranteed contracts (Greene, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Jose Trevino) on next year’s books prior to this extension. That trio totaled just $27.25MM. They’ll likely add a fourth guaranteed contract when struggling closer Emilio Pagán exercises a $10MM player option, and there’s a notable slate of arbitration-eligible players to consider: Lodolo, Abbott, Elly De La Cruz, JJ Bleday, Spencer Steer, TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan, Sam Moll and Brandon Williamson.

Of course, Burns’ extension won’t weigh heavily on next year’s budget. Long-term deals for pre-arbitration players of this nature tend to closely mirror what would have been the player’s natural salary progression. In other words, they include salaries close to the league minimum early before progressing to arbitration-level salaries and eventually heavier numbers in the would-be free agent years. Greene’s contract, for instance, includes $33MM in guarantees over the final two guaranteed seasons of a six-year, $53MM deal.

Burns will join Greene and Hayes as the only Reds players guaranteed anything beyond the 2027 season. His extension ties him with former Reds hurler Homer Bailey for the franchise’s largest-ever commitment to a pitcher. Joey Votto ($225MM) and Ken Griffey Jr. ($116.5MM) are the only players to ever receive a larger guarantee from the Reds. This level of investment from a typically small-payroll club speaks to their faith in Burns to lead the staff for the foreseeable future. At the same time, it’s reasonable enough that it shouldn’t hamstring the Reds, financially speaking, in the years ahead — even if Cincinnati remains one of the league’s lowest-spending teams.

It’s hard not to view the deal as a win for all parties. Burns could surely have earned more if he’d gone year-to-year through arbitration and reached free agency ahead of his age-29 season. However, doing so would come with the risk for injuries and/or a sharp decline in performance. The Reds, meanwhile, secure Burns’ age-29 and age-30 seasons — two of his prime years. Burns will still reach the market ahead of his age-31 season, barring another extension down the road, which gives him ample chance to sign another sizable contract.

Buy & Sell 7/16 – Identifying Who to Add and Who to Drop

Ben Pernick — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:00:16 +0000

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

The post Buy & Sell 7/16 – Identifying Who to Add and Who to Drop appeared first on Pitcher List.

Starting Pitchers Drafted in the Later Rounds: Can They Sustain Their Success?

Corbin Young — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:30:34 +0000

Several starting pitchers have been earning more value than expected in the first half after being drafted outside the top 150 picks in 12-team leagues.

Source

It’s a Cold Cole World

Jack Foley — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:30:03 +0000

It should hopefully warm up soon.

The post It’s a Cold Cole World appeared first on Pitcher List.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Houston Astros

Steve Adams — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:15:42 +0000

The Astros have rallied in almost unthinkable fashion, shaking off a cavalcade of injuries that sunk them to a 20-31 nadir as deep into the season as May 20. They’ve not only bounced back with a 27-20 record since that low point, they’ve done so despite long-term absences for several key players. Jeremy Peña, Hunter Brown, Josh Hader, Cristian Javier and Carlos Correa have all missed substantial time. The latter of that quintet saw his season end on May 11. Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski have spent the whole season on the IL so far.

Houston’s season was circling the drain in mid-May, but the Astros have gotten healthier, climbed the standings and now have a genuine chance at reaching the playoffs. They’re still under .500 and have some very clear needs, but they’re three games out in the AL West and 1.5 games back in the Wild Card chase. For an owner (Jim Crane) who is in perpetual win-now mode and a GM (Dana Brown) who’s playing out the final season of his contract, there’s only one path forward. In fact, they’ve already started the process, shipping out Lance McCullers Jr. and depth starter Colton Gordon in a money-saving move that’ll give them some extra financial firepower as they scour the market. Let’s take a look at how their deadline could play out.

Record: 47-51 (25% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Buy Mode

Potential needs: left-handed-hitting outfielder, starting pitching, reliever(s)

Outfield

If it feels like the Astros have been looking for a left-handed-hitting outfielder since Michael Brantley retired, well … they have. General manager Dana Brown has said openly and repeatedly that he’d like to add a left-handed bat to his outfield group. He’s yet to find one that can stick. The Astros have acquired role players like Taylor Trammell, LaMonte Wade Jr., Ben Gamel, Jason Heyward, Dustin Harris and Cooper Hummel (among others) in the past three years alone. Trammell and Wade are currently on the roster. The former has wilted after a hot start in ’26. The latter has a pair of homers and a sub-.300 OBP in a tiny sample of 34 plate appearances.

Brown has taken some more notable swings. He sent righty Ryan Gusto and two prospects to the Marlins last year in exchange for Jesús Sánchez. That swap didn’t pay dividends. Sánchez looked like a non-tender candidate after a brutal run to close out the season, but the ‘Stros tendered him and eventually flipped him to the Jays, reacquiring another lefty-hitting outfielder, Joey Loperfido, whom they’d traded to the Jays a few years prior in the Yusei Kikuchi swap. Loperfido, like Sánchez before him, has provided little to no offense (.216/.314/.333 in 120 plate appearances).

As the old adage goes, “if first you don’t succeed … keep acquiring all the left-handed-hitting outfielders you can find.” The Astros are actively on the hunt for another. Brown has again publicly stated it to be one of his primary deadline goals. Fortunately for Houston, left-handed-hitting outfield help is one of the few areas of relative depth on a trade market that looks short on sellers.

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The Simpsons Explains the 2026 MLB Season – AL Edition

Pablo Figueroa — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:00:21 +0000

Wow, this is a ... this is a black day for baseball

The post The Simpsons Explains the 2026 MLB Season – AL Edition appeared first on Pitcher List.

Celebrating the 2026 MLB Full Pension Earners

Mark Steubinger — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:30:13 +0000

Taking a look at the players earning 10 years of service time in 2026.

The post Celebrating the 2026 MLB Full Pension Earners appeared first on Pitcher List.

The Opener: Phillies/Mets, Deadline Outlooks, Payroll Tracker

Charlie Wright — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:24:34 +0000

Heading into the second half, four American League teams have 50+ wins (Rays, Yankees, White Sox, Guardians). In the NL Central alone, four teams have already reached that mark (Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates).

1. MLB schedule resumes

The regular season restarts tonight with the Phillies taking on the Mets in the first game out of the All-Star break. The other 28 teams will resume play on Friday. Philadelphia will send Aaron Nola to the mound. The veteran has struggled to a 5.75 ERA. Interim manager Don Mattingly has limited Nola’s usage, typically keeping him around five innings and 85 pitches. A Phillies victory would tie them in the win column with the division-leading Braves. The Mets will counter with Christian Scott. He entered the break coming off one of his best outings of the season, shutting out the Royals over five frames.

2. More deadline outlooks going live

Our 2026 Trade Deadline Outlook series continues to roll along. The NL East is now complete with the Nationals piece publishing last night. We’re officially more than halfway done with the team-by-team breakdowns. The landing page for the series can be found here. It’s updated as each new entry is published. Bookmark it and check back for the latest content.

3. New payroll tracker tool

We introduced an extremely cool feature yesterday. After months of hard work, the Payroll Tracker is now live on the site. It’s available under the Tools dropdown menu. The tracker is your new source for the most accurate and up-to-date MLB payroll data. Through a partnership with Ethan Hullihen, we’ve created the definitive public source for this information, updated three times a week. For more on the tool and how to access it, check out this post.

Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel, Imagn Images

Post All-Star Break Starting Pitchers to Target

Vlad Sedler — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:30:21 +0000

Starting pitchers to expect good things from in the final 40% of the season

Source

Are You For Real? Surprising Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Starts From Brandon Pfaadt, Joey Cantillo, Matthew Liberatore

Frank Ammirante — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:20:14 +0000

Welcome back to the "Are You For Real?" series as we dive into Week 16 of the 2026 fantasy baseball season. For those unfamiliar with this weekly series, we take a look at starting pitchers who have had surprisingly strong starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're […]

Astros Trade Lance McCullers Jr., Colton Gordon To Brewers

Steve Adams — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 04:50:17 +0000

The Brewers and Astros have announced the first trade of the season’s unofficial second half, with Houston sending righty Lance McCullers Jr., left-hander Colton Gordon and cash to Milwaukee in exchange for minor league outfielder Jadyn Fielder. The Brewers are reportedly absorbing $2.5MM of the remaining money on McCullers’ underwater contract. Milwaukee transferred Rob Zastryzny to the 60-day injured list in a procedural move to open a 40-man roster spot.

