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Pirates Claim Niko Goodrum From Angels

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The Pirates have claimed infielder Niko Goodrum off waivers from the Angels, per announcements from both clubs. The Pirates optioned Goodrum to Triple-A Indianapolis. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Ben Heller was designated for assignment. There wasn’t any previous indication that Goodrum had been removed from the Angels’ roster, so their 40-man count will drop to 39.

Goodrum was only with the Angels a short time. He was claimed off waivers from the Rays about a month ago and only got into four games with the big league club, as they kept him on optional assignment for the most part. In his 15 big league plate appearances, he drew two walks but didn’t get a hit and struck out four times. In Triple-A Salt Lake, he hit a tepid .200/.333/.200 in 30 plate appearances.

Now 32, Goodrum was once a solid regular for the Tigers. He slashed .247/.318/.427 over 2018 and 2019 for a 98 wRC+, indicating he was just barely below average at the plate for that time. He also stole 24 bases in that stretch while bouncing around to all seven positions outside of the battery.

But things have been a struggle since then, as he’s slashed .190/.267/.321 in 582 major league plate appearances over the past few years. There were some encouraging signs pointing towards a bit of a bounceback lately, though Goodrum hasn’t been able to maintain them. He .280/.448/.440 for Boston’s Triple-A club and then hit .295/.373/.387 in the KBO last year, leading to a minor league deal with the Twins for 2024. He was acquired by the Rays just before Opening Day and didn’t perform in the majors but hit .316/.422/.605 in Triple-A Durham before the Angels claimed him and his performance dipped again.

It’s been quite the up-and-down stretch for Goodrum but the Bucs evidently are intrigued enough to give him a roster spot and bring him aboard for some extra depth. Even as he has struggled more generally, he has drawn walks here and there. He has a 14.7% walk rate in the minors this year and had a 23.1% rate with Worcester last year before going to Korea, then walking in 11.4% of his plate appearances over there.

The Pirates have several position players struggling this year, with guys like Jack Suwinski, Rowdy Tellez, Edward Olivares, Jared Triolo and Michael A. Taylor having posted fairly lackluster numbers. Since Goodrum can move all around the diamond, he could be a viable replacement if the Bucs decide to make any kind of move with anyone in that group or if someone hits the injured list. He also has less than five years of service time and could be kept around for next year via arbitration, the Bucs are so inclined.

Heller, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in the offseason. He posted a 4.91 earned run average and 10.1% walk rate in Triple-A before being selected to the big league roster last week, though his 43% strikeout rate was certainly enticing. He tossed two innings for the Pirates in the past week but allowed an eye-popping 11 earned runs.

The Pirates will have a week to trade Heller or pass him through waivers. His career numbers are naturally much better than the 49.50 ERA he currently has in the 2024 season. In 52 frames going back to his 2016 debut, he has a 4.85 ERA, though he missed much of the 2018 to 2022 seasons due to injuries. The major league results have obviously been poor this year but it was just two outings after he struck out a bunch of guys in Triple-A. If any club were to claim him, Heller is out of options but less than four years of service time.

Brewers’ Robert Gasser Weighing Elbow Surgery

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4:25pm: Manager Pat Murphy said he’s assuming that Gasser is done for the year, although that’s not yet confirmed, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com on X. “I hope I’m wrong,” Murphy said. “I really do.”

10:54am: Brewers lefty Robert Gasser has already received a pair of opinions — one from the team’s medical staff, another from renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache — on his ailing left elbow and is headed to meet with Dr. Keith Meister to receive a third opinion, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Gasser told the Brewers beat this weekend that his ulnar collateral ligament is “not as strong as it should be” but is also not “broken.” ElAttrache recommended surgery, Gasser explained, but more for durability concerns than to repair immediate damage. ElAttrache also told Gasser that non-surgical rehab could be a viable option because the ligament is not currently ruptured.

Understandably, it seems Gasser would prefer to avoid going under the knife if at all possible. Surgery is a last resort in these cases, and as Gasser himself said of the two opinions he’s received thus far: “They both said I can rehab. I’m just trying to figure out what the best move is.”

