Dylan Carlson Elects Free Agency
April 15: The transaction log has been updated to indicate that Carlson elected free agency.
April 14: The Cubs sent outfielder Dylan Carlson outright to Triple-A Iowa, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Chicago designated him for assignment over the weekend when Seiya Suzuki returned from a season-opening injured list stint. Carlson has the right to elect free agency, though the log doesn’t specify whether he’ll do so or report to the affiliate.
Carlson signed a minor league contract in January. He broke camp alongside two other non-roster invitees, Michael Conforto and Scott Kingery. Suzuki’s activation needed to push one of those three off the roster. Conforto offers a lefty bat on a heavily right-handed bench. Kingery hasn’t started a game all season but provides a little more defensive versatility and speed in a pinch-running role than Carlson offers.
The 27-year-old Carlson started one game in left field. Between that and a pinch-hitting appearance, he went 0-4 with a couple strikeouts. Carlson has now appeared at the MLB level in seven straight seasons and has accrued more than five years of service time. A former top prospect, Carlson had a couple league average seasons with the Cardinals early in his career. His bat regressed as he got into his mid-20s, and he owns a .204/.280/.303 line across four teams going back to the start of the 2024 season.
If Carlson accepts the outright, he’ll join Kevin Alcántara, Chas McCormick and Justin Dean as outfielders with MLB experience in Iowa. Alcántara and Dean hold spots on the 40-man roster. The MLB starting outfield is settled with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Suzuki left to right and Moisés Ballesteros taking the bulk of the designated hitter work.
Porter Hodge To Undergo UCL Surgery
Cubs right-hander Porter Hodge will undergo surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, reports Taylor McGregor of the Marquee Sports Network. He will miss the entire 2026 season and likely part of 2027 as well.
It’s obviously an unwelcome development for Hodge, in addition to being another blow for the Chicago pitching staff. He began this season on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain. Now that he’s going to miss the remainder of the campaign, he’ll be transferred to the 60-day IL at some point in the future when the Cubs need a 40-man roster spot.
Hodge seemed to break out with the Cubs in 2024. He pitched 43 innings out of their bullpen that year, allowing 1.88 earned runs per nine. His 11.6% walk rate was on the high side but he punched out 31.7% of batters faced, averaging in the upper 90s with his fastball. He earned enough trust to rack up nine saves and nine holds that year. He got some help from a .189 batting average on balls in play and 80.1% strand rate but it was an encouraging season nonetheless.
His results backed up in 2025. His strikeout rate fell to 27.2%, still above average but well below the previous season. His walk rate ticked up a bit to 12.2%. His batted ball luck returned to normal levels and he fell victim to some home run troubles. The end result was a 6.27 ERA on the year. An oblique strain and a shoulder impingement may have impacted his ability to get in a groove.
Ideally, 2026 would have been a bounceback year but that won’t happen now. As mentioned, he has already been on the IL all season and will now stay there. The one silver lining for him personally is that he’ll collect big league pay and service time for the year. He began the season with his service clock at one years and 117 days. There’s a small chance he could qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player, depending on where the cutoff lands at season’s end.
For the Cubs, it’s another blow to the pitching staff. They have already lost Cade Horton to his own UCL surgery. Justin Steele is still working his way back from last year’s UCL surgery. Matthew Boyd, Jordan Wicks, Hunter Harvey, Phil Maton and Ethan Roberts are also on the IL. Some of those guys will be back in the mix later this season but the Cubs will now have to plan on getting through 2026 without any contributions from Hodge.
For now, they have a bullpen consisting of Daniel Palencia, Ben Brown, Caleb Thielbar, Jacob Webb, Hoby Milner, Riley Martin, Luke Little and Ryan Rolison. They have Gavin Hollowell and Charlie Barnes on optional assignment. Swingman Colin Rea is in the rotation but could be pushed back to the bullpen if some injured starters get healthy. The injured relievers could also come off the IL in the future and bolster the depth chart, but it’s also possible further injuries arise in the interim.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Cubs Sign Ty Blach To Minor League Deal
The Cubs and veteran lefty Ty Blach are in agreement on a deal, as first reported by Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. The Semper9 Sports client is headed to Triple-A Iowa. It’s a minor league pact, MLBTR has confirmed, and Blach has already joined the team on its road trip in Columbus. He’s expected to pitch Saturday, whether in a start or long relief.