It’s a surprising and out-of-the-blue deal. McCullers hasn’t pitched since May 13 due to a shoulder injury and hasn’t been effective when healthy. He went on a minor league rehab stint on June 25 and has made three solid appearances thus far.

This is surely a salary-motivated move for Houston. McCullers is being paid $17MM in the final season of a five-year, $85MM contract extension, but he hasn’t pitched well since the 2022 season. That contract included a full no-trade clause, but McCullers agreed to waive that protection.

McCullers, 32, missed all of 2023-24 due to a flexor tear that required surgery, and he’s posted a 6.65 ERA in 94 2/3 innings dating back to last season. He’s still owed approximately $6.672MM of this year’s $17MM salary. The Brewers, it seems, are taking on a bit more than one-third of that sum, which will give the ‘Stros some more financial wiggle room as they gear up to make additions ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Prior to a brutal run of injuries that has limited him to 142 1/3 big league innings from 2022-26, McCullers was a vital member of Houston’s pitching staff. From 2015-21, the 2012 No. 41 overall draft pick gave the Astros 671 innings with a 3.57 ERA, a 26.6% strikeout rate, a 9.7% walk rate and a huge 55.5% ground-ball rate. Even in that injury-shortened 2022 season, McCullers posted a 2.27 ERA in 47 2/3 frames (eight starts). He’s been an important postseason contributor, too, as evidenced by the 3.47 ERA he’s compiled in 72 2/3 career playoff innings.

Injuries have been a recurring theme throughout McCullers’ career. He missed the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery. He didn’t make his 2022 debut until Aug. 13 due to flexor troubles. Renewed flexor issues in 2023 resulted in him opening the season on the injured list end eventually undergoing surgery to repair his right flexor tendon and remove bone spurs from his elbow. Since returning in 2025, he’s sat just 91.4 mph on his sinker — way south of the 94 mph he averaged prior to the onset of his flexor and shoulder woes.

As one would expect, McCullers’ swinging-strike rate and strikeout rate have plummeted. His opponents’ contact rate has improved, as has the quality of said contact. Opposing batters have averaged a gaudy 90.9 mph off the bat with a 50% hard-hit rate dating back to last season. From 2015-22, those numbers sat at a combined 88.8 mph and 35.2%, respectively.

The Brewers, of course, have a reputation as one of the better pitching development organizations in the industry. Milwaukee’s “pitch lab” has helped engineer turnarounds and/or breakouts for hurlers like Quinn Priester, Kyle Harrison, Tobias Myers, Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, Bryan Hudson and Bryse Wilson upon acquiring them in recent years. They’ll hope to add McCullers to that list of success stories, though the six years of control over Gordon they’re picking up is the more appealing end of the deal for them.

Gordon has only 95 1/3 big league innings to his name — just 9 1/3 of them coming this season. He’s been tagged for an ugly 5.95 ERA in that small sample, fanning a below-average 19.3% of his opponents with an outstanding 5.1% walk rate along the way. Gordon has been far too homer-prone — the short left-field porch at Houston’s Daikin Park isn’t helping him in that regard — despite doing a decent job of avoiding hard contact.

While Gordon’s major league track record is lacking, he’s been quite effective in Triple-A. He’s pitched in parts of four seasons at the top minor league level, turning in a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the past three. Overall, in 285 innings with Houston’s Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land, Gordon touts a 3.85 ERA, a 21.8% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. He’s in the second of three minor league option years and can thus be freely shuttled between Milwaukee and Nashville both this year and next.

The 6’4″, 225-pound Gordon was Houston’s eighth-round pick back in 2021. He’s a five-pitch lefty who sits 91.1 mph on his four-seamer, complementing that primary offering with a sinker (averaging 91.4 mph), slider (81.1 mph), changeup (83.8 mph) and curveball (75.5 mph). He’s been hit hard by righties and lefties alike in the majors but has a stronger track record against southpaws in the minors. Back in 2024, he held both righties and lefties to a sub-.700 OPS in 123 1/3 Triple-A frames.

The extent to which Milwaukee can control Gordon will depend on how much time he spends on the big league roster through season’s end. He entered the 2026 campaign with 112 days of major league service and has since tacked on another 14. If he spends 46 more days on the major league roster/injured list, he’d reach one full year of service time and be controllable five more years, through 2031. If Gordon spends 45 days or fewer on the active roster/injured list — there are 74 calendar days left in the regular season — he’d fall shy of one full year and be controlled six full seasons, all the way through 2032.

The acquisitions of McCullers and Gordon come at a time when the Brewers’ rotation has taken some notable hits. The aforementioned Priester recently underwent thoracic outlet surgery and won’t pitch this season. Harrison, whose 2026 breakout mirrored Priester’s 2025 season, was placed on the injured list a week ago and revealed that he’s been experiencing some elbow pain for a few starts beforehand. Brandon Woodruff has been terrific this season but lasted only three starts in his recent return from the injured list before landing on the 60-day IL due to recurring symptoms. He’s made just nine starts overall (albeit with an excellent 2.98 ERA).

That trio of injuries has compromised the Brewers’ major league rotation and minor league depth. Today’s trade figures to help both. At the moment, Milwaukee’s rotation is headlined by NL Cy Young front-runner Jacob Misiorowski, but there’s little certainty thereafter.

Logan Henderson is a top-100 prospect who’s pitched quite well to begin his young career, but he has only 53 2/3 MLB frames under his belt to date. Brandon Sproat is another recent top-100 arm who’s begun to solidify himself after a rocky start to the season. Robert Gasser is yet another formerly touted arm who’s been good more often than not this season. (His 5.24 ERA is skewed by a seven-run hiccup in a July 12 start.) However, he’s also in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. Fellow lefty Shane Drohan has stepped up in a big way, but the longtime Red Sox farmhand (acquired alongside Harrison in February’s Caleb Durbin trade) is a 27-year-old making his MLB debut this season.

Either Gordon or McCullers — once his rehab is complete — could step into the rotation. It’s also feasible that the Brewers view McCullers as a bullpen option or that they could even cut him entirely, simply using a portion of his contract as a vehicle to facilitate the acquisition of Gordon.

For the Astros, shedding any portion of the McCullers deal is a small victory. As shown in MLBTR’s new Payroll Tracker, Houston’s competitive balance tax obligations sat at $238,329,588 prior to this trade. That placed them just $5.67MM from the luxury tax threshold — a barrier that owner Jim Crane typically prefers to avoid. The Astros have crossed that line under Crane twice in the past, but it’s also frequently been a driving factor behind several notable trades (e.g. the trade of Kyle Tucker) and has unequivocally limited the front office at times while they’ve pursued various needs. Moving McCullers creates a bit more breathing room and also proactively addresses the question of how they’ll address his roster spot when his rehab assignment concludes next week.

They’ll also add the 21-year-old Fielder — the son of Brewers legend Prince Fielder and grandson of three-time All-Star Cecil Fielder. The youngest Fielder went undrafted in 2024 and signed with the Brew Crew as a free agent. He’s spent the 2026 season playing in Low-A, where he’s slashed .233/.415/.398 in 176 plate appearances. Fielder has just three homers in that time, but he’s swiped 10 bags and drawn a walk in a massive 18.8% of his plate appearances. He’s not considered one of the top 30 or so prospects within Milwaukee’s system but brings a long baseball lineage and a (clearly) keen eye at the plate to the lower levels of Houston’s system.

The trade figures to be the first of several for both teams. Houston is looking for a left-handed-hitting outfielder and some help in the bullpen. Milwaukee has been on the hunt for more pitching depth as well as a right-handed bat and potentially some help on the left side of the infield. Both parties have just under three weeks to check those boxes, and today’s unexpected swap serves as a starting point for each.