Any form of UCL surgery — be it Tommy John surgery, an internal brace procedure or a hybrid of the two — would wipe out the remainder of Gasser’s season. A full Tommy John or a Tommy John/internal brace hybrid would keep Gasser out of action late into the 2025 season at least. A strict internal brace without a full UCL reconstruction could have him back on the mound earlier than that.

Given that we’re now into mid-June, there’s perhaps some extra merit the non-surgical route — depending on the type of surgery being considered. Recovery from either Tommy John surgery or that hybrid procedure would come with a 12- to 16-month rehab window in all likelihood, with most cases erring toward the later end of that spectrum. Speculatively speaking, if the most realistic rehab scenario has Gasser returning in mid-to-late August next season anyhow, he could view the rest-and-rehab route as effectively risking the final six weeks of next year for a chance at pitching a whole season in 2025.

Whichever path Gasser takes, he’s in for an extended absence from the Milwaukee rotation. That’s a crucial hit, given both the left-hander’s strong results so far in his debut campaign and the wave of other injuries Milwaukee has incurred. In his first five starts, the 25-year-old Gasser pitched to a 2.57 ERA in 28 innings of work.

Gasser, acquired from the Padres in the 2022 Josh Hader trade, entered the season ranked among the Brewers organization’s best pitching prospects. His 14% strikeout rate in the majors is problematically low, but he’s offset that to this point with Maddux-esque precision, issuing a walk to just one the 114 batters he’s faced. Both of those rate stats are likely to change over a larger sample; the southpaw fanned 28% of his Triple-A opponents and walked 8.4% of them in 135 innings in 2023.

From a team perspective, the Brewers will be without Brandon Woodruff for the entire season while he recovers from last October’s shoulder surgery. Left-hander Wade Miley is done for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last month. Each of Jakob Junis, Joe Ross and DL Hall is also on the injured list at the moment. That’s left the Brewers with Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, Bryse Wilson and Tobias Myers in the rotation. Milwaukee could turn to pitching prospect Carlos Rodriguez to take the ball tomorrow.

Regardless of what happens with Gasser, starting pitching will likely be a focus for Milwaukee as next month’s trade deadline approaches. Their depth has already been stretched exceptionally thin, and any further injuries would prove difficult to overcome. Despite all their injuries, the Brewers are the only NL Central club with a winning record and currently hold a 6.5-game lead over the Reds and Cubs (both tied at 32-34 on the season). Even if the division looks quite winnable right now, they’ll still need reinforcements for a potential postseason rotation.

Salvador Perez’s Resurgent Showing

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The 39-27 Royals remain one of the most surprising stories of the season’s first couple months. While Kansas City certainly expected to be better than they were last year, they’ve played well enough to have a chance to top last season’s 56 wins by the All-Star Break.

Any turnaround that drastic is going to have multiple causes. Among the biggest (and perhaps least anticipated) developments for Kansas City is a massive first half from their franchise catcher. Salvador Perez’s career looked to be on the decline heading into his age-34 season. He has turned back the clock with his best start in at least three years.

Perez heads into this week’s matchup with the AL-leading Yankees carrying a .299/.372/.491 batting line across 261 plate appearances. He has connected on 10 homers and already picked up 15 doubles after hitting between 21 and 24 two-baggers in each of the last five full seasons. While he’s dipped into a 3-25 slump to this point in June, Perez turned in well above-average production in both April and May. Among catchers with 100+ plate appearances, he ranks fifth in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging. He’s fourth at the position in overall offensive output after accounting for the difficulty of hitting in K.C.’s spacious Kauffman Stadium.

The OBP is particularly impressive. Perez has always had big power, particularly relative to his counterparts behind the plate. He hasn’t excelled at consistently getting on base, though. Perez is an extremely aggressive hitter who has never been keen on waiting out free passes. He has only finished six of his 13 career seasons with an on-base percentage north of .300. He’s not only comfortably above that pace, he’s on track for what’ll be the best OBP of his career (and by a wide margin, if one excludes his 39-game rookie season in 2011 and the 37 games he played in 2020).

