Dodgers Acquire Eric Lauer
May 18: Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports that the Jays are sending around $2.5MM in cash to cover the bulk of Lauer’s salary. The Dodgers are picking up around $600K, though that’s only a marginal amount above the roughly $550K that a minimum salary player would have made the rest of the year. Davidi adds that the Jays will not receive a player to be named later, so it’ll be Lauer and cash for a nominal cash consideration.
May 17: The Blue Jays announced they’ve traded left-hander Eric Lauer and cash to the Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Los Angeles transferred reliever Brusdar Graterol from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Toronto designated Lauer for assignment earlier in the week. They’re paying down some portion of the approximate $3.1MM remaining on Lauer’s $4.4MM arbitration salary, though the precise amount hasn’t been reported. The Dodgers will pay a 110% tax on whatever amount of Lauer’s salary they’re assuming.
Lauer posted solid numbers as a starter and swingman with the Padres and Brewers from 2018-22, but his career was at a crossroads after a rough 2023 campaign. The left-hander didn’t pitch in the big leagues at all in 2024, as he spent his time in the minors with the Astros and Pirates and also had a stint in the KBO League with the Kia Tigers. Toronto inked Lauer to a minor league contract in the 2024-25 offseason, and he ended up being one of the unsung heroes of the Jays’ run to the American League crown.
Initially called up as a long reliever and bulk pitcher, Lauer was moved into a full-fledged starting role by June before being shifted back into bullpen work in September and throughout the postseason. Lauer posted a 3.18 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate, and 6.1% walk rate across 104 2/3 regular-season innings and then delivered a 3.12 ERA in 8 2/3 playoff frames.
Despite these solid numbers, the Jays still viewed Lauer as a swingman or depth option heading into 2026, as Toronto addressed the rotation by signing Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, and then reuniting with Max Scherzer. However, fate intervened again with a swath of injuries that quickly thinned the Blue Jays’ pitching depth, leaving Lauer again in a starting job.
This time, Lauer came back to earth. He posted a 6.69 ERA over 36 1/3 innings and eight outings this season, and his 16K% and 9.9BB% also went in the wrong direction from 2025. Lauer wasn’t entirely healthy himself as he battled through a bad case of the flu, but there also seemed to be some discord between the left-hander and the team over his usage. Lauer went public with his displeasure over first his lack of starting opportunities, and then the Jays’ decision to use an opener for some of Lauer’s outings.
Ironically, Lauer now finds himself on a team known for non-traditional pitcher deployment, so it wouldn’t be a shock if the Dodgers again use an opener if Lauer is lined up to face a team with several tough right-handed batters atop a lineup. That assumes Lauer will start at all, though that is probably the likeliest scenario given the team’s rotation needs.
Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are both on the injured list, leaving Los Angeles with two holes in its preferred six-man rotation model. Roki Sasaki‘s starting job is also less than stable given the right-hander’s shaky start to the 2026 campaign, though Sasaki might retain his rotation role just by dint of a lack of other options. Lauer could be inserted alongside Sasaski, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Justin Wrobleski, and Emmet Sheehan. Down on the farm, River Ryan might be approaching readiness for a return to the majors as well, so the Dodgers again find themselves in the odd position of both technically having a rotation surplus, yet also a shortage of arms.
Katie Woo of The Athletic first reported the Dodgers were acquiring Lauer.
Mariners Recall Robinson Ortiz, Select Brennen Davis
The Mariners announced several roster moves today. Infielder Patrick Wisdom has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and left-hander Robinson Ortiz has been recalled from Triple-A. The lefty will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. To open spots for those two, Seattle optioned right-hander Domingo González and infielder Leo Rivas. Additionally, the Mariners selected outfielder Brennen Davis to the 40-man roster and optioned him to Triple-A. The 40-man had a vacancy but is now full with Davis taking the open spot.
Ortiz, 26, was just acquired from the Dodgers in an offseason trade. As a minor leaguer, he has missed significant time due to injuries. When healthy, he has been able to get batters out but has also flashed control issues.
That has been the case in his first season with the M’s so far. He has thrown 16 Triple-A innings, allowing 1.69 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 26.1% of the batters he has faced and induced grounders on half the balls in play he has allowed but has also given out walks at a massive 17.4% clip. If it weren’t for a .211 batting average on balls in play and no fly balls clearing the fence, he surely would have suffered far worse results.