Brian McTaggart of MLB.com first reported that the two sides were finalizing a trade involving McCullers. The Athletic’s Chandler Rome added that McCullers had formally waived his no-trade clause. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Milwaukee would cover a portion of McCullers’ remaining contract, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported Gordon’s inclusion in the deal. Rome later reported Fielder’s inclusion and ballparked the amount of cash changing hands. The Associated Press was the first to report the specific $2.5MM figure being absorbed by Milwaukee.

Cardinals’ Scott Blewett Exercises Opt-Out Clause

Anthony Franco — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 04:48:56 +0000

Cardinals reliever Scott Blewett has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league contract, reports Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis either needs to add him to the MLB roster or grant him his release.

Blewett has spent the entire season at Triple-A Memphis. Although his 5.18 earned run average across 48 2/3 innings isn’t encouraging, the 30-year-old righty has punched out 28% of opponents against an 8% walk rate. The ugly ERA is inflated by a .425 average on balls in play. That’s likely to come down, particularly if he’s pitching in front of an MLB-caliber defense.

That said, Blewett isn’t likely to maintain that kind of swing-and-miss stuff against big league hitters. He has a modest 19.3% strikeout rate over 43 MLB appearances spanning four seasons. Blewett struck out just 18% of opponents across 44 1/3 frames last year, dividing the campaign between Minnesota, Baltimore and Atlanta. He was limited to minor league opportunities over the winter after being waived by the Orioles in the final week of the regular season.

The Cardinals rank 17th in the majors with a 4.22 bullpen ERA. They’re in the bottom five in strikeout rate (20%) and have allowed 4.40 earned runs per nine over the past month. St. Louis has kept their entire staff remarkably healthy for a second straight year, as rookie righty Max Rajcic is their only pitcher currently on the major league injured list.

They have four bullpen spots committed to Riley O’Brien, Ryne Stanek, George Soriano and JoJo Romero. Lefty Justin Bruihl is out of options and has done well enough in middle relief. St. Louis could swap Blewett in for any of Matt Svanson, Luis Gastelum or Gordon Graceffo if they want to keep him in the organization.

They would also need to create space on the 40-man roster. That’d require them to designate someone for assignment or place one of Richard Fitts or Tekoah Roby on the MLB injured list (entitling them to a big league salary for the reminder of the season).

Diamondbacks Place Tommy Troy On Injured List

Anthony Franco — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 03:25:51 +0000

The D-Backs placed rookie outfielder Tommy Troy on the 10-day injured list with an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder. The placement is retroactive to July 12. Arizona didn’t announce a corresponding move and is unlikely to do so until Friday, when they open a big series against the Cardinals.

Injured list moves over the All-Star Break are rare. The retroactive nature of Troy’s placement was the impetus for the Snakes doing it on an off day. IL placements can be backdated by a maximum of three days and Troy’s most recent appearance came on Saturday. He’ll miss at least the first six games of the second half.

Troy has stepped into a regular outfield spot with Jordan Lawlar back on the injured list. It’ll likely be a Max Kepler/Lourdes Gurriel Jr. platoon and recently recalled top prospect Ryan Waldschmidt in an everyday role alongside Corbin Carroll for the next couple weeks. Arizona is 2.5 games back in the Wild Card picture and should be in the mix for outfield help if they buy at the deadline. That’s true regardless of Troy’s health status, as he’s out to a middling .223/.299/.364 start to his big league career.

Waldschmidt has also struggled in his first look at major league pitching. Neither Gurriel nor Kepler is hitting. Lawlar has again missed the majority of the season. First base would be the top priority on offense, but they’d also need at least one outfield upgrade.

Arizona figures to monitor the market for rotation help as well. That wasn’t initially expected to be on the to-do list, but the Snakes have lost Ryne Nelson, Zac Gallen and Michael Soroka to injuries. Gallen landed on the shelf a week ago with elbow inflammation. General manager Mike Hazen tells Steve Gilbert of MLB.com that the veteran righty is going for a second opinion, so his recovery timeline is still to be determined. Gallen has a career-worst 6.34 ERA across 19 starts.

Athletics To Select Tommy White

Anthony Franco — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 02:06:13 +0000

The A’s will call up infielder Tommy White for Friday’s series opener against the Nationals, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’ll be the major league debut for the former LSU star.

The team’s transaction log at MLB.com indicates that the A’s are also activating recently claimed utilityman Donovan Walton. First baseman Joey Meneses and catcher Brian Serven are being optioned to Triple-A, which left one active roster spot for a position player. White isn’t on the 40-man roster but can replace Brent Rooker, who is out for the season and can be transferred to the 60-day injured list.

White was one of the best hitters in the country during his college career, hitting .355/.419/.704 over three seasons. He nevertheless fell to the second round of the 2024 draft because of concerns about an aggressive approach and his lackluster third base defense. White has been a good pure hitter throughout his minor league career, but he hasn’t drawn many walks or hit for a ton of power. He owns a .279/.337/.430 slash line across 860 professional plate appearances.

That includes a .303/.345/.489 showing over 55 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this year. White has only fanned in 14% of his plate appearances but has a tiny 4.8% walk rate. He makes a decent amount of hard contact, though his 50% ground-ball rate isn’t ideal for a bat-first player with below-average speed.

White has split his time between the corner infield positions. Scouting reports from Baseball America and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs peg him as a below-average but not unplayable defender at third. Longenhagen wrote in April that White could be a plus defender at first base and loosely compared him to former Phillies corner infielder Maikel Franco as an overall player. White ranks 11th in the A’s farm system at BA and 17th at FanGraphs.

The A’s are getting a look at another rookie, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, as their primary third baseman. They recently placed Nick Kurtz on the injured list and could give White a look there or at designated hitter. White should at least be in the lineup regularly against left-handed pitching, as he has pummeled southpaws at a .376/.438/.576 clip this year.

Mets Outright Dan Hammer

Darragh McDonald — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 01:43:00 +0000

July 15: Hammer cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A Syracuse, according to the MLB.com transaction log.

July 10: The Mets have designated right-hander Dan Hammer for assignment, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. That will open a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters. It’s not yet clear what other moves the Mets will make in conjunction with this one.

The club has been cycling arms through the final spots of the roster on an almost-daily basis of late. They selected Guillo Zuñiga on Sunday and optioned Joey Gerber. On Tuesday, they added Matt Seelinger to the roster and designated Zuñiga for assignment. They also designated Alex Carrillo for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Jorge Polanco‘s return from the 60-day injured list. Wednesday, they selected Xzavion Curry and recalled Tobias Myers, with Austin Warren placed on the 15-day IL and Seelinger DFA’d as corresponding moves.

Yesterday, they added Hammer to the roster, optioning Myers. Outfielder Jared Oliva was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Sean Manaea started yesterday and went seven strong. The Mets closed the game out with Huascar Brazobán and Devin Williams. Hammer wasn’t needed but it seems the Mets only planned for him to be around temporarily, perhaps for mop-up work, as he’s now bumped off the roster without pitching in a game.

He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Mets can take as long as five days to explore trade interest, though they could also put him on waivers sooner if they would like. He has no major league track record to go on but perhaps some clubs would be interested based on his minor league work. He was a free agent in the offseason and settled for a minor league deal but has been having a good season on the farm.

Between Double-A and Triple-A, he has thrown 33 1/3 innings this year, allowing 2.16 earned runs per nine. His 26.4% strikeout rate and 44% ground ball rate are strong figures but he has walked 14.6% of opponents. He has had some help from a .244 batting average on balls in play and 83.7% strand rate, which is why his 4.40 FIP is more than double his ERA.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Athletics To Designate Aaron Civale For Assignment

Anthony Franco — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:59:37 +0000

The A’s are designating veteran starter Aaron Civale for assignment, according to the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Righty reliever Yunior Tur is being selected onto the major league roster in his place.

The log also indicates that the A’s will recall southpaw Brady Basso from Triple-A Las Vegas and activate recently claimed utilityman Donovan Walton. First baseman Joey Meneses, catcher Brian Serven and lefty Mason Barnett are being optioned to Triple-A.