Perez hasn’t suddenly become a selective hitter a decade and a half into his MLB career. Among batters with 100+ PAs, only the recently designated Harold Ramírez has chased pitches outside the strike zone more frequently. Perez is eighth in overall swing rate. He’s as aggressive as ever. Yet he’s been more locked in this season than he has for the last couple years. Perez has made contact on 75.3% of his swings, a nearly four-point jump relative to last year and his highest rate since 2020. It’s not a coincidence that he’s striking out less often than he has in nearly 10 years.

It’s a strong rebound for a player who looked to be on the downswing. Perez had arguably the worst season of his career in 2023. While he played in 140 games and hit 23 homers, his .422 slugging percentage was his second lowest. He hit .255 while reaching base at a .292 clip that were both below his career norms. FanGraphs graded Perez as a sub-replacement player in 2023; Baseball Reference had him marginally better than replacement level but with a personal-low 0.5 wins.

That’s a reflection not only in his down work at the plate but a longstanding decline in his defensive metrics. Pitch framing metrics have never been keen on Perez’s receiving skills. He’d typically done an excellent job at controlling the running game, but that evaporated last season. Perez threw out only nine of 63 attempted basestealers, a 14.3% rate that was well south of the 20% league mark.

There are crucial aspects of catcher defense (game-calling, managing a pitching staff) that can’t be captured by public metrics. Perez has always been highly-regarded for those qualities. That said, his 2023 performance in the quantifiable parts of catching was not impressive. It looked in line with an overall declining career trajectory.

Perez has rebounded on that side of the ball as well. Statcast has rated him as an average pitch framer in 321 innings. He’s 6-19 in cutting down stolen base attempts. Perez was behind the plate for 39 wild pitches over 738 1/3 frames last season; that’s down to seven wild pitches in more than 40% of the innings this year. It’s tough to fully separate that from the team’s much improved pitching staff — the Royals brought in Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo and are getting a full season from Cole Ragans — but Perez’s defensive production has improved.

The Royals have slightly reduced Perez’s responsibilities. They’re mixing him in at first base a little more often than they did last season, a luxury afforded by having a quality #2 catcher in Freddy Fermin. Perhaps that’s also playing a part in Perez’s resurgent production.

In any case, the former World Series MVP’s huge first couple months should send him to the All-Star Game for the ninth time in his career. It’s a key reason the Royals are within four games of the Guardians for the AL Central lead and sit firmly in the second Wild Card position.

Perez’s return to form is also a welcome boost for a front office that made what was then a franchise-record investment three seasons ago. Kansas City signed him to a four-year, $82MM extension in Spring Training 2021 that preemptively covered the 2022-26 campaigns. Perez made $18MM in ’22, $20MM for the following two seasons, and is set for a $22MM salary next year. There’s also a $2MM buyout on a $13.5MM team option for 2026. That contract seemed well underwater as recently as a few months ago, but it’s a reasonable sum for this level of production.

The Royals don’t need to concern themselves with Perez’s long-term future, though it’s hard to envision him playing anywhere else at this point of his career. The immediate focus is on getting to the postseason for the first time since their 2015 championship. Perez is the only remaining player from that team and, even in his mid-30s, is playing a key role in trying to get Kansas City back to the playoffs nearly a decade later.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pirates, Jake Woodford Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent righty Jake Woodford, MLBTR has confirmed. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com first reported that Woodford was expected to sign with the Bucs. The Excel Sports client is headed to Triple-A Indianapolis for the time being but could work his way into the mix for a long-relief or fifth starter role with the Bucs.

Woodford opened the season with the 2024 season with the White Sox organization after signing a minor league deal back in January. He’d spent his entire career prior to that point with the Cardinals, who selected him with the No. 39 overall pick in the 2019 draft. The right-hander made a pair of starts in a thin ChiSox rotation but served up ten runs on 15 hits and five walks in 8 1/3 innings. He fanned seven of his 46 opponents (15.2%). Chicago designated him for assignment last week, and he elected free agency over the weekend after clearing waivers.

That brief White Sox run marked a fifth straight season with some major league work for Woodford. He’s totaled 193 frames between the Cards and Sox, working to a combined 4.57 ERA with a 15.1% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate, a 46.1% ground-ball rate and 1.31 homers per nine innings pitched. Woodford doesn’t miss many bats but has generally posted above-average ground-ball marks while showing average command. He’ll rely primarily on a sinker that sits just shy of 92 mph, pairing that with a slider as his primary secondary offering. He worked in a cutter far more frequently than in the past during his brief Chicago stint this season.