He has mostly been a fastball-slider guy this year, throwing those two pitches almost 90% of the time. His cutter has made up the rest of his offerings. The four-seamer is averaging 94.4 miles per hour this year with the slider at 83.9 mph.
It’s possible the the Mariners wanted to get a fresh arm onto the roster. They have been utilizing a six-man rotation lately, leaving them with only seven relievers. González has been heavily used recently, with four appearances in the past six days, including the two most recent contests. If González was going to be unavailable for a day or two, that would drop the Mariners to only six available relievers. Instead, they have swapped in Ortiz, who will make his major league debut as soon as soon as he gets the call.
As for Davis, it was reported that he had an assignment clause in his minor league deal last week. If triggered, he would have to be offered up to the other 29 clubs in the league. If any one of them were willing to give him a 40-man spot, the Mariners would have to either trade him or give him a 40-man spot themselves.
It didn’t seem like the M’s wanted to let him get away. “I don’t see a scenario where we don’t keep him in our organization,” general manager Justin Hollander said. “He’s a right-handed bat with power and there aren’t a ton of them available.” Based on this move, it appears that Davis triggered his clause and had at least one club out there willing to roster him. The Mariners then used their open roster spot to prevent him from getting away, though Davis is being kept in the minors for now.
A former top prospect with the Cubs, injuries wiped out a huge chunk of his 2022 to 2025 seasons. He had to settle for a minor league deal with the Mariners coming into 2026. He has been crushing it in Triple-A so far this year, putting up a massive .281/.394/.548 line. Between that performance and his former prospect pedigree, the M’s have deemed him worthy of a roster spot.
In the big leagues, Seattle is sticking with the existing outfield mix, which consists of Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone, Rob Refsnyder and Connor Joe. Davis can perhaps get called up if an injury arises but will keep getting reps in the minors for now.
Davis has one option remaining. Once he spends 20 days on optional assignment, that will make this his final option season. If he still has a roster spot going into next year, it’s possible there’s a greater path to playing time as Arozarena and Refsnyder are impending free agents and Joe is a potential non-tender candidate. It’s also possible that Davis gets squeezed off the roster at some point and ends up finding a better path to a big league opportunity via a trade or the waiver wire.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Astros Activate Jeremy Peña, Designate Cody Bolton
The Astros made a few moves going into tonight’s series opener in Minnesota. Jeremy Peña is back from the injured list, while the Astros officially placed Jose Altuve on the 10-day IL with a Grade 2 left oblique strain. Houston also recalled righty Jason Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land and designated right-hander Cody Bolton for assignment.
Peña returns after a near five-week absence due to a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring. He jumps right back atop the lineup tonight against Minnesota rookie southpaw Kendry Rojas. Peña had collected hits in eight of his first 10 games before the injury, albeit without much power. He batted .256 and is still looking for his first home run of the season.
Carlos Correa initially replaced Peña as Joe Espada’s primary shortstop. Correa’s season-ending ankle surgery has left Houston with a combination of Braden Shewmake and Nick Allen over the past two weeks. Shewmake has dramatically outhit Allen to seize the majority of the playing time. He’ll now slide to second base in Altuve’s stead, though he’ll be hard-pressed to continue hitting as well as he has. Shewmake is a career .241/.305/.384 hitter at the Triple-A level, so the Astros will mostly be counting on him to hold the fort defensively.
Alexander is up for the third time this season to provide a fresh arm in long relief. He hasn’t pitched in Triple-A since last Tuesday. Houston is pitching Tatsuya Imai tonight, leaving them without much certainty about the workload they’ll get from their starter. Imai has only gone beyond four innings once in his first four MLB starts. He gave up six runs on five hits and three walks over four frames last Tuesday against Seattle, his first big league appearance after a month-long IL stay.
Bolton pitched three innings of mop-up work in yesterday’s blowout loss at the hands of the Rangers. He wouldn’t have been available for at least a day or two. He’s out of options, so the Astros needed to DFA him to swap him off the big league roster. Bolton has logged 20 innings since Houston called him up in late March. He has a 5.40 ERA with a league average 23.2% strikeout rate but a near-15% walk percentage. Bolton has struggled to get opponents to expand the strike zone, leading to a lot of free passes.
