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Archives for September 2025

The Opener: Anthony, Judge, Tucker

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:

1. Anthony exits with injury:

The Red Sox mounted an impressive comeback win in their game against the Guardians yesterday, but the mood was dampened by the fact that budding star Roman Anthony exited the game due to an oblique injury. After the game, Anthony spoke to reporters (including Tim Healey of the Boston Globe) and noted that this oblique injury is “definitely worse” than the day-to-day back injury he dealt with a few weeks ago. It’s unclear what sort of timeline for return to action Anthony might be facing. With a .292/.396/.463 batting line (138 wRC+) since being called up to the majors, Anthony has been the team’s most consistent hitter of the second half. Losing Anthony for any amount of time when the Sox are trying to erase a 2.5-game deficit to chase down the division-leading Blue Jays could be backbreaking for the team.

2. Judge pushes into Yankees history:

Aaron Judge rounded out the month of August in a big way by crushing his 43rd homer of the season on Sunday. That blast, as noted by MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, pushed Judge into a tie with Yogi Berra for fifth place in Yankees history. Judge’s next blast will not only give him sole possession of fifth place in franchise history — it’ll leave him just three homers shy of surpassing the great Joe DiMaggio, who sits fourth with 361 round-trippers. Though that fourth-place spot is within reach for Judge this season, he still has a long way to go before he can even think of cracking the top three. Lou Gehrig, currently third all-time in Yankee homers, finished his career with 493. For now, Judge will continue hunting for No. 359 against Astros righty Jason Alexander and his 4.61 ERA later today.

3. Tucker exits with injury:

After a lengthy slump that led to a brief benching, Kyle Tucker appears to be back to his usual self. Since returning to the Cubs’ lineup on Aug. 21, he’s batting .364/.462/.727 (227 wRC+) in 52 plate appearances, capping that stretch off by crushing a three-run homer against Atlanta last night. Unfortunately, he’s hit a bit of a speed bump in that turnaround. MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian notes that Tucker was pulled from yesterday’s game due to soreness in his calf.

Manager Craig Counsell said after the game that Tucker would be out of Wednesday’s lineup ahead of a Thursday off-day, thus giving him two full days to rest before he’s reevaluated Friday. The Cubs are virtual playoff locks — they’re five games back of the Brewers in the NL Central but ten games up on the Reds in the Wild Card scene — so they can afford to be a little more cautious than other contenders who are fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Diagnosed With Torn ACL

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The Diamondbacks announced today that right-hander Taylor Rashi and infielder Connor Kaiser have been recalled from Triple-A Reno. In corresponding moves, they have optioned Juan Burgos to Reno and placed outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a torn right ACL.

It was apparent that Gurriel was injured last night. He and center fielder Blaze Alexander were both chasing a ball in the gap. Gurriel hopped to avoid his teammate but then collapsed on the ground in obvious pain. He eventually had to be carted off, unable to properly put weight on his leg.

Today’s diagnosis is obviously awful for both Gurriel and the Snakes. They haven’t announced an expected timeline but a torn ACL can often require something close to a year of recovery before the player is back to full strength. Gurriel will certainly miss the remainder of this season and a notable chunk of 2026 as well.

Gurriel was initially acquired ahead of the 2023 season alongside Gabriel Moreno, as part of the trade which sent Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays. Gurriel was an impending free agent at the time but re-signed after one good season in Arizona. He returned via a three-year, $42MM pact with a club option for 2027 and an opt-out chance for him after 2025.

Triggering the opt-out wasn’t especially likely. He is only hitting .248/.295/.418 this year, with that line translating to a 94 wRC+. However, he does have 19 home runs and it’s possible the overall lack of production is due to a .254 batting average on balls in play. That’s well below this year’s .291 league average and Gurriel’s personal career rate of .305.

His decision would have effectively come down to whether he felt he could beat one year and $18MM. His current contract pays him $13MM next year, with a $5MM buyout on the $14MM club option for 2027. Perhaps a hot finish could have made him think about walking away from that money but it’s a moot point now. Since he’s going to miss some amount of next year, he’ll surely forgo his opt-out chance.

For the Diamondbacks, this adds to their 2026 body count well before the season has even begun. Corbin Burnes required Tommy John surgery in June and will therefore miss most or perhaps all of the upcoming campaign. Tommy Henry, Blake Walston, A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez also underwent UCL surgeries this year and are facing lengthy absences. Now Gurriel adds another name to the list.