That leaves one opening on the active roster for another position player. Darell Hernaiz is the only position player on optional assignment who could be recalled for Friday’s series opener against the Nationals; Max Muncy needs to stay down until at least Saturday unless he’s being brought up to replace someone going on the injured list. They could add a hitter who’s not currently on the 40-man roster and transfer Brent Rooker to the 60-day injured list if they want to keep Hernaiz and Muncy in the minors.

Civale’s DFA makes for a disappointing end to his $6MM free agent deal. The righty took the ball 16 times and turned in a 5.42 earned run average across 74 2/3 innings. He also missed a couple weeks with shoulder tendinitis that sidelined him between mid-May and June 17. Civale has taken the loss in all five of his appearances since coming back, allowing 19 earned runs in as many innings.

The A’s have plummeted in the standings amidst a nine-game losing streak and dropping 13 of their last 14. They’re now third from the bottom in the American League and positioned as deadline sellers. They’ll technically still have five days to explore a Civale trade once they officially announce the DFA. His recent performance was going to diminish trade interest anyhow, and the likelier outcome is that he’ll be released within the next week.

Civale was a decent mid-rotation starter early in his career with Cleveland. He has bounced around as a strike-throwing fifth/sixth starter over the past few seasons. Civale’s fringy stuff doesn’t play well in a hitter-friendly park like Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, where he allowed two home runs per nine innings with an ERA approaching 7.00. He had a 4.25 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate over 42 1/3 frames on the road. If he is released, there’s a decent chance he’ll be able to find a big league deal for the league minimum salary on a team with a more pitcher-friendly home venue.

Jacob Lopez pitched in front of Civale as an opener in his most recent appearance on Friday. The A’s could build him back up to take the fifth rotation spot behind Gage Jump, Jeffrey Springs, J.T. Ginn and Jack Perkins.

They’ll also get their first look at Tur, a 6’6″ righty nearing his 27th birthday. The Cuban-born hurler didn’t enter pro ball until he was 23 years old. He had a nice 2025 season to put himself on the radar, with Baseball America and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs each ranking him at the back half of the team’s top 30 prospects over the winter.

Tur doesn’t have pristine command and moved to the bullpen this year. He’s still walking 12% of opponents but has fanned 29% of batters faced behind a fastball that sits in the 96 mph range. He also throws a cutter, slider and splitter but is most reliant on the heater — which scouting reports credit with plus life at the top of the zone.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Washington Nationals

Charlie Wright — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:42:51 +0000

The Nationals have toiled in the basement of the National League since winning the 2019 World Series. The 2026 campaign has been a much-needed light at the end of the rebuilding tunnel. It took a revamped front office, a brand-new manager, and a roster overhaul, but the Nats are finally moving in the right direction.

Washington is a team of extremes. The club is tied for the league lead in scoring thanks to a multi-faceted offensive attack. The Nats lead the NL in home runs and pace both leagues in stolen bases. Their pitching staff is among the worst in the game, ranking 26th in ERA. Washington’s defense leads the league in errors by a significant margin.

And then there’s the bullpen. The Nats’ relievers have an incomprehensible 28 blown saves through 97 games. The unit coughed up late leads in all three games against the Yankees to close the first half. The sweep dropped the club’s record below .500 for the first time since early June.

The polarizing nature of the roster, plus the forward-thinking approach it took to build it, puts first-year president of baseball operations Paul Toboni in a fascinating position heading into the deadline. The Nats are four games out of the final Wild Card spot in a jam-packed National League. A 12-game stretch that includes the Athletics, Rockies, and Blue Jays coming out of the break could go a long way toward determining the front office’s approach.

Record: 48-49 (3.6% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Sell Mode

Impending free agents: Foster Griffin, Miles Mikolas, Zack Littell, Trevor Williams

Despite the good vibes around the team, selling to some degree still seems the most likely route. Washington might be a serious contender in the NL East in the near future, but these pieces won’t be of much use beyond this season. Recouping value for the veterans could provide a boost to the 2027 squad.

Griffin is the real prize. He’s been one of the best free agent signings of the offseason. After three seasons in Japan, Griffin returned to the States and delivered an All-Star first half. The lefty has posted a sub-3.00 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning as the ballast of Washington’s rotation. The club is tied for the third-fewest quality starts in the league at 19. Griffin and Cade Cavalli have 18 of them.

The Nats landed Griffin on a modest one-year, $5.5MM deal. Unless his numbers fall off a cliff after the break, he’ll blow that figure out of the water in free agency. The Griffin signing is one of Toboni’s biggest wins in his young tenure. He’ll be fielding calls from every contender in need of starting pitching. Losing Griffin will be debilitating to the rotation, but now is the time to cash in.

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Rangers Release Austin Voth

Anthony Franco — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:08:14 +0000

The Rangers have granted swingman Austin Voth a release from his minor league contract, reports Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. The journeyman righty had signed with Texas less than two weeks ago.

It seems Voth requested the release after making just one start for Triple-A Round Rock. Speculatively, that could indicate he has received interest from a club in a foreign league. Voth spent the 2025 season pitching in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines, for whom he posted a 3.96 ERA across 125 innings.

The 34-year-old returned to affiliated ball over the winter on a minor league deal with the White Sox. Voth didn’t reach the big leagues with Chicago but has logged brief stints at the highest level for the Blue Jays and Twins. He has allowed 12 runs on 19 hits and six walks across 10 combined innings. Voth was tagged for four runs in five innings during his lone start with Round Rock. He’s having a decent Triple-A season overall, though, tallying a 4.01 ERA with a league average 21% strikeout rate through 12 starts — albeit while averaging just over four frames per appearance.

Voth has pitched parts of eight seasons in the majors. He has an ERA just under 5.00 across 370 1/3 career innings. Voth had a decent year in middle relief with the Mariners in 2024, working to a 3.69 ERA through 61 frames.

Bruce Zimmermann Elects Free Agency

Charlie Wright — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:57:51 +0000

July 15: Zimmermann has elected free agency, the Cards announced.

July 13: Lefty Bruce Zimmermann has been outrighted to Triple-A, the Cardinals announced. The veteran cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Tuesday. Zimmermann has been outrighted multiple times in his career, so he’ll have the option to elect free agency.

Zimmermann spent just a single day on the big-league roster. He was added for a doubleheader against the Brewers. With St. Louis looking to provide extra rest for starters Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante, Zimmermann handled bulk relief duties in the first game, and Hunter Dobbins started the second game. The lefty was swapped out for fellow southpaw Jared Shuster in between games of that twin bill.

The Cardinals picked up Zimmermann on a minor league deal in January. He was pitching decently at Triple-A before the call-up, notching a 3.78 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning over 15 starts. Zimmermann covered five innings against the Brewers, allowing three earned runs. It was just his second MLB appearance since 2023. He last suited up for Milwaukee, making a single start at the tail end of last season.

Zimmermann emerged as a semi-regular in the Orioles’ rotation after debuting in the shortened 2020 season. He made 26 starts across 2021 and 2022. The soft-tossing lefty didn’t deliver amazing results, but had an xFIP and SIERA in the mid-4.00s in both seasons. Zimmermann made a handful of appearances out of Baltimore’s bullpen in 2023. He was DFAed near the end of the 2024 campaign and left via minor league free agency that offseason.

The 31-year-old Zimmermann has shown a slightly different arsenal the past two years, leading with a sinker and fading his four-seamer. He’s also replaced his changeup with a splitter. Zimmermann averaged 91.4 mph on his fastball when he first came up with the Orioles. All of his offerings are below 90 mph these days. Zimmermann could look to test free agency or stick with the Cardinals and wait for another chance with the club.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Outright Pavin Smith

Darragh McDonald — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 22:51:26 +0000

The Diamondbacks announced that first baseman Pavin Smith has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Reno. The Snakes designated Smith for assignment last week.

Smith has the right to elect free agency but isn’t likely to do so. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of the open market. But if they have less than five years of service, they have to forfeit their remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. Smith is in that three-to-five window and is making $2.25MM this year. That leaves about $900K still to be paid out. Assuming he doesn’t want to leave that on the table, Smith will report to Reno.