The Astros have five days to trade the 27-year-old swingman or place him on waivers. An acquiring team would need to plug him directly onto the big league staff. Bolton has never been outrighted in his career, so he would not have the ability to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.
Cardinals Outright Jared Shuster
For the second time this season, the Cardinals outrighted Jared Shuster to Triple-A Memphis (relayed by Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat). The left-hander has the right to decline the assignment in favor of free agency, though he previously forewent that option in the middle of April.
Shuster has made four MLB appearances with the Cardinals in two stints on the roster. He has worked multiple innings in three of those and allowed two earned runs. Shuster has tallied 7 2/3 frames with just six hits and two unintentional walks. He has only recorded two strikeouts, though, missing bats on 3.5% of his pitches.
A first-round pick by Atlanta in 2020, Shuster is a pitchability lefty whose arsenal was headlined by a plus changeup. The Braves hoped he’d move quickly and slot at the back of a rotation, but the lack of swing-and-miss has kept him in a depth/swing role. Atlanta traded him to the White Sox after the 2023 season in the Aaron Bummer deal. Chicago lost him on waivers to the A’s last summer, and he signed with St. Louis after the A’s released him in December.
Shuster carries a 5.12 earned run average with a 15% strikeout rate across 149 1/3 MLB innings. He has a 5.45 ERA over parts of five Triple-A seasons, including this year’s 9 2/3 frames of nine-run ball in Memphis. Shuster is out of options and needs to clear waivers each time a team wants to assign him to the minors.
Yankees Select Yovanny Cruz
The Yankees announced that they have selected right-hander Yovanny Cruz to their major league roster. Fellow righty Elmer Rodríguez has been optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot. The Yanks had a couple of 40-man vacancies, so no corresponding move is required there.
Cruz, 26, was originally an international signee of the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic back in 2016. He became a minor league free agent after 2023 and has since bounced around on minor league deals with the Padres, Red Sox and Yankees.
Though he was signed a decade ago, this is his first season pitching at the Triple-A level. Statcast pegs his four-seamer at 99.2 miles per hour on average. He also throws a high-80s slider. Statcast has also classified a few pitches as splitters, sinkers or changeups but the four-seamer/slider combo has made up well over 90% of his offerings.
For most of his minor league career, he has been able to miss bats but also the strike zone. From 2023 to 2025, he logged 110 innings on the farm, allowing 3.19 earned runs per nine. He struck out 26.8% of batters faced while giving out walks to 14.5% of opponents.
The results this year have been comparable, though slightly improved. In 18 frames, he has an ERA of 3.00 and a 29.1% strikeout rate. He has also induced grounders on 52.3% of balls in play. He has given out nine walks, making up 11.4% of batters faced. He has also hit three batters. Combining the walks and the hit batters, that’s 15.2% of opponents getting a free trip to first. Despite the control issues, Baseball America has taken notice, recently giving Cruz the #28 spot in the Yankees’ system.
It’s possible that Cruz is only up to give the Yanks a fresh arm. Of the Yankees eight relievers, six of them pitched yesterday. Three of those were pitching for a second consecutive day. With the group somewhat gassed overall, they will go to a nine-man bullpen by bringing up Cruz.
It’s unclear what this means for the rotation. The Yanks recently placed Max Fried on the IL and recalled Rodríguez to take his rotation spot. Rodríguez had a decent outing yesterday, allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings. After the game, manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that Rodríguez would stick around for one more turn of the rotation before Gerrit Cole‘s scheduled reinstatement from the injured list.
It seems the Yanks pivoted from that plan in order to get a fresh arm up for tonight’s game, as they kick off a four-game series against the Blue Jays. Ryan Weathers, Will Warren, Cam Schlittler and Carlos Rodón are scheduled to start the games in that series. By Friday’s game against the Rays, they’ll need a plan for the open rotation spot. That could be activating Cole sooner than anticipated, or perhaps a bullpen game led by someone like Paul Blackburn or Ryan Yarbrough. They could also call someone else up from the minors between now and then, if Cole is still going to make one more rehab start.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Mets Select Daniel Duarte
The Mets announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Duarte. In a corresponding active roster move, fellow righty Joey Gerber has been optioned to Triple-A. To open a 40-man spot, lefty A.J. Minter has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Duarte, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He has been with Triple-A Syracuse and putting up good numbers, at least on the surface. He has thrown 17 1/3 innings over 12 appearances, allowing 2.60 earned runs per nine.