Those other names are all pitchers while Gurriel subtracts a key part of the club’s outfield mix. Without him, the 2026 outfield consists of guys Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Jorge Barrosa and Alexander. Carroll is a star but it’s a questionable group after that. Thomas is in his fourth season and has good defensive grades but he hasn’t hit. McCarthy has shown occasional flashes of competency at the plate but his good seasons may have been fuelled by BABIP luck and he’s been awful this year. Alexander is having a nice run right now but he strikes out a lot and has only recently moved from the infield to the outfield. Barrosa has just 58 big league plate appearances and hasn’t impressed yet.

Going into the winter, the Diamondbacks have a lot to do. Given their injuries, deadline trades and impending free agents, they need to remake almost their entire pitching staff. They have question marks at the infield corners after trading Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez at the deadline. Those spots could be filled by guys like Jordan Lawlar and Tyler Locklear but neither is a lock yet. Gurriel could have been a solid regular on next year’s team but now there’s one more thing on the to-do list.

Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images

Rangers Notes: Garcia, Latz, Mahle

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Adolis García is out of the Rangers’ lineup today in Arizona. He pulled up while beating out a force play in the ninth inning of last night’s contest. He gingerly came around to score on Jake Burger’s RBI triple but was lifted for defensive replacement Alejandro Osuna in the next half-inning.

Manager Bruce Bochy revealed this evening that García has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right quad strain (via the MLB.com injury tracker). That’s one of moderate severity and often merits an injured list stint. However, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News points out that the Rangers’ lack of upper minors position player depth is a reason they’ve held off on making a roster move.

Texas already has Marcus Semien, Evan Carter, Corey Seager and Sam Haggerty on the injured list. Infielder Justin Foscue is their only healthy position player who is on optional assignment. He has three hits in 51 career big league at-bats and doesn’t have any kind of outfield experience. The Rangers already have Burger, Ezequiel Duran and Dylan Moore as infielders on the MLB bench. Foscue wouldn’t play much even if they recalled him.

They could select a non-roster outfielder like Billy McKinney or Dustin Harris. They’re operating with at least one free 40-man roster spot since Jon Gray can be transferred to the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. Ideally, neither McKinney nor Harris would get much playing time as Texas tries to run down a Wild Card spot. They’ll hold out hope for a quicker return from García rather than bringing anyone else up, although Bochy conceded the veteran outfielder is unlikely to play for at least a few days.

García has had a middling season. He’s been on a hot streak since returning from a minimal IL stay due to an ankle sprain, however. He’s hitting .368 with four doubles and a couple home runs in his past nine games. Texas will need to rely on Osuna in right field for at least a few games, while Michael Helman is playing center field in Carter’s stead. They’re using another rookie, Cody Freeman, at second base with Semien on the shelf.

The Rangers have overcome the injuries of late, feasting on a soft schedule to keep their season alive. Going back to August 22, they’ve swept the Guardians and A’s while taking two of three from the Angels. They were down to their final strike but came back to beat the Diamondbacks yesterday. They’ve pulled within a game of the reeling Mariners and still have an outside chance at catching the division-leading Astros, who are 4.5 games up and likely to lose to the Yankees tonight.

Texas also took a huge hit on the pitching side two weeks ago. Nathan Eovaldi’s potentially season-ending rotator cuff strain seemed like a nail in the coffin. The Rangers didn’t have a clear option to fill the vacated rotation spot. Kumar Rocker is sorting through mechanical adjustments and not pitching in minor league games.

Texas appears to have settled on lefty Jacob Latz to round out the starting five behind Jacob deGrom, Jack Leiter, Merrill Kelly and Patrick Corbin. Latz started and worked 4 1/3 innings on 66 pitches against the Halos last Wednesday. He’s on the mound again tonight at Chase Field. The 29-year-old southpaw had made a trio of spot starts throughout the season but has mostly worked from the bullpen. He’d been pitching short relief stints in Triple-A for the first few weeks of August. Latz has done well when called upon, taking a 3.13 ERA with a 23.4% strikeout rate into today’s start.