There have been times in the past where Smith seemed like a key part of Arizona’s future. The club selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft and he went on to be one of the club’s top prospects.

When first called up to the majors, he didn’t immediately flourish, but he seemed to break out in 2024. He spent most of the first half of that season on optional assignment but got a decent chunk of playing time late in the year and capitalized on it. He finished the year with only 158 plate appearances but they were good ones. His 11.4% walk rate and 19.6% strikeout rate were both above-average figures and he hit nine home runs. His .270/.348/.547 slash line led to a 142 wRC+, indicating he was 42% better than league average at the plate overall.

He had another good season in 2025, finishing that year with a .258/.362/.434 line and 123 wRC+, but with some concerns. Though his walk rate ticked up to 14.2%, his strikeout rate ballooned to 31.9%. He was awful without the platoon advantage, hitting .167/.375/.167 against lefties. His overall production got a lot of help from a .377 batting average on balls in play. He was also pretty bad after a red-hot start. He had a .342/.473/.630 line through April but then hit .222/.311/.351 the rest of the way.

Coming into 2026, the Snakes hoped he could at least be a viable strong-side platoon guy. They signed Carlos Santana to help shield Smith from southpaws but both players quickly got hurt. Left elbow inflammation put Smith on the shelf after just two games. He returned at the start of June but hasn’t been able to get into a groove. He has a .141/.236/.192 line this year. A tiny .167 BABIP has hurt him a lot and he has returned his strikeout rate to a much better 20.2% clip, but he also only has one home run in 89 plate appearances.

The Snakes decided to move on and none of the other 29 clubs decided to grab him off waivers. Assuming he accepts the assignment, the Diamondbacks will see if a stint in Reno can get Smith back on track. If that comes to pass, there’s not much blocking his path to playing time, as the Snakes are currently using utility player Tim Tawa at first base most days. On the other hand, the club could look for a first baseman ahead of the deadline if they hang around enough to buy. They are currently 2.5 games back of a playoff spot.

If Smith is not added back to the roster before season’s end, he would become a free agent, like all players with at least three years of service who are removed from a 40-man roster in the preceding year.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Trade Deadline Outlook: Kansas City Royals

Connor Byrne — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:55:05 +0000

The Royals have reached the All-Star break at 38-59, tied with the Angels for the worst record in Major League Baseball. The Halos’ league-high playoff drought will climb to a dozen years when their inevitable elimination comes later in the summer. Their ongoing ineptitude isn’t a surprise to anyone, whereas Kansas City looked like a team with a real chance to vie for a playoff berth when the season began.

Although the Royals followed a mediocre 82-win 2025 with a quiet winter, FanGraphs gave them the second-highest preseason odds to win the American League Central and a 44.8% chance to make the playoffs. Now, despite playing in a subpar league that features just five clubs better than .500, the Royals are likely facing insurmountable deficits in the AL Central (13 games back) and the wild card (10 behind).

An MVP-caliber showing from shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and a massive leap forward from second-year slugger Jac Caglianone have not been enough to override disappointing performances from other key hitters or a slew of injuries throughout the roster. Catcher/DH Salvador Perez, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and third baseman Maikel Garcia have all floundered at the plate compared to last year. Garcia has been out for the past few weeks because of a strained left hand, while Pasquantino just returned from a right hamate fracture that cost him almost a month.

On the pitching side, left-hander Cole Ragans underwent season-ending UCL surgery earlier this month. Not only will he miss the rest of this season, but he will be out of commission for some or all of 2027. Fellow southpaw Kris Bubic landed on the IL with his own elbow issues in mid-May. Now battling shoulder soreness, Bubic still hasn’t returned. Those injuries have further taken a toll on a starting staff that lost depth options Ryan Bergert and Ben Kudrna to season-ending surgeries back in April.

The Royals’ bullpen hasn’t gone unscathed either. They currently have four relievers on the IL, including closer Carlos Estévez. The righty racked up a major league-leading 42 saves and posted a 2.45 ERA over 66 innings last year, but his lone appearance so far this season came way back on March 28. After he coughed up six earned runs in one-third of an inning in a loss to the Braves, he went on the shelf with a left foot contusion. While on a rehab assignment in early May, the 33-year-old strained his rotator cuff. He isn’t expected to return until at least August, if at all.

With the injury-laden Royals now buried in the playoff race, they certainly aren’t in position to buy ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline. General manager J.J. Picollo could sell off multiple veterans, but as we’ll explore below, it might not be an especially active deadline for his last-place club.

Record: 38-59 (0.2% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

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Keegan Akin Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

Darragh McDonald — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:00:24 +0000

The Orioles announced that left-hander Keegan Akin has undergone Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of this year and possibly all of 2027 as well. He’s already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the season. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to pass the news along.

It’s unsurprising-but-brutal news for the lefty. He hit the 15-day IL at the end of June due to elbow discomfort. About a week ago, it was revealed that Akin would be visiting surgeon Dr. Keith Meister for a consultation. A few days later, it became apparent that Akin’s ulnar collateral ligament had been injured and he was moved to the 60-day IL.

Now the worst-case scenario has come to pass. Given that Tommy John surgery usually requires 14 months of rehab or more, he’ll be out of action until late in 2027 and might even miss that entire campaign.

Akin had a pretty strong run for the O’s prior to this season. From 2022 to 2025, he logged 247 1/3 innings out of the Balitmore bullpen, allowing 3.64 earned runs per nine. He struck out 25.4% of batters faced and only gave out walks at a 7.7% clip. He racked up 11 saves and 28 holds in that time.

The results haven’t been as strong this season, as he posted a 5.68 ERA before landing on the injured list. A 59.2% strand rate made that ERA look a bit worse than Akin deserved but this year’s 14.9% strikeout rate was way down from his previous work.

For the Orioles, they were expecting Akin to be their primary relief lefty but instead he gave them lackluster results for the first half and will now miss the second half. Grant Wolfram is the only southpaw in the big league bullpen now. If the O’s decide to buy at the deadline, lefty relief will be a natural target area for them. Their 46-51 record isn’t great but they are only two games back of a playoff spot in this year’s weak American League field.

If they had decided to sell, Akin would have been a natural trade candidate since he’s an impending free agent. His early-season performance already wiped out a lot of his appeal. Whatever lingering chance existed of him salvaging some value is now completely gone.

He’ll head into free agency while still rehabbing and with a long road ahead. Pitchers in that situation sometimes sign two-year deals. That allows them to collect a paycheck while injured, while also allowing them to use team facilities. For the signing team, they get little to no return on investment in the first year but hope that the bet pays off when the player gets healthy for the second year.

Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images

Looking at Fantasy Stats Per Games Started

Chad Young — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:30:30 +0000

Season-long lines sometimes hide information about how a guy performs as a starter.

Source

Giants Outright Eric Cerantola

Darragh McDonald — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:20:16 +0000

The Giants have sent right-hander Eric Cerantola through waivers and outrighted him to Triple-A Sacramento, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. There wasn’t any previous indication that Cerantola was bumped off the 40-man, so this drops the club’s count to 39.

Cerantola, 36, has never appeared in a big league game for the Giants. He was claimed off waivers from the Royals just over a week ago. He was sent to Sacramento and made two appearances there. The Giants put him back on the wire and he wasn’t claimed this time. This is the righty’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time. That means he does not have the right to elect free agency.

The righty has a very limited big league track record so far. He made four appearances for the Royals earlier this year, allowing six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. That gives him an unsightly 10.31 earned run average, though in a very tiny sample.

His minor league work has been more intriguing. Back in April, FanGraphs ranked him the #28 prospect in Kansas City’s system, mostly due to his nasty slider. Looking at his results, his control has not been strong but he can send guys back to the bench. While in the Royals’ system, he logged 93 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 3.56 ERA. His 11.7% walk rate was too high but he punched out 30.7% of batters faced.

As mentioned, he got into two games for Sacramento since being claimed. The first one went fine, as he pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. But in the second, he walked five of the six batters he faced and also threw a wild pitch. Perhaps that prompted the Giants to putting Cerantola back on waivers.