Beneath the hood, things aren’t quite as impressive. His 19.7% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate are both subpar numbers. His 45.8% ground ball rate is above average but only by a few ticks. His ERA would be far higher without good luck, since his .255 batting average on balls in play and 82.5% strand rate are both to the fortunate side. His 4.21 FIP is perhaps a better representation of how he has pitched this year.
It’s possible Duarte is up to give the Mets some emergency length out of the bullpen. Their rotation is in a transitional phase at the moment, thanks to the recent injury to Clay Holmes. That leaves them with a four-man rotation consisting of Christian Scott, Nolan McLean, David Peterson and Freddy Peralta, with Peterson often pitching behind an opener. They have Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea as potential options for some bulk work, though Manaea tossed four innings behind Peralta yesterday and won’t be available for a few days.
Scott is starting tonight’s game. He hasn’t gone more than five innings in any game yet this year. McLean is listed as the starter for tomorrow’s game. It would be Holmes’s turn on Wednesday, so the Mets will need to figure out a plan for that game, whether it’s leaning on Myers as part of a bullpen game or calling someone up from the minors.
Five of Duarte’s 12 appearances this year have been two innings or longer, including three of the past four. He hasn’t pitched since May 12th, so he should be fresh and could help out in the coming days, perhaps if Scott can’t go very long tonight. Gerber hasn’t pitched since a game for Syracuse on the 12th but has mostly been throwing one-inning outings in the minors this year. Duarte still has an option and could be easily sent back down to Syracuse if he soaks up some frames and another fresh arm is needed.
As for Minter, he underwent lat surgery last year and was still recovering from that procedure as the 2026 season began. He began a rehab assignment in April but was pulled back in early May due to some left hip discomfort, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He started a new rehab assignment on May 15th, tossing an inning for Syracuse. Since he has been on the 15-day IL all year, his 60-day count is retroactive to the beginning of the season. He will therefore be eligible for reinstatement next week.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Orioles Claim Michael Siani, Designate Jose Espada
The Orioles claimed outfielder Michael Siani off waivers from the Dodgers and designated righty Jose Espada for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster. Siani has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
Siani was designated for assignment by the Dodgers last week when they acquired fellow outfielder Alek Thomas in a trade with the D-backs. The 26-year-old Siani has spent the entire 2026 season with the Dodgers’ Triple-A club after coming over from the Yankees in a February waiver claim. That capped off a busy winter for Siani, who bounced from the Cardinals, to the Braves, to the Dodgers, to the Yankees and back to the Dodgers in a series of DFAs and waiver claims.
In 107 plate appearances with the Dodgers’ top affiliate, Siani has slashed just .225/.355/.303. He’s walked at a huge 15.9% clip but has also fanned in 28% of his plate appearances and has yet to hit a home run. Siani has picked up five doubles and a triple in addition to a 5-for-7 showing in stolen base attempts.
An over-slot fourth-rounder with the Reds back in 2018, Siani has spent all of his major league time in the National League Central between Cincinnati and St. Louis. He briefly debuted with the Reds in 2022 but made only 25 major league plate appearances before being claimed by the Cardinals in September of 2023. He was a frequently used, defensive-minded fourth outfielder with the 2024 Cards when he logged a career-high 334 plate appearances.
In parts of four major league seasons, Siani owns an anemic .221/.277/.270 batting line (58 wRC+) but good grades for his defense and baserunning. He’s played 1014 major league innings in the outfield — primarily in center but with fleeting corner appearances mixed in — and been credited with overwhelmingly positive marks from Statcast’s Outs Above Average (16) and from Defensive Runs Saved (7). He’s also gone 21-for-26 in stolen base attempts, giving him a success rate of nearly 81%.