It might not be long before the Rangers get a rotation reinforcement. Tyler Mahle, out since mid-June with a rotator cuff strain of his own, may finally be nearing a return. He began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock this evening. The results weren’t good — he got knocked around for five runs while only completing one inning in a brutal pitching environment in Albuquerque — but logging game action at all is a big development. It raises the possibility of Mahle getting back on an MLB mound within the next couple weeks, potentially to work in some kind of tandem with Latz rather than building all the way to a traditional starter’s workload.

Twins’ David Festa Suffers Season-Ending Shoulder Injury

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Twins starter David Festa is done for the season after suffering a setback while working back from a shoulder injury, relays Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune. Festa is headed for a consultation with noted orthopedist Dr. Keith Meister.

The 25-year-old Festa has been out since the middle of July. Minnesota sent him to Triple-A St. Paul for a rehab start on August 28. Festa struck out five over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. It seems he came out of the appearance with renewed shoulder pain. That’ll shut him down for the year. The Twins will hope there’s nothing structurally amiss that’ll impact his availability for 2026.

Festa is in his second big league season. He has missed bats at an above-average rate but given up a few too many home runs, contributing to a 5.12 ERA through his first 25 appearances. Festa surrendered 5.40 earned runs per nine across 53 1/3 frames this year. The 6’6″ righty was one of Minnesota’s better pitching prospects before his debut. He’s one of a handful of mid-20s pitchers whom the Twins hope will be long-term rotation pieces.

Zebby Matthews, Simeon Woods Richardson and deadline acquisition Taj Bradley are in the current starting five. Mick Abel, acquired from Philadelphia in the Jhoan Duran deal, has been hit hard in his first two appearances as a Twin and was optioned back to Triple-A yesterday. Festa is on the 15-day injured list, so the Twins can transfer him to the 60-day IL if they need to open a 40-man roster spot before the end of the season. He crossed the one-year service line this season and is under club control through at least 2030.

Cubs Sign Austin Gomber To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs signed left-hander Austin Gomber to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. He’s on the mound tonight against Kansas City’s top affiliate in his organizational debut. The MLB.com transaction tracker indicates he signed the contract on August 26 even though it wasn’t announced until today.

That’s a relevant distinction because it keeps open the long shot possibility that Gomber could get a look in the postseason. He was in the organization before the beginning of September, so he’ll be eligible for the playoff roster even though he’s not currently on the 40-man roster. That obviously wouldn’t be Plan A for the team, but the southpaw provides rotation depth for a team that is without Michael Soroka and Jameson Taillon at the moment. The Cubs also brought in Joe Ross on a minor league deal.

Gomber was released by the Rockies last month. The soft-tossing southpaw missed the first couple months with shoulder discomfort. He was tattooed for a 7.49 earned run average in 12 starts since being activated from the injured list in the middle of June.  Gomber didn’t pitch well at home or on the road. He struggled to miss bats no matter the venue, posting a career-worst 12.5% strikeout rate across 57 2/3 innings. Gomber’s fastball averaged a little over 89 MPH, down a tick from last year and three miles per hour from the first few seasons of his career. He was a passable fifth starter last year, turning in a 4.75 ERA while making 30 starts.

The Rockies are on the hook for what remains of Gomber’s $6.35MM salary. The Cubs would owe him the prorated $760K league minimum for any time he spends in the big leagues. He’ll be a free agent again at the beginning of the offseason.

Jesse Winker Shut Down, Likely Out For Season

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The Mets don’t expect Jesse Winker to return this season, manager Carlos Mendoza tells reporters (including Mike Puma of The New York Post). Winker has been sidelined since the middle of July with a lower back injury. He began a rehab assignment last week but has been shut back down from baseball activity, suggesting he suffered some kind of setback.

Winker had a productive 2024 season, batting .253/.360/.405 between the Nationals and Mets. Most of that production came early in the season with Washington. New York nevertheless brought Winker back on a $7.5MM free agent deal. They expected him to take the majority of the designated hitter playing time against right-handed pitching.

Injuries cost him that opportunity. Winker suffered a significant oblique strain in early May. That kept him out of action until shortly before the All-Star Break. He returned for two games and three plate appearances before going back on the shelf. His rehab stint in Low-A last week lasted two games.