Blach, 35, has pitched in parts of seven big league seasons. The bulk of his major league work has come with the Giants, for whom he tossed 299 1/3 innings of 4.36 ERA ball from 2016-18. He also spent three years with the Rockies organization from 2022-24, where he worked as a swingman but stumbled to an ERA north of 6.00 in 193 2/3 frames. That 2024 season with the Rockies was Blach’s most recent big league work. He spent most of the 2025 season with the Rangers organization and notched a solid 3.54 ERA in 56 minor league frames.
Blach has never been a hard thrower or missed many bats. He’s averaged 90 mph on his sinker in the majors and sat at 89 mph with that two-seamer during last year’s stint with the Rangers’ top affiliate. The 6’1″ southpaw has only fanned 13% of his major league opponents, but he’s regularly shown strong command (7% walk rate) and above-average groundball tendencies (45.6%). Blach did a nice job of dodging hard contact during his time in San Francisco but took a step back in that regard during his three seasons with the Rox.
The Cubs have been hit hard by pitching injuries, so it’s not a surprise to see them bring in some multi-inning depth. Cade Horton is the most notable loss for Chicago. Last year’s Rookie of the Year runner-up is headed for surgery to repair his right elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament and will be sidelined well into the 2027 season. The Cubs also have lefty Matthew Boyd on the 15-day IL due to a biceps strain, and top starter Justin Steele has yet to return from his own UCL surgery, which was performed about one year ago. He’s on the 60-day IL and likely out until early summer.
At present, the Cubs’ rotation includes Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea. Assad opened the season in the minors and was hit hard in his his second start of the season this weekend. Rea re-signed as a free agent and opened the year in the ‘pen, as expected for the veteran swingman. But much like the 2025 season, when he unexpectedly finished second on the team in starts and innings pitched due to various injuries around the roster, he’s been thrust into the rotation and seems likely to stick there for the time being.
On the bullpen side of things, the Cubs are without Phil Maton (knee tendinitis), Porter Hodge (flexor strain), Hunter Harvey (triceps inflammation), Jordan Wicks (nerve irritation in his forearm) and Ethan Roberts (laceration on his pitching hand). The Cubs have five lefties in the big league bullpen at the moment: Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, Riley Martin, Luke Little and Ryan Rolison. A sixth, Charlie Barnes, is on the 40-man roster down in Triple-A. Chicago certainly isn’t hurting for southpaw depth, but with Rea in the rotation, they’ll bring in an experienced swingman to stash in the upper minors.
MLBTR Podcast: Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles
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 Blue Jays acquiring Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox (3:25)
- The Astros dealing with a mountain of injuries (12:25)
- The Cubs suffering a number of injuries, including losing Cade Horton for the season (22:30)
- The Orioles getting bit by the injury bug, including UCL surgery for Zach Eflin (31:40)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Why did Konnor Griffin sign such a long extension with the Pirates? (39:45)
- Is Griffin’s lack of plate discipline in his first few games a concern? (48:50)
- With lots of guys struggling to hit early on, should spring training start earlier? (52:10)
- Do you have faith in Jakob Junis keeping the closer’s role with the Rangers? (58:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class – listen here
- Lots Of Extensions And Big-Picture Topics – listen here
- The PCA and Sanchez Extensions, And Prospect Promotions And Reassignments – 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 Hanisch, Imagn Images
Cubs, Padres Interested In Lucas Giolito
Right-hander Lucas Giolito remains a free agent a few weeks into the 2026 season. A report from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic today says the Cubs and Padres are showing interest in the the righty.