It is a mild surprise that Cerantola cleared waivers, given that he is still optionable and clearly has strikeout stuff, but the lack of control perhaps makes him too much of a project. Though no club is currently willing to give him a roster spot, the Giants will keep him in a non-roster capacity. If they can help him rein things in, perhaps he can work his way back to the big leagues. They are going into the deadline as clear sellers and may open up some playing time by trading away some arms in the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images

Nationals Reinstate Max Kranick From 60-Day Injured List

Darragh McDonald — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:10:14 +0000

The Nationals announced that right-hander Max Kranick has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The club had a 40-man vacancy that Kranick has now filled. The Nats also placed catcher Drew Millas on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 12, with a left index finger fracture. Fellow catcher Harry Ford will be recalled to take the place of Millas, reports Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic.

On Sunday, the Nats recalled first baseman Abimelec Ortiz and designated left-hander Matt Krook for assignment. That opened a 40-man spot and also left the Nats with a split of 14 position players and 12 pitchers. Ortiz was optioned after that game, getting them to 13-12. Kranick’s reinstatement gets them to 13-13 and also fills the 40-man roster.

Kranick, now 28, hasn’t yet appeared in a game as a National. He was just signed a couple of months ago while still recovering from a flexor tendon surgery he underwent last year. He has been on a rehab assignment for the past month and is now ready to return to the big leagues.

His major league track record has largely been defined by injuries. He debuted with the Pirates in 2021, putting up an unimpressive 6.28 earned run average over nine starts. He then required Tommy John surgery the following summer, which put him on the shelf for most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Bucs put him on waivers going into 2024 and Kranick was claimed by the Mets. A hamstring strain put him on the IL to start the year, then the Mets outrighted him in May.

He pitched well enough in the minors that the Mets put him back on the 40-man in October of 2024. He spent most of the first half of 2025 in the Mets’ bullpen, tossing 37 innings with a 3.65 ERA. His 16.9% strikeout rate was well below average but his 3.4% walk rate was tiny. He mostly threw a 95.6 mile-per-hour four-seamer and an 89.9 mph slider, though he also mixed in a curveball and sweeper.

He required flexor tendon surgery in July, wiping out the remainder of his campaign. The Mets non-tendered him at season’s end. He remained unsigned until the Nats scooped him up in May on a deal with an $800K salary for 2026. There’s also a 2027 club option, which will be either worth $850K or $50K north of the new league minimum salary, whichever figure is greater. Even if that club option were to be turned down, he can be controlled via arbitration through 2029.

The Nats have one of the weaker bullpens in the league, as their relievers have a collective 5.07 ERA this year, which is better than just three other clubs. Kranick will try to pitch well enough to hold a job in that group. If it doesn’t work out, he is out of options.

Turning to the catching moves, this is the same finger Millas fractured in August of last year. As seen in this clip from MLB.com, Austin Wells of the Yankees swung at a pitch and made contact with Millas’s glove hand. Millas required surgery and missed the rest of the year. He has been on the active roster this year but perhaps the finger hasn’t been 100%. Nusbaum’s piece linked above says the finger has been purple and swollen throughout the campaign.

While he’s out, the Nats will get a look at Ford. Acquired in the Jose A. Ferrer trade in December, Ford has been on many top 100 prospect lists in recent years. He had debuted with the Mariners last year and could have broke camp with the Nats but he didn’t have a great spring and got sent to Triple-A instead.

Since then, the Nats have been getting a resurgent season from Keibert Ruiz while Ford has been scuffling in the minors. Ruiz had an awful .235/.266/.345 showing over the 2024 and 2025 seasons but has bounced back with a .275/.302/.465 line here in 2026.

Ford, meanwhile, has a .223/.370/.335 line in Triple-A this year. However, he has been better lately, putting a cold start behind him. Per Nusbaum, he was playing through a shoulder injury earlier in the year and has picked things up since getting over that. He had a .208/.339/.270 line through June 17 but has slashed .277/.462/.553 since.

Ruiz is signed through 2030 as part of an extension he signed with the club back in 2023. He’ll make $30MM over the next four seasons. It’s unclear how the organization feels about him now. That deal was signed by the previous front office regime. President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo was fired last year and replaced by Paul Toboni. One of Toboni’s first moves was to trade for Ford.

With Ruiz in better form now, there’s an argument for the Nats to try to sell high, since the deal looked underwater just a few months ago. Though if they feel he can maintain the kind of form he has shown this year, the money on the contract isn’t too onerous on an annual basis. For now, Ruiz and Ford will share the catching duties, perhaps using the designated hitter slot to give at-bats to both guys.

Photo courtesy of Tim Vizer, Imagn Images

Sit/Start Week 16: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 7/16 – 7/19

Lucas Zenobi — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:00:17 +0000

Lucas Zenobi scores every starting pitcher matchup for the week ahead.

The post Sit/Start Week 16: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 7/16 – 7/19 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Expected SP Schedules Weeks 16-17

Michael Hanlon — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:00:12 +0000

Every upcoming matchup for every scheduled starter across the league.

The post Expected SP Schedules Weeks 16-17 appeared first on Pitcher List.

Is It Legit? 7/15/26: Esmerlyn Valdez, Sean Burke, Troy Melton

Jeremy Heist — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:30:50 +0000

Are Esmerlyn Valdez, Sean Burke, and Troy Melton for real?

The post Is It Legit? 7/15/26: Esmerlyn Valdez, Sean Burke, Troy Melton appeared first on Pitcher List.

2026 Future’s Game Dynasty Recap

Matt Heckman — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:00:33 +0000

Recapping the 2026 MLB Future's Game

The post 2026 Future’s Game Dynasty Recap appeared first on Pitcher List.

Deep League Risers and Fallers Week 17

Sam Lutz — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:00:20 +0000

It's K Rates and Contact Ability, Always K rate and Contact Ability.

The post Deep League Risers and Fallers Week 17 appeared first on Pitcher List.

What Bat Speed Says About Young Hitters: Part 2

Jack Martin — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:30:17 +0000

Bat speed optional?

Source

Patience or Panic: Ian Happ, Travis Bazzana, Carter Jensen

Jeffrey Farek — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:15:25 +0000

The All-Star Break came just in time for these sleepy bats.

The post Patience or Panic: Ian Happ, Travis Bazzana, Carter Jensen appeared first on Pitcher List.

Astros To Trade Lance McCullers Jr., Colton Gordon To Brewers

Steve Adams — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:15:17 +0000

10:15am: The Brewers are also acquiring left-hander Colton Gordon in the deal, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. His inclusion gives Milwaukee a controllable 27-year-old lefty who’s already made his big league debut but has yet to see his strong Triple-A production carry over to the big leagues.

10:05am: McCullers has agreed to waive his no-trade clause and has been informed he is being traded to the Brewers, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Astros will indeed pay down a portion of what’s remaining on the contract.

9:52am: The Brewers and Astros are finalizing a trade that will send righty Lance McCullers Jr. from Houston to Milwaukee, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. He’ll need to waive a no-trade clause to make the deal happen, but that’s likely already taken place if things are indeed in the process of being finalized.

This is surely a salary-motivated move for Houston. McCullers is being paid $17MM in the final season of a five-year, $85MM contract, but he hasn’t pitched well since the 2022 season. McCullers missed all of 2023-24 due to a flexor tear that required surgery, and he’s posted a 6.65 ERA in 94 2/3 innings dating back to last season. If the Brewers are willing to take on even a small portion of the approximate $6.672MM on McCullers’ contract, that’d free up some more resources for the ‘Stros as they gear up to make some additions ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

More to come.

The Simpsons Explains the 2026 MLB Season – NL Edition

Pablo Figueroa — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:00:08 +0000

Wow, this is a ... this is a black day for baseball

The post The Simpsons Explains the 2026 MLB Season – NL Edition appeared first on Pitcher List.