Winker’s season probably comes to a close with a .229/.309/.400 slash in 81 plate appearances. He’ll return to free agency this winter and might be limited to minor league offers. The Mets will continue giving Mark Vientos and Starling Marte the majority of the DH at-bats. They’ve each been very good in the second half. Winker probably wouldn’t have pushed them for a ton of playing time even if healthy, but he could’ve played a meaningful run as a left-handed bat off the bench.

Orioles Designate Corbin Martin, Elvin Rodríguez For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Tyler Wells and infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo have been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Catcher Maverick Handley has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in one corresponding active roster move. Right-hander Corbin Martin has been designated for assignment to open a second active roster spot and one 40-man spot. Righty Elvin Rodríguez, who was on optional assignment, has also been designated for assignment as the other corresponding 40-man move. The Wells activation was reported last week.

Mateo has been out since June due to a hamstring injury. The speedy utilityman hit just .180/231/.279 with a homer and 14 steals in 65 plate appearances prior to going on the injured list. The 30-year-old has never provided much in the way of offense, but even by his modest standards, that was well shy of the norm. In 1300 plate appearances from 2021-24, Mateo slashed .225/.271/.371 (79 wRC+) with 29 homers and 90 stolen bases. Mateo has long provided quality glovework at shortstop, though, and he can capably handle second, third or center field — all while providing elite speed on the bases.

This is the final guaranteed season the Orioles have with Mateo, though they can retain him via a club option for next season. They’d need to bring him back at a $5.5MM price point, however, which feels steep given the season he’s had and his prior lack of offensive production. There’s no buyout on the option, making it all the more likely that the O’s will turn it down, though there’s always a chance they’d try to bring him back at a lower rate.

Martin, 29, has been on and off Baltimore’s roster a few times this year. Around the transactions, he has tossed 18 innings, allowing 12 earned runs for an ERA of 6.00. He likely deserved better. His 10.1% walk rate was high but his 25.8% strikeout rate and 44.2% ground ball rate were solid figures. A .353 batting average on balls in play and 65.7% strand rate seemingly pushed some extra runs across. His 3.57 SIERA pointed to better run prevention going forward.

Regardless, the O’s have decided to move on again. Martin doesn’t have options and therefore can’t be easily sent back to the minors. With the trade deadline having passed, he’s destined for the waiver wire. If some club claims him, he can be controlled for four seasons after this one. He cleared waivers back in July, so it’s possible he’ll do so again. Last time he cleared, he exercised his right to elect free agency, which is another thing that could happen again in the coming days.

Rodríguez, 27, signed with the Brewers in January on the heels of some good results in Japan. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to have success in North America this year. The Brewers designated him for assignment in July, at which point the Orioles claimed him.

Between those two clubs, he has a 9.15 ERA in 19 2/3 major league innings. He has also tossed 40 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.46 ERA, 18.3% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate. Though the results haven’t been great, he does still have options, so perhaps he will appeal to a club looking for some extra depth in the minors.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Tigers Move Chris Paddack To Bullpen

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Right-hander Chris Paddack is moving from Detroit’s rotation to the bullpen. Tigers manager A.J Hinch announced the development today to reporters, including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.

Paddack, 29, was acquired from the Twins ahead of the trade deadline. The Tigers gave up catching prospect Enrique Jimenez in order to acquire Paddack and also minor leaguer Randy Dobnak from their division rival.

The Detroit rotation has taken a number of hits this year. They signed Alex Cobb in the offseason but he still hasn’t thrown a pitch for them due to hip injuries. Jackson Jobe required Tommy John surgery in June. Ty Madden has been out all year due to a shoulder strain and isn’t expected to return. The same day the Tigers acquired Paddack, Reese Olson was placed on the 60-day injured list due to his own shoulder strain.

To address those injuries, the Tigers added Paddack and also Charlie Morton at the deadline. Those two have been in the rotation alongside Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize over the past few weeks.

The Paddack acquisition received criticism at the time, as he wasn’t having a great season. He started 21 times for the Twins, logging 111 innings, allowing 4.95 earned runs per nine. His 5.7% walk rate was good but his 17.6% strikeout rate and 36.4% ground ball rate were both subpar figures. Since coming to Detroit, things have not improved. He has made six starts with a 5.40 ERA, 11.6% strikeout rate, 4.1% walk rate and 33.3% ground ball rate.

That performance will get Paddack bumped out of the rotation. What’s not known is what comes next. The Tigers have recalled Sawyer Gipson-Long to start today’s game. It’s unclear if this is a spot start or if he has a rotation gig going forward.