Giolito, 31, has been the most notable unsigned free agent for a while now. Max Scherzer and Zack Littell signed in mid-March, leaving Giolito as the last standing member of the MLBTR’s list of the Top 50 Free Agents from the beginning of the offseason.
He recently spoke about his experience with Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. He said he had some talks with a few teams but ultimately didn’t make much progress, seemingly due to disagreements about his salary. “I just want to play for close to what my value is,” Giolito told Bradford. “Everything is based on these models now. Everyone uses projection and models. My agency (CAA) does the same thing. When you look at models and projections (for value), it’s like ‘alright cool, give me something that’s relatively close to that.’ Let’s go and get it. I’m ready to go.”
Giolito is coming off a good season in terms of surface-level numbers. He tossed 145 innings for the Red Sox with a 3.41 earned run average. If teams have skepticism about that, it could be because his .273 batting average on balls in play and 76.7% strand rate were both to the lucky side. His 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate were actually subpar. ERA estimators like his 4.17 FIP and 4.65 SIERA felt his ERA was lucky by about a full run.
That continued a bit of a downward trend for him. He was a borderline ace from 2019 to 2021 but saw diminished results after that. His ERA was just under 5.00 in 2022 and 2023. He then missed 2024 while recovering from surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. It’s not known what type of salary Giolito would consider fair but it seems he hasn’t received an offer he would consider to be appropriate. He signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal with the Red Sox ahead of 2024, prior to that surgery.
In his recent comments, the righty added that he has been throwing about 75 pitches on his own in order to stay close to game ready. That’s a similar situation to Patrick Corbin. The Jays signed Corbin in response to some injuries. Corbin had been getting himself stretched out and only needed one minor league start before joining the big league club, even though he missed spring training.
For the Cubs and Padres, it’s understandable that they would look to what’s available, given their recent injuries. The Chicago rotation suffered one big blow recently, as Cade Horton‘s season has been ended by UCL surgery. They also placed Matthew Boyd on the injured list with a much more minor issue, a strained biceps. They are still waiting for Justin Steele, who is recovering from last year’s UCL surgery.
They currently have a rotation group consisting of Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea. Assad has options and started the season in the minors while Rea started in the bullpen. Both got moved up the depth chart when Horton and Boyd got hurt. If Giolito were added into the mix, Assad could again be optioned and/or Rea could get nudged back to a relief role. Boyd getting healthy fairly quickly could also impact the decision making.
On the financial side of things, both RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts have the Cubs narrowly above the competitive balance tax. The report from The Athletic says the Cubs are planning to pay the tax this year, so they shouldn’t have to worry about nudging their number up a bit.
For the Padres, their rotation depth has been an ongoing issue for years and 2026 is no exception. Over the weekend, Nick Pivetta exited a start due to elbow tightness. Joe Musgrove is still not back from his 2024 Tommy John surgery. Griffin Canning is still working his way back from last year’s Achilles injury. Matt Waldron required a minor procedure during spring training and began the season on the injured list.
Unless Pivetta’s issue proves to be minor, the Friars have a rotation mix of Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez. Both Waldron and Canning have begun rehab assignments and could be activated soon but that won’t necessarily solve everything since Buehler and Márquez have each posted lackluster results so far. JP Sears is on the 40-man roster but it would be nice to keep him in Triple-A as depth. Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are in the system on minor league deals but Gonzales has a 7.90 ERA through three Triple-A starts while McKenzie has a 13.50 ERA at that level so far this year.
Adding Giolito could make sense from a baseball perspective but the report from The Athletic notes that the ongoing sale process might be a snag. The Seidler family is actively trying to sell the franchise. Even if they get an agreement fairly soon, it would still have to be approved by the league. The current owners may be hesitant to add more money to the books while that process is ongoing.
It’s also possible that other clubs could jump into the mix. The Astros have lost three rotation members to the IL in recent days and could feel compelled to add another arm. The Orioles just lost Zach Eflin to UCL surgery. The Reds have Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo on the IL at the moment. Other injuries are sure to pop up as well.
Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images
Poll: Which Team Has Been Most Impacted By Injuries This Year?
Every year, teams that are widely expected to succeed at the outset of the season stumble due to injury woes. Teams that look strong on paper can often perform much less impressively if even one or two key players are removed from the mix, and even the very best teams can look vulnerable with a long enough string of tough-luck injuries. 2026 has been no exception to this so far, with several teams facing substantially tougher roads in the months ahead thanks to an early injury or three putting them on the back foot. Which team has it worst when it comes to the injury bug? Here’s a few of the leading contenders, in alphabetical order:
Atlanta Braves
One look at Atlanta’s list of injured players makes it easy to see why they’re in this conversation. The Braves’ injured starting pitchers would be a respectable starting rotation when taken together: Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Joey Wentz are all currently on the shelf. While Wentz is more of a back-end starter or swing man, the other four would all be in the conversation to start playoff games for the Braves alongside future Hall of Famer Chris Sale if they were healthy. In addition to the starting pitching woes, the Braves are without two key members of their lineup: catcher Sean Murphy and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim. Despite this deep group of talented players on the shelf, it can be argued the Braves haven’t been too impacted by those issues: they’re actually leading the NL East at the moment, and scorching hot starts from Drake Baldwin and Mauricio Dubon have helped fans to forget about the losses of Murphy and Kim.
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles could be easy to overlook on a list like this given their considerable depth all over the diamond, but that depth has been tested a great deal already this year. Zach Eflin is out for the year as he faces UCL surgery, but unlike other teams on this list the rotation is the least of Baltimore’s woes. A lineup that is currently without Jordan Westburg (elbow sprain), Jackson Holliday (hamate surgery), Adley Rutschman (ankle inflammation), Tyler O’Neill (concussion), Ryan Mountcastle (foot fracture) and Heston Kjerstad (hamstring strain) has been rather resilient in the face of those many losses thanks to the team’s deep positional corps. The bullpen has not been so fortunate, as last summer’s loss of Felix Bautista has been compounded by injuries to Keegan Akin and Andrew Kittredge to completely upend the Orioles’ late-inning mix outside of Ryan Helsley.
Chicago Cubs
While some teams collapse under the weight of several injuries piling up, the Cubs have struggled to stomach just one major loss. Star right-hander Cade Horton looked like an up-and-coming ace with the club last year, but just two starts into what would’ve been his first season in the majors, the right-hander was sidelined for UCL surgery. That’ll leave the Cubs without their best pitcher for the entire year, all while Justin Steele is still rehabbing from his own UCL surgery last April. The loss of Horton isn’t the only injury the Cubs have faced this year, either. Seiya Suzuki missed the start of the season after getting hurt during the WBC, though he’s since returned to the lineup. Matthew Boyd is currently sidelined by an arm injury of his own, and the team’s top two bullpen additions from the offseason (Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey) have both recently gone on the injured list as well. Losing Horton might be the biggest individual blow any team has faced so far this year, though other teams surely have it worse than the Cubs when it comes to volume.
Houston Astros
The Astros have had a brutal run of injuries so far this year. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier are both sidelined with shoulder strains. Tatsuya Imai (arm fatigue) joined them on the shelf and Cody Bolton (mid-back tightness) is also banged up. Things aren’t much better outside of the rotation. An outfield mix that was already looking thin before the season began lost its best starter in center fielder Jake Meyers to an oblique strain. The infield lost Jeremy Peña to a hamstring strain. The bullpen has also struggled badly without star closer Josh Hader, who has been sidelined by biceps tendinitis without much clarity on his timeline for a return to action. Other, smaller loses include outfielder Zach Dezenzo, lefty Bennett Sousa, and right-hander Nate Pearson. That’s on top of the continued absences of players like Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco due to surgeries underwent last season.