Woodford is stretched out to start, giving the Pirates some additional depth in the rotation. He’s spent parts of six seasons in Triple-A, posting  4.19 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. He’s out of minor league options, so if the Pirates select him to the MLB roster, he’ll need to stick or else be again designated for assignment and exposed to waivers before he could be sent down. Even if he were to go unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the option to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment.

The Pirates’ rotation currently includes a pair of electric rookies — 2023 No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes and fellow top prospect Jared Jones — in addition to stalwart right-hander Mitch Keller. Entering the season, veteran lefties Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales were expected to hold down rotation spots behind Keller and Jones, but Perez landed on the injured list due to a groin strain late last month while Gonzales made only three starts before incurring a forearm strain that’s sidelined him for nearly two months now. Young righty Quinn Priester joined them on the injured list earlier this month due to a lat strain.

At the moment, the Bucs have southpaw Bailey Falter as their fourth starter behind Skenes, Jones and Keller. He’s made a dozen starts with a 3.69 ERA but far shakier marks from metrics like FIP (4.75) and SIERA (4.79). Pittsburgh has former second-round pick Braxton Ashcraft and waiver pickup Daulton Jefferies on the 40-man roster as rotation options who could be ahead of Woodford on the depth chart. Other non-roster veterans in Indianapolis include Josh Fleming, Domingo German and Michael Plassmeyer, though no one from that trio has pitched well in Triple-A this year. Woodford adds some insurance in the event of further injuries and/or some depth in the event that the team opts for some kind of innings cap on Skenes and Jones down the stretch.

Royals Select Dan Altavilla

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The Royals announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Dan Altavilla. The club already had a 40-man vacancy. Right-hander Will Klein was optioned to open an active roster spot.

Altavilla, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason. He has since made 24 appearances for Triple-A Omaha, allowing 2.63 earned runs per nine innings. That’s at least partially luck, as he has been giving out walks at a 12.8% clip and can’t continue stranding 91.8% of baserunners forever. But his 27.5% strikeout rate with the Storm Chasers was quite strong and he’s also been getting grounders on 44.6% of balls in play.

That performance will get Altavilla back to the big leagues for the first time since 2021. He made 119 appearances in the majors from 2016 to 2021 with a 4.03 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate, 12.1% walk rate and 38.8% ground ball rate. But he underwent Tommy John surgery in June of 2021 and hasn’t made it back to the majors until now.

He signed a two-year minor league deal with the Red Sox and didn’t pitch in any official capacity in 2022. He returned to the mound last year but struggled to get back in form right away. He tossed 12 innings on the farm last year with an ERA of 3.00, but he was helped by a tiny .194 batting average on balls in play as he only struck out 14.3% of opponents while giving out walks at a 10.2% clip.

The Sox released him in August but his new deal with the Royals seems to have allowed him to get back on track. It was reported last week that the Royals are looking for bullpen help, with some more swing-and-miss a specific target area. Altavilla could perhaps give the club an internal source of that upgrade they are looking for, based on his strikeout numbers this year and earlier in his career.

If Altavilla clicks, perhaps that will alter the club’s approach prior to the July 30 trade deadline. If it doesn’t work out, he’s likely to end up designated for assignment since he is out of options. But if he manages to hang onto his roster spot through the end of the schedule, he can be retained for next year via arbitration since he has less than five years of major league service time.

Max Stassi Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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The White Sox announced that catcher Max Stassi underwent a season-ending left hip surfacing procedure last week. He is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the remainder of the year.

It’s always a tough blow when a player has to miss an entire season like this, but it’s especially unfortunate for Stassi as this will be the second straight lost campaign for him. With the Angels last year, he began the season on the injured list with a left hip strain. He was eventually able to heal up but remained away from the team due to an undisclosed personal matter. In October, his wife Gabrielle revealed in an Instagram post that their son had been born three months premature and was in NICU due to various medical complications.