The Orioles lost Dylan Beavers to an oblique strain last week. Heston Kjerstad hasn’t played at all this season due to a hamstring injury and is on the 60-day IL. Siani adds some depth to an outfield group that has gotten good production from Taylor Ward and Leody Taveras but has seen former top prospect Colton Cowser and relatively high-priced slugger Tyler O’Neill (who signed a three-year, $49.5MM contract prior to the ’25 season) both struggle tremendously at the plate.
Espada, 29, is the cousin of Astros skipper Joe Espada. He’s pitched one scoreless inning with the O’s this year and another three shutout frames with them in 2025. The 2015 fifth-rounder (Blue Jays) has only five big league frames to his credit. Espada carries a 4.57 ERA and 27.5% strikeout rate in parts of three Triple-A seasons, but he’s also walked 15.5% of his opponents at the top minor league level. Beyond his work in North American ball, Espada tossed 27 innings with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball back in 2024.
Espada has sat 93.6 mph on his four-seamer in the majors, coupling it with a slider that sits just under 93 mph. In the minors, he’s frequently used a splitter that averages just under 90 mph, but he hasn’t used the pitch heavily in his tiny sample of MLB work.
The O’s will have five days to trade Espada or place him on outright waivers. That’d be another 48-hour process, meaning his DFA will be resolved within a week’s time. Espada doesn’t have three years of big league service and hasn’t been outrighted at any point in his career, so he won’t have the right to elect free agency if he passes through waivers unclaimed. In that scenario, he’d head to Triple-A Norfolk and stick around as non-roster depth.
Guardians’ Kolby Allard Granted His Release
The Guardians granted left-hander Kolby Allard his release yesterday, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. Allard had an opt-out clause in his contract, and Cleveland apparently didn’t have a spot for him on the big league roster. He’ll be free to explore opportunities with other teams, though Stebbins adds that the Guardians would prefer to re-sign Allard on a new minor league pact if possible.
Allard, 28, has been hit hard in a small sample of 8 2/3 innings with Cleveland this season. He’s served up 10 runs on 16 hits and three walks in that time, fanning nine of his 45 opponents (20%). He’s also allowed more runs than innings pitched in an even smaller sample of 5 1/3 Triple-A frames.
Though his 2026 season hasn’t gone as planned, Allard was terrific with Cleveland as recently as last season. In 2025, he ate up 65 innings in a swingman role and notched a tidy 2.63 earned run average. Allard’s 15.3% strikeout rate was about seven percentage points shy of league average, but his 5.3% walk rate was excellent (more than three points lower than average).
A former first-round pick, Allard was dogged by repeated back injuries early in his career with Atlanta. He never wound up establishing himself as the steady No. 4 starter many believed him capable of becoming, but he’s consistently found big league work as a journeyman bouncing from team to team in the same type of swing role in which he thrived last season. Allard has never thrown particularly hard, though this year’s 89.4 mph average four-seamer is down about a half mile from last year’s 89.9 mph and well shy of its 92.4 mph peak back in 2019.
Any team in need of some length in the bullpen or perhaps a handful of spot starts in the near future could plausibly consider Allard as an option. He’d have a stronger case for a big league spot with better 2026 performance, but Allard was great last year, solid this spring (4.05 ERA in 13 1/3 innings) and isn’t going to cost a new club much more than the league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.
If Allard does end up back in Cleveland, they’ll be glad to keep the depth. The Guards have managed to make it to this point in the season only needing five starters: Parker Messick, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo and Slade Cecconi. However, Cecconi has struggled to a 5.60 ERA, and the depth options in Triple-A are somewhat lacking.
Logan Allen, Trent Denholm, Pedro Avila and Ryan Webb all have ERAs of 5.45 or higher with the Guardians’ top affiliate in Columbus — the latter pair closer to 9.00. A triceps injury has limited Austin Peterson to four starts, though he recently returned from the injured list. Yorman Gómez has yet to pitch this season due to a shoulder injury. Former top prospect Daniel Espino is working exclusively in short relief after a yearslong injury absence. Twenty-six-year-old Rorik Maltrud (2.50 ERA in 39 1/3 frames) is the only starter in Columbus who’s taken the mound at least five times and kept his ERA under 5.00.
KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes Sign Keston Hiura
The Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization announced this week that they’ve signed former big league infielder Keston Hiura for the remainder of the 2026 season (link via Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency). They’ve waived another former big leaguer, outfielder Trenton Brooks, in a corresponding move. Hiura drew interest from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball as well before signing with the Heroes. The GSI client will be guaranteed $400K for the rest of the 2026 season and has another $100K available to him via incentives.
Hiura, 29, was the ninth overall pick by the Brewers back in 2017. He ranked as a top prospect for years and has a huge track record in the upper minors but has struggled with high strikeout rates in the majors. He still sports a .235/.314/.442 line in the majors (101 wRC+), but the vast majority of that production came in a standout rookie showing back in 2019, when he hit .303/.368/.570 with 19 homers (and a 30.7% strikeout rate) in 348 plate appearances. In parts of five seasons since, Hiura has batted .203/.289/.381 while striking out at a 38.3% clip.
Big league struggles notwithstanding, Hiura has repeatedly shown himself to be a force against Triple-A pitching. He’s played parts of six seasons at the top minor league level and laid waste to Triple-A pitching, slashing .291/.392/.563 with 103 round-trippers, 77 doubles and five triples in 1684 plate appearances (392 games). Strikeouts have still been an issue, but not to the same level as in the majors. He’s fanned in 27.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances and drawn walks at a 10.3% clip. Hiura was drafted as a second baseman but has played more first base and left field in recent years.
Brooks, 30, appeared briefly in each of the past two major league seasons, totaling 72 plate appearances between the Padres and Giants. He hit .136/.208/.212 in that tiny sample but is a .279/.382/.472 hitter in his career at Triple-A. He struggled to find his footing in South Korea, going 31-for-143 (.217) without a homer. He’ll wrap up his Heroes tenure with a .217/.286/.259 slash.
Mariners Promote Colt Emerson, Place Brendan Donovan On IL
The Mariners are adding top prospect Colt Emerson to the big-league squad, first reported by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The 20-year-old shortstop is among the highest-ranked young players in the sport. The team has officially announced the promotion. Brendan Donovan was placed on the 10-day IL with a groin strain as the corresponding move.
The Mariners released an updated lineup for Sunday Night Baseball against the Padres. Emerson is now batting ninth and playing third base instead of Leo Rivas. He’ll be the youngest Mariner to make his debut since 19-year-old Félix Hernández in 2005, according to the team.
Emerson fell short of an MLB gig out of Spring Training, despite a 111 wRC+ in 18 games. The 20-year-old has slashed .255/.347/.469 through 38 games at Triple-A this season. He’s popped seven home runs to go with 10 stolen bases.
Seattle inked Emerson to an eight-year, $95MM extension in late March. The price tag is a record figure for a player who has yet to appear in the majors. MLB Pipeline has Emerson ranked sixth among all prospects. FanGraphs has the infielder just outside the top 10.
The Mariners didn’t give Emerson an opportunity in the majors when shortstop J.P. Crawford was working through a shoulder injury early in the year. It would seem another injury to an infielder has opened the door for the youngster. Donovan had been out of the lineup since Friday. He’s been the club’s everyday third baseman when healthy. Emerson has played mostly shortstop with Tacoma, but he’s made five starts at the hot corner this season.
Donovan has dealt with groin issues since the offseason. He underwent sports hernia surgery before the 2026 campaign got underway. The infielder hit the IL in late April with a groin strain. After just seven games, Donovan is back on the injured list with the same injury. With Emerson taking over at third base, the versatile Donovan will move around to multiple spots when healthy, per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. There’s no timetable for his return, but the club hopes he can get back to full strength in a few weeks, per Divish.
Seattle took Emerson with the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 draft. He moved quickly through the lower levels of the minors. Emerson posted an impressive 129 wRC+ across three levels last year, capped off by a massive .364/.444/.727 line in a brief sample at Triple-A. He hasn’t been as dominant so far this season, particularly in terms of contact. Emerson has a career-high 27.2% strikeout rate over 169 plate appearances in the minors this year. The power and speed have been among the best he’s shown, though. Emerson’s 16 homers and 14 steals in 2025 were both career highs. He would’ve blown past those marks if he had stayed with Tacoma much longer.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images