Toronto Blue Jays
The reigning AL champs have struggled badly with injuries all over the roster this year. The most obvious are those in the rotation, where all of Cody Ponce, Bowden Francis, Jose Berrios, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage are currently shelved with only Yesavage likely to return any time soon. That’s left the Jays to rely on Patrick Corbin and an injured Max Scherzer in the early going. While the lineup hasn’t been quite as damaged as the rotation, there’s still been significant losses. Alejandro Kirk is in the midst of six-week absence due to thumb surgery. Anthony Santander was sidelined before the year even began by shoulder surgery. George Springer (fractured toe) and Addison Barger (sprained ankle) are facing injuries of their own. While the bullpen has remained intact, the number of injuries in the rotation and lineup have left the Jays looking very different than they would when healthy.
Other Options
Those five teams aren’t the only ones facing injury woes, of course. The Mets have an argument given that Juan Soto is probably the most impactful talent on the injured list all throughout the league at the moment, though he’ll be back in a few weeks and they lack other significant injuries. The Yankees are currently without players like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Anthony Volpe, but those injuries were known during the offseason and the club was able to construct their roster around them. The Dodgers’ losses of Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, and Blake Snell are certainly significant, but it’s hard to say they’re being impacted too much when they have the best record in baseball. The Brewers have a strong argument for this list in the event that Christian Yelich joins Quinn Priester and Jackson Chourio on the shelf, though that isn’t yet certain. The Reds have stayed healthy in the lineup and bullpen, but the losses of Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are obviously a big blow to their rotation.
Which team do MLBTR readers think has been most impacted by injuries this year? Have your say in the poll below:
Which team has been most impacted by injuries in 2026?
Cubs Place Hunter Harvey On 15-Day Injured List
The Cubs have placed right-hander Hunter Harvey on the 15-day injured list due to right triceps inflammation. Left-hander Charlie Barnes‘ contract was selected from Triple-A to take Harvey’s spot on the active roster, and the final open spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster.
Harvey has a 6.75 ERA over four appearances and four innings, with all of the damage coming on April 3 when he allowed three runs (on homers from Gabriel Arias and Chase DeLauter) in two-thirds of an inning of work in the Cubs’ 4-1 loss for the Guardians. Perhaps in a hint of some lingering injury issues, Harvey only made one more appearance since that game, though he logged a scoreless inning last Wednesday with seemingly no incident.
Injuries have been a primary and unfortunate subplot of Harvey’s pro career, dating back to his time as a prized prospect in the Orioles’ farm system. Selected 22nd overall in the 2013 draft, Harvey didn’t make his MLB debut until 2019, and he didn’t make more than 10 appearances in a season until he logged 38 appearances out of the Nationals’ bullpen in 2022. Since August 2024, Harvey has pitched in just 22 MLB games due to back problems, a teres major strain, an adductor strain, and now this bout of biceps inflammation.
Over the 2022-25 seasons, Harvey posted a 3.07 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate, while establishing himself as a pretty solid leverage reliever when healthy. The Cubs rolled the dice on Harvey’s ability to bounce back by signing him to a one-year, $6.5MM free agent deal last winter, and Harvey and the team can only hope that this biceps issue is relatively minor.
Phil Maton was also placed on the IL due to knee tendinitis on Friday, so Chicago is now down two key members of its bullpen within a three-day span. The pitching staff as a whole has been depleted by Cade Horton‘s season-ending UCL surgery and Matthew Boyd‘s IL stint due to a biceps strain, and Colin Rea was moved from the bullpen to the rotation to help bolster the starting five.
Barnes will try to help fill the void as the southpaw prepares for his first taste of the Show since 2021. Over 38 2/3 innings and nine appearances (eight of them starts) for the Twins in 2021, Barnes posted a 5.92 ERA in what remains his only bit of Major League experience. The 30-year-old Clemson product then headed to South Korea and pitched well with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants from 2022-24, but the 2025 season saw Barnes struggle with the Giants and back in North America when pitching in the Reds’ minor league system.