MLBTR Podcast: JJ Wetherholt’s Extension, The Pirates Without Griffin, And Exciting Times For The White Sox And Marlins

Darragh McDonald — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:56:45 +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 Cardinals signing JJ Wetherholt to an eight-year extension (2:50)
The Pirates losing Konnor Griffin for several weeks and then trading for Jacob Gonzalez and Brandon Eisert (11:00)
The White Sox acquiring prospect Jaden Woods and the 34th pick in the draft in that trade, then selecting Landon Thome with that pick after taking Roch Cholowsky first overall (29:40)
The Marlins reportedly planning to buy at the deadline and keep Sandy Alcantara (39:35)
The Athletics losing Nick Kurtz and Zack Gelof to the injured list as they fall in the standings (51:00)

Check out our past episodes!

Trade Deadline Questions About The Royals, Reds, Cardinals, Padres And More! – listen here
The Mets In Flux, The Angels Fire Their GM, And Guardians’ Catchers – listen here
The D-Backs Battle Injuries, Boston’s Trade Chips, And More! – 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 Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

The Opener: AL Wins ASG, Bellinger, Caminero

Charlie Wright — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:40:03 +0000

Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski made a bit of history last night. He became the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1999 to have at least five strikeouts in the All-Star game (h/t Sarah Langs of MLB.com).

1. American League earns shutout win

The AL cruised to a 4-0 victory in last night’s All-Star game. Pitching dominated for both sides. Blue Jays righty Dylan Cease set the tone by striking out the side in the first inning. Cease and a steady stream of relievers combined for 15 strikeouts. Of the 11 pitchers used by the AL, only Bryan Baker failed to record a punchout. He faced two batters, allowing a single to Otto Lopez before getting Sal Stewart to ground out to end the game. Outside of Cristopher Sanchez‘s rough first inning, the NL arms were also dominant. The only scoring after the first frame came via a solo homer from Miguel Vargas. The AL and NL have now alternated winning the Midsummer Classic for five straight seasons.

2. Bellinger takes home MVP honors

Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger came through with the biggest swing of the night. With the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning, he roped a single up the middle to give the AL a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. In a game that didn’t have much action, Bellinger’s two-RBI knock was enough to earn the MVP award. The 31-year-old struggled to a .663 OPS in June. He continued to slump in July, until picking up five hits against the Nationals in the final series before the break. The Yankees will need him to heat back up as they await the return of Aaron Judge.

3. Caminero fine after HBP

There was a scary moment in the third inning last night. A Riley O’Brien sinker ran up and in on Junior Caminero, hitting him in the hand. The Rays’ third baseman jogged straight to the clubhouse after gathering himself. Fortunately, Caminero has avoided serious injury. X-rays showed no fracture in his hand. He’s expected to suit up on Friday against the Red Sox, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. “I feel good,” Caminero said. “Thank God that nothing’s broken, and it was just more of a scare more than anything.” O’Brien sought out Caminero in the opposing clubhouse after the game to check on him. “He was very understanding,” O’Brien said, relayed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “And classy about it.”

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

MLB News & Moments: 2026 All-Star Game Edition

Pablo Figueroa — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:30:03 +0000

The AL pitches a shutout

The post MLB News & Moments: 2026 All-Star Game Edition appeared first on Pitcher List.

Charlie Barnes Elects Free Agency

Charlie Wright — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:46:25 +0000

July 15: Barnes elected free agency, MLBTR has learned.

July 14: Left-hander Charlie Barnes has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, per his MLB.com transaction tracker. The Dodgers designated the veteran for assignment on Saturday after righty Landon Knack returned from the 60-day IL. Barnes has been outrighted before, so he has the right to skip the assignment and elect free agency.

Los Angeles grabbed Barnes off waivers after the Cubs DFAed him in early May. He’s bounced back and forth between the big-league club and the minors. Barnes recorded a pair of scoreless innings to begin his Dodgers tenure. His final outing with the club didn’t go so well. The lefty was crushed for seven earned runs as a bulk reliever against the A’s on July 1. He was sent down the following day.

The 30-year-old Barnes returned to MLB after four seasons in Korea. His previous experience in the majors consisted of 38 innings with the Twins in 2021. Barnes was a workhorse for the Lotte Giants from 2022 to 2024, putting together three straight seasons of a mid-3.00s ERA and 150+ innings. He made eight starts last year, then signed a minor league deal with the Reds midway through the season. Barnes didn’t get called up by the Reds and moved on to the Cubs over the winter.

Barnes doesn’t have overpowering stuff, instead relying on a diverse five-pitch mix. He sits in the high-80s with the four-seamer and sinker. His secondaries include a slider, changeup, and sweeper. Barnes’ heater lacks ride, but has above-average armside movement.

While Barnes could explore other opportunities, he may choose to stick with a Dodgers club that frequently churns through bullpen arms. There’s a decent chance he’s called upon again to eat some innings in the majors if he remains in the organization.

Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images

Fantasy Reliever Rankings: Closers, Holds & SOLDs – 7/14

Rick Graham — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:30:02 +0000

Top 100 Relief Pitcher Rankings for Fantasy Baseball Leagues in 2026

The post Fantasy Reliever Rankings: Closers, Holds & SOLDs – 7/14 appeared first on Pitcher List.

The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1522 – Two Truths & A Lie: 2H Breakouts & Fades

Paul Sporer — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 06:56:53 +0000

7/14/26 The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live! Follow Our Socials Paul Sporer | Twitter | Bluesky – Host Justin Mason | Twitter | Bluesky – Co-Host/Producer Joe Orrico | Twitter | Bluesky – Co-Host YOUTUBE Join our Discord for live video feeds of each show and more! Watch the video […]

Source

Trade Deadline Outlook: Los Angeles Angels

Mark Polishuk — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:56:01 +0000

The Angels are tied for the worst record in baseball, and are surely headed for their 11th consecutive losing season. There was already speculation that GM Perry Minasian was on the hot seat since 2026 was the last guaranteed year of his contract, but the axe fell surprisingly earlier than expected, as Minasian was fired in late June and replaced by former longtime Cardinals front office boss John Mozeliak. While Mozeliak’s official title is “baseball operations consultant,” he is basically the interim general manager who will oversee at least the remainder of the 2026 season.

Mozeliak’s arrival adds a new wrinkle to the Angels’ deadline plans, and at least the hope of a change in the franchise’s direction. Owner Arte Moreno’s heavy hand in baseball ops decisions is considered to be the driving force behind the Halos’ lack of success, leaving the team in a limbo no matter who’s sitting in the GM chair. Moreno’s insistence that the team is never far away from contention has left the Angels long overdue for a major rebuild, yet the owner’s alleged commitment to winning is undermined by the Angels’ self-imposed payroll limit (i.e. viewing the luxury tax threshold as a hard line), and a lack of investment or commitment in a steady minor league pipeline.

As MLBTR’s Steve Adams bluntly put it in a subscriber-only piece back in May, “why can’t the Angels accept reality” about the state of their franchise? Mozeliak’s hiring could be some acknowledgement of reality sinking in, and how Los Angeles approaches the deadline may be telling in the organization’s next step.

Record: 38-59 (0% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Sell Mode

Impending free agents: Kirby Yates, Brent Suter, Jorge Soler, Yoan Moncada, Travis d’Arnaud, Adam Frazier, Anthony Rendon

Of this group, Yates and Suter are the only ones who are both healthy and having productive seasons. Yates’ season debut was delayed until May 8 due to knee inflammation, but he has a 3.00 ERA, 32.6% strikeout rate, and 8.1% walk rate over 21 innings as part of the Anaheim closing committee. Suter’s 4.64 ERA has been inflated by some bad luck (60.9% strand rate, .327 BABIP), but the southpaw is otherwise pitching close to his career norms.

Yates is owed only the remainder of a $5MM salary, which will have about $1.5MM remaining at the deadline, and Suter is owed only around $550K for the rest of the season. Either of these veterans are an easy payroll fit for any of the many contenders looking for bullpen help, and there is very little reason either Yates or Suter should still be in Los Angeles uniforms after the August 3 trade deadline. While this duo are the Angels’ top trade chips, they won’t yield much of a return as rental relievers, even if Yates has experience in higher-leverage situations.