While Stassi was not with the Halos, they proceeded with Logan O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss as their catching duo. Stassi was planning to play in 2024 but was traded to Atlanta alongside David Fletcher in December in a move mostly about moving contracts around. Atlanta ate all of Stassi’s salary in flipping him to the White Sox a few days later.

It seemed the Sox planned to have Stassi and Martín Maldonado behind the plate this year, as they optioned Korey Lee during the spring. But Stassi then needed to start the season on the IL, which brought Lee back up to make the Opening Day squad. Stassi was transferred to the 60-day IL in mid-April and will now be stuck there for the rest of the campaign.

For the Sox, Lee has performed well enough this year, hitting .245/.280/.378 with some decent defensive work as well. Maldonado is hitting a dismal .071/.124/.111 but is mostly on the club for his veteran presence and work with the pitching staff. If the club decides to move on from him at some point, they have Carlos Pérez as a non-roster depth option while prospect Edgar Quero is demolishing Double-A pitching.

Stassi has long been a solid defensive catcher but seemed to take a step forward at the plate a few years ago. He had a batting line of .204/.285/.326 through the end of the 2019 season but then slashed .250/.333/.452 over 2020 and 2021. Going into 2022, the Angels signed him to a three-year, $17.5MM extension, though the deal hasn’t worked out. His bat collapsed in the first year, as he hit .180/.267/.303 in 102 games in 2022. Since he missed all of last year and is now set to miss 2024 as well, that rough season will go down as the totality of his work on the contract. There is a $7.5MM club option for the 2025 campaign that comes with a $500K buyout but the Sox will certainly turn that down based on how the past three years have gone.

Reds Sign Justus Sheffield To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed left-hander Justus Sheffield to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Complex League for now but will presumably move up to a higher affiliate after getting into game shape.

Sheffield, 28, will be looking to get back on track after some disappointing results in recent years, though he was once thought to be a future mainstay in the big leagues. Cleveland selected him 31st overall in the 2014 draft and the lefty was twice used as a notable piece of a significant trade. He was sent to the Yankees as part of the 2016 deadline deal that sent Andrew Miller the other way, then was traded to the Mariners after 2018 as part of the deal that sent James Paxton to the Bronx.

He was clearly a hot commodity during that time, looking at that draft selection and his inclusion in those trades. Baseball America ranked him as one of the top 100 prospects in four straight seasons from 2016 to 2019, putting him as high as #27 in the last of those years. That was based on a very strong 2018 campaign, wherein Sheffield tossed 116 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 2.48 earned run average, 25.9% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate. He also made a brief major league debut with the Yanks, while just 22 years old, before going to Seattle in the aforementioned Paxton trade.

But his time in Seattle didn’t see him deliver on his huge prospect hype. He generally floundered with the Mariners and even struggled with their Triple-A team in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He currently sports a 5.47 ERA in 186 major league innings, spread out over the 2018 to 2022 period. He got ground balls on 49.5% of balls in play in that time but his 18.2% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate were both subpar.

He also tossed 244 1/3 minor league innings from 2019 to 2022 but had a 5.49 ERA in that time, again with fairly uninspiring peripherals. He struck out 21.2% of batters who stepped to the plate while giving out free passes 10.3% of the time.

The Mariners tried moving him to the bullpen, giving him ten relief appearances in Triple-A to start 2023, but his struggles continued and he was released in late April. He landed a minor league deal with Atlanta and that club let him return to the rotation, but he wasn’t able to turn things around with the change of scenery. He finished the year with a 7.63 ERA in 63 2/3 frames between the two organizations. He struck out just 19.9% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 15.2% clip.

He returned to free agency at the end of the season and has lingered there until this deal. For the Reds, there’s little harm in signing this deal and getting an up-close look at Sheffield. Despite his many trials and tribulations, he’s still almost two years away from his 30th birthday, which gives him plenty of time to engineer a second act.

If the Reds plan to stretch him out as a starter, it will likely take a few weeks for him to build up his pitch count. They do have some question marks in their rotation, as Graham Ashcraft was recently optioned to the minors after some poor results and Brandon Williamson had his rehab shut down due to continued discomfort in his throwing shoulder.