Chicago signed Barnes to a minor league contract in January, and he’ll now return to the majors in what will likely be a long relief role. Barnes has worked mostly as a starter throughout his career, and his ability to eat innings may be helpful to a Cubs team that is still trying to work their way through this spate of pitching injuries.
Cubs To Activate Seiya Suzuki, Designate Dylan Carlson For Assignment
Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is back from the injured list after missing the first two weeks of the season with a knee sprain, according to multiple reports. Dylan Carlson was designated for assignment to clear space for Suzuki’s return. Chicago is also placing Phil Maton on the IL with a knee injury. Ethan Roberts is expected to be recalled to take his spot.
Suzuki banged up his knee while playing with Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic. He opened the regular season on the IL, but it wasn’t expected to be an extended absence. Suzuki ultimately needed just five rehab games at Double-A to get up to speed. He hit .429 with a pair of doubles with Knoxville.
Manager Craig Counsell told reporters, including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, that Suzuki will not play every day once he rejoins the team. The veteran figures to be a fixture in the lineup once he’s reacclimated to the big-league schedule.
Matt Shaw has handled the majority of right field reps in Suzuki’s stead. It’s his first time playing the outfield as a professional. Shaw has held his own with the glove so far, recording 1 Defensive Run Saved over 81 innings. He’s posted a 108 wRC+ with two home runs in 39 plate appearances. Shaw will likely shift to more of a utility role with Suzuki back.
The Cubs added Carlson on a minor league deal in late January. He slashed .298/.421/.404 in 20 MLB Spring Training games to land a big-league roster spot. The former Cardinal appeared in just three games with Chicago. He went hitless in four at-bats.
Carlson has bounced around since his time in St. Louis came to an end. The Cardinals sent him to the Rays at the 2024 trade deadline for right-hander Shawn Armstrong. He landed with the Orioles last season, earning part-time work. Carlson struggled to a 74 wRC+ with Baltimore. The former top prospect has a .683 OPS in his MLB career.
Maton was the top acquisition in a bullpen overhaul that also included the additions of Hunter Harvey, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb. He signed a two-year, $14.5MM deal with the club. Maton opened his Chicago tenure with two scoreless outings, but struggled in recent appearances. The right-hander gave up two earned runs in each of his last three games.
Maton’s final outing before hitting the IL was a low-leverage spot against the Rays. He entered in the eighth inning of a game the Cubs were leading 7-0. Three hits and an HBP plated a pair of runs, requiring Counsell to go to Thielbar to secure the final out of the frame.
Roberts came up over the weekend as the 27th man for the doubleheader against the Guardians. He appeared in the second game, allowing an inherited runner to score before recording the last two outs of the eighth inning. The righty has now pitched in parts of four seasons with Chicago. Roberts has a 4.91 ERA across 44 innings as a big leaguer.
Patrick Mooney of The Athletic was first to report Suzuki’s activation and Carlson’s designation. Levine was first on Maton’s IL placement. Jesse Rogers of ESPN first reported Roberts’ recall.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
Davey Lopes Passes Away
The Dodgers announced today that Davey Lopes passed away today at the age of 80. Lopes made his debut as a player in the early 1970s and went on to have a career as a coach and manager, making him a staple of the game for the bulk of five decades.
Lopes was a late bloomer. He didn’t make it to the majors until 1972, which was his age-27 season. Even then, he only got into 11 games for the Dodgers. The following year, his age-28 campaign, he finally established himself as a big league regular. He became the club’s second baseman and showed off the speed that would become his standout trait. He swiped 36 bags that year, his first of what would eventually be a 14-year streak of stealing at least 15 bases.
He stayed on the Dodger roster through the 1981 season, mostly covering the keystone but also with occasional action at shortstop, third base and in the outfield. The Dodgers had a very consistent infield during that stretch, with Steve Garvey the mainstay at first, Lopes at second, Bill Russell at short and Ron Cey at third.