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2026 Trade Deadline Outlook Series

Charlie Wright — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:40:27 +0000

Our Trade Deadline Outlook series is back for 2026! Front Office subscribers get a detailed breakdown of roster plans and trade opportunities for all 30 teams heading into the August 3 deadline. This landing page will be updated as new outlooks go live. Bookmark it now and check back in for the latest entries.

NL West

NL Central

Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

NL East

AL West

The Athletics
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Angels
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers

AL Central

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Guardians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins

AL East

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

Latest On 2028 Olympics Negotiations

Anthony Franco — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:10:16 +0000

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have expressed mutual interest in getting big leaguers involved for the 2028 Summer Olympics. There’ll need to be a formal agreement between the league and players union for that to happen.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday that there are various issues to be sorted out. Some of that is related to logistical concerns that also need to be ironed out with the Olympics and LA28 themselves — e.g. hotel amenities and the number of tickets available to participating players (link via Evan Drellich of The Athletic). The most interesting element, as first reported by Passan, is that the league proposed a mandatory participation clause.

That would require players who are chosen to suit up or face stiff penalties. MLB proposed that any selected players who didn’t want to partake would be subject to undisclosed fines and a three-week stint on the restricted list spanning July 10 – August 3, 2028 unless they have an excused absence at the discretion of the league office. That’s essentially a suspension, as players on the restricted list do not receive service time or salaries. A player on the injured list would be excused from the restricted list but would be barred from playing any regular season games until August 3 — a clear attempt to preemptively shut down the possibility of teams using a “phantom IL” stint as a workaround.

Unsurprisingly, MLBPA executive director Bruce Meyer wasn’t keen on the mandatory participation. He told reporters (including Drellich) that the proposal was “extreme.” Commissioner Rob Manfred responded by noting that the in-season Olympics break would be “a disruptive undertaking” for the league, so “we want our very best out there so that people see how great our game really is.”

The ’28 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. If there’s an agreement on involving major league players, the league would like to pause regular season play after July 9. They’d hold the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game on the 10th and 11th, respectively.

The tentative plan would be for the baseball phase to run from July 13-19, even though the Opening Ceremony of the overall Olympic Games isn’t scheduled until July 14. The MLB regular season would resume on July 21, nine days before the Olympics themselves conclude.

According to the IOC, the baseball tournament would be a six-team field split into two groups of three teams. Those teams would play a round robin, with the top team in each group automatically qualifying for the semifinals. The remaining four teams would play a quarterfinal round with single elimination games the rest of the way to determine the medalists.

Three of those teams are already locked in. The U.S. automatically qualifies as the host country. Venezuela and the Dominican Republic qualified based on their placements in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Venezuela won that event by defeating the U.S. in the final. The Dominican Republic lost in the semifinals but earned the other allotted spot for a country in the Americas as the next-best finisher.

The remaining three teams will be determined by future tournaments, the first of which is scheduled to take place in November 2027. One spot will go to a team from Asia, with Japan the on-paper favorites to secure that berth. One will go to either Australia or a European team, while the final is a Wild Card spot to be determined at a later tournament.

MLB plays the World Baseball Classic every two years. The event has attracted more star talent over the past few iterations and has clearly taken on a lot of importance for the participating players. However, it remains an optional event. It’s fairly common for players to decline the invitation while preferring to keep their focus on Spring Training.

Manfred differentiated the WBC, which takes place in March, from an in-season Olympics. “The schedule for the Olympics is going to cover days that players otherwise would be playing in major league games. If they’re not on an injured list, they’d be out there playing,” the commissioner said on Tuesday.

Drellich writes that the MLBPA has not officially responded to the league’s proposal on mandatory participation. The union could try to leverage that into more accommodations for those who play in the tournament.

The majority of selected players will likely want to play regardless. The NHL had no issue getting strong excitement for the Winter Olympics this past February. If anything, the more irritating hangup could be insurance issues similar to those that prevented some players from participating in the 2026 WBC. Most teams weren’t willing to allow players whose coverage was denied to play in the World Baseball Classic. The league would need to sort that out to get best-on-best competition for the Olympics.

MLB players have never appeared in the Olympics. Baseball has been a medaled sport six times, most recently the 2020 Tokyo Games. All players on a 40-man roster were prohibited from participating. The U.S. will be hosting the summer games for the first time since 1996, making it a more realistic possibility without shortening the 162-game regular season. The league would rather move the start of the ’28 season up a few days to make up for longer break as opposed to stretching the postseason well into November, Passan reports.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Cleveland Guardians

Steve Adams — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 01:40:17 +0000

The Guardians won the American League Central in 2025 but didn’t do much to follow up on that division crown in the winter. They entered the year relying almost entirely on in-house players like Chase DeLauter, Parker Messick, Travis Bazzana, Cooper Ingle and others breaking through to play meaningful roles in the majors. The approach has had mixed results, but the American League as a whole has been so flawed that Cleveland finds itself right in the playoff picture. The Guards are in a nominal tie with the White Sox for the division lead, but they’re currently a Wild Card team since Chicago is leading the season series between the two teams.

In all likelihood, Cleveland will operate as a buyer at the deadline. The extent to which they’ll be willing to ship out potential high-end contributors for short-term gain isn’t clear, but the Guardians generally shy away from splashy deadline additions. There have been a select few notable exceptions over the years (e.g. Andrew Miller), but Cleveland typically prefers to hang onto its top prospects.

Record: 51-46 (61.6% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Outfield (multiple), first base, rotation depth, reliever

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Cleveland has been carried by its pitching staff but has a clear need for multiple bats. Cleveland has scored the second-fewest runs in baseball (385), leading only the Padres. Guardians hitters are 29th in average (.229), tied for 23rd in OBP (.310) and last in the majors in slugging (.369). Their 93 home runs are the fourth-fewest in the sport.

In the past, Cleveland’s lack of power has been a trade-off for elite contact/bat-to-ball skills. That’s not really the case in 2026. Cleveland’s teamwide 22.4% strikeout rate is tied with the Rangers for 17th in baseball. The MLB average strikeout rate in 2026 is 22.1%. Cleveland hitters do draw walks at a slightly above-average clip (9.8% compared to the league-average 9%), and they’re better than average on the basepaths, too. Cleveland has a station-to-station, small-ball style of offensive play that necessitates constantly putting the pressure on opposing defenses … but they’re not really putting the ball in play enough to maximize that style.

The most glaring areas of need are in the outfield and at first base. It’s true that Cleveland catchers are again a well below-average unit, but the Guardians organization prioritizes catcher defense more than any other club in the game. It’s the reason they traded for Patrick Bailey back in May when he was hitting .146/.213/.185; he’s the best defensive catcher in the game. It’s easy to argue that Cleveland should aim for more offense here, but with Bailey and Austin Hedges on the major league roster and Bo Naylor in Triple-A, they’re clearly committed to a premium glove behind the dish, even at the cost of offense.

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Cubs Outright Jake Woodford

Anthony Franco — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 23:58:09 +0000

The Cubs have run right-hander Jake Woodford unclaimed through outright waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He has the right to elect free agency and explore other opportunities. Chicago designated Woodford for assignment over the weekend when Phil Maton made it back from the injured list.

Woodford had a brief stint on the big league roster. The Cubs signed him to a major league deal on July 4 and designated him for assignment exactly a week later. The 29-year-old made one appearance, allowing three runs on five hits over two innings in a loss in Cincinnati. He struck out three but surrendered a JJ Bleday home run that broke open a 2-0 game.

That might go down as Woodford’s only appearance in a Cubs uniform. He has now pitched at the highest level for six teams, including every NL Central club except for the Reds. Woodford allowed just under seven earned runs per nine over 23 1/3 innings in a low-leverage relief role for the Brewers earlier in the season. The former supplemental first-round pick found some success with the Cardinals early in his career but has posted an ERA north of 6.00 in each of the last four seasons.

Woodford doesn’t miss many bats or get a ton of ground balls. He has continued to draw interest as a depth arm thanks to his willingness to attack the strike zone and ability to work multiple innings. He’s out of minor league options and needs to get through waivers each time a club takes him off the MLB roster, frequently allowing him to test free agency in search of a team in need of bullpen depth.