For now, the Cincinnati rotation consists of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott and Frankie Montas, with guys like Nick Martinez, Carson Spiers, Connor Phillips, Lyon Richardson and Christian Roa candidates to take Ashcraft’s spot. In the longer term, Montas is an impending free agent while Martinez has an opt-out at the end of this year, meaning the depth could be thinned down the road. Though on the other hand, prospect liks Rhett Lowder and Chase Petty are currently in Double-A and will climb into the mix eventually.

Sheffield has less than three years of service time and one option year remaining. If he can get his performance back to his prospect days and earn a roster spot, he could provide the club with some rotation depth and the possibility for long-term benefit if things go especially well.

Submit Your Question For This Week’s Episode Of The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

The 2024 season is now into June, which means we are less than two months away from the trade deadline. If you have a question about the ongoing 2024 season, a future transaction, a look ahead to the offseason, or anything else baseball related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut

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Fantasy baseball expert Nicklaus Gaut will be holding a live chat today at 11am central time, exclusively with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Use the link below to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.

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The Opener: Biggio, Bregman, Yankees, Royals

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Biggio in DFA limbo:

After several seasons of struggles as a potential “change of scenery” candidate, the Blue Jays made the somewhat surprising decision to designate infielder Cavan Biggio for assignment on Friday. While the 29-year-old has hit a paltry .200/.323/.291 with an 88 wRC+ in 44 games this season, Biggio entered the current campaign with a career .229/.345/.389 (105 wRC+) slash line, including an above-average figure in a multi-positional role last season with experience at first, second, and third base as well as right field. Biggio is now about halfway through his seven-day DFA window, during which the Blue Jays will either have to expose Biggio to waivers or work out a trade to move him elsewhere.

As a left-handed bat with the ability to play all around the infield and a walk rate that’s been north of 10% every season of his career, Biggio offers plenty of qualities that could make him an attractive bench piece for teams. On the other hand, Biggio’s lack of power production over the past four years could be a red flag, while the roughly $2.78MM left on his contract could make bringing him into the fold a slightly more expensive proposition.

2. Bregman day-to-day after HBP:

Astros fans suffered an injury scare last night when third baseman Alex Bregman was struck on the wrist by a pitch during the club’s game against the Angels. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, it’s the second time in the past week that Bregman has been hit in that hand after a pitch got away from Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante on Tuesday. Fortunately, it appears that the veteran infielder got away without a serious injury, as Bregman himself told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that x-rays on his wrist came back negative and that he’s currently day-to-day.

Houston is off today, giving Bregman at least one day to rest before any further decisions are made. Despite a difficult start to the season for the 30-year-old, the Astros would surely hate to lose Bregman for even a game or two in the midst of his first extended hot streak. The pending free agent is riding an 11-game hitting streak and has slashed a fantastic .381/.447/.833 with five homers, a triple, and two doubles in his past 47 plate appearances.

3. Series Preview: Yankees @ Royals

After struggling through a three-game series against the Dodgers in the Bronx, the Yankees head to Kansas City for a four-game set that could wind up being a postseason preview. The Yankees hold the AL’s best record but have a lead of just 2.5 games over the Orioles in the AL East, while the Royals sit four games back of Cleveland in the AL Central at 39-27. A win for the Royals in this series could help the club make up significant ground against Cleveland while also opening the door for the Orioles to sneak back into first place. A series win by the Yankees would preserve the status quo atop both divisions.

The series is set to begin at 7:10pm local time this evening, when Royals righty Seth Lugo (2.13 ERA) takes on Yankees lefty Carlos Rodon (3.08 ERA). Tomorrow’s game will see veteran Yankees righty Marcus Stroman (3.04 ERA) face off against Brady Singer (2.76 ERA). Journeyman Cody Poteet (1.72 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Yankees on Wednesday in a game where K.C. has yet to announce a starter. The series wraps Thursday with right-hander Alec Marsh (4.05 ERA) on the mound for Kansas City opposite Yankees southpaw Nestor Cortes (3.68 ERA). Looking beyond the pitching matchups, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including those at MLB.com) that Juan Soto figures to return to the club’s lineup during this series after missing the past three games due to elbow inflammation.

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