Lopes played in 1,207 games for the Dodgers from his 1972 debut until the end of that 1981 campaign. He hit .262 in that time and launched 99 home runs but the eye-popping stat was his 418 stolen bases. He led the league in steals in both 1975 and 1976, with 77 in the former and 63 in the latter. The second instance was particularly impressive as injuries limited him to only 117 games. In 1978, he won a Gold Glove and also made the All-Star team, the first of four straight All-Star selections.
The Dodgers were quite good in that time but couldn’t quit win a title for most of it. They lost the World Series to the Athletics in 1974, then to the Yankees in both 1977 and 1978. In 1981, they were able to get the job done, topping the Yankees 4-2. Lopes stole ten bases in in 16 postseason games that year.
Prior to the 1982 season, he was traded to the A’s, kicking off the journeyman phase of his career. He would also bounce to the Cubs and Astros, playing past his 42nd birthday. He finished his career with 7,340 plate appearances over 1,812 games. He racked up 1,671 hits, including 155 home runs. He scored 1,023 runs and drove in 614. His 557 steals put him 26th on the all-time list.
He quickly pivoted to his post-playing career by becoming a bench coach with the Rangers. That was followed by stints as a first base coach with the Orioles and Padres. He was hired to manage the Brewers for the 2000 season. The club did not fare well and he was fired early in 2002. He never got another managerial gig and had a 144-195 record in that job. He then went back to being a first base coach, starting with a return to the Padres, followed by stints with the Nationals, Phillies, Dodgers and back to the Nationals. He retired from coaching after the 2017 season.
We at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in sending condolences to the Lopes family as well as everyone else mourning him today.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Cade Horton To Undergo Season-Ending UCL Surgery
Cubs right-hander Cade Horton will undergo elbow surgery and miss the remainder of the 2026 season, manager Craig Counsell tells Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, Horton has a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Whether he requires full Tommy John surgery or some sort of alternative won’t be known until the procedure is taking place. He is already on the 15-day injured list and will be transferred to the 60-day IL whenever the Cubs need to open a 40-man roster spot.
It’s a painful but unsurprising development for Horton. He started for the Cubs on Friday but threw a pitch that was about two miles per hour below his average. He summoned the trainer and was removed from the game, with the Cubs announcing his ailment as forearm discomfort. He was quickly placed on the IL and is now destined to stay there.
Horton entered the 2025 season as one of the top pitching prospects in the league. He delivered on that hype by giving the Cubs 118 innings with a 2.67 earned run average. He had big breakout potential here in 2026 but it will instead go down as a mostly lost season. The eventual details of his surgery will determine his path back to the mound. A full TJS usually has a timeline of 14 months or more, whereas an alternative such as the internal brace variety could allow a pitcher to return slightly quicker.
The young righty wasn’t called up until mid-May last year but pitched well enough to finish second in National League Rookie of the Year voting. As part of the Prospect Promotion Incentive, that gave him a full year of service time retroactively. He’ll continue to collect service time while on the IL this year and will get to the two-year mark. Along the way, he will turn 25 years old in August.
For the Cubs, they will have to proceed without Horton in their rotation plans for this year. They also lost Matthew Boyd to the IL in recent days, though his bicep strain seems fairly minor. From their season-opening rotation, they are down to the trio of Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga. They began the campaign with Javier Assad optioned to the minors but he has quickly been recalled and will start today’s game. It seems likely that swingman Colin Rea will start tomorrow, though the Cubs haven’t made that official.
As mentioned, Boyd’s situation isn’t considered serious, so he could be back in a couple of weeks. There’s also Justin Steele, who is working his way back from his UCL surgery, which was performed around this time last year. He is on the 60-day IL and won’t be eligible for a return until late May.
In the short term, their depth is a bit questionable. Jaxon Wiggins is one the top pitching prospects in the league and he is pitching at Triple-A but he still needs to rein in his command. He walked 11.5% of batters faced last year and is up to 13.9% so far in 2026. Kyle Wright and Vince Velasquez are non-roster guys with big league experience but neither has been in the majors since 2023 and Wright is currently on the minor league IL.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images