It’s possible they may not replace Paddack in the rotation at all. The Tigers famously deployed “pitching chaos” last year, using a large number of openers, bullpen games and bulk guys, while Skubal was at times the only real starter. They have Gipson-Long going tonight and Mize on Wednesday. They are then off on Thursday and host the White Sox for three on the weekend. After that, they are off every Monday, playing six games in a row in between each of those off-days.

They could again do a lot of bullpen games, deploying a four-man rotation while using guys like Gipson-Long, Troy Melton and Paddack for multiple innings. Cobb has been moved to a relief role as the Tigers try to get him healthy somehow, but he could perhaps cover some innings. Keider Montero is on optional assignment and could be recalled.

Ultimately, it’s not a huge deal for the club now. They are cruising to a division win, currently holding a nine-game lead over the Royals. Paddack wasn’t going to be in their playoff rotation, so they’ll try him out of the bullpen. They probably regret giving up Jimenez to a division rival, though he’s only 19 years old and it’s hard to say if he’ll eventually make it as a major leaguer down the line.

For Paddack personally, it’s less than ideal. He is a few weeks away from reaching free agency for the first time. He has shown promise earlier in his career, particularly his 2019 rookie season with the Padres. He tossed 140 2/3 innings that year with a 3.33 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 5.5% walk rate and 40.2% ground ball rate.

Unfortunately, his results backed up from there. Tommy John surgery wiped out a decent chunk of his 2022-2024 seasons. He has been able to log 141 innings so far this year, the highest total of his career, but he hasn’t regained his previous strikeout stuff. He’ll now be going into free agency without a lot of momentum and will likely be looking for a bounceback pillow deal somewhere.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Outright Tristin English

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Infielder/outfielder Tristin English has been sent outright to Triple-A Reno, according to his transaction tracker at MLB.com. He played for the Aces on Sunday. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks last week.

English, 28, was just selected to the big league roster in July. That was his first call to the show. This is his first career outright and he is well short of three years of big league service time. That means he didn’t have the right to reject this assignment.

While his stint on the roster was fairly brief and he spent notable time on optional assignment, he did get to make his debut. He got just two hits in 23 plate appearances, not a great showing but at least he can say he has a few big league knocks.

He’ll stick with the Diamondbacks as a non-roster depth piece capable of playing the four corner positions. His minor league track record is naturally greater in terms of quantity and quality. This year, he has a .322/.368/.522 slash and 109 wRC+ in 349 Triple-A plate appearances.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Select Ryan Borucki

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The Blue Jays announced that they have selected left-hander Ryan Borucki to the roster. Fellow lefty Easton Lucas has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, righty Robinson Piña has been recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list due to a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Borucki, now 31, began his career with the Jays many years ago. He showed some promise as a potential starter but some injuries eventually got him moved to a relief role. As a reliever, he has bounced around to the Mariners and Pirates with some occasional success. From 2020 to the present, he has thrown 147 2/3 innings with a 4.39 earned run average. His 22.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate in that time are close to average, while his 50.1% ground ball rate is quite strong.

This year hasn’t been his best. After an injury-marred 2024 season, he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Pirates. He cracked Pittsburgh’s Opening Day rotation and stuck on the roster through mid-August, with an IL stint of over a month due to back inflammation mixed in. He had a 5.28 ERA over 30 2/3 innings when they designated him for assignment a few weeks back. He had a 21.4% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 55% ground ball rate.

After he was released, the Jays scooped him up on a minor league deal. Toronto has had Brendon Little as the primary lefty in their bullpen this year. Guys like Mason Fluharty and Justin Bruihl have also factored in but both of those guys were optioned to the minors in recent days. A pitcher optioned to the minors can’t be recalled for 15 days, unless someone else is going on the injured list.

Eric Lauer is now in the bullpen, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, but he’ll likely be deployed more as a long man. Lucas is also more of a long relief guy, so the Jays are swapping him out for Borucki.

For his career, Borucki has held lefties to a .185/.268/.265 line, whereas righties have hit .280/.347/.494 off him. That split has been even more extreme this year, as he has held opposing lefties to a .132/.217/.170 line but righties have lit him up for a .333/.400/.649 slash. The Jays will probably try to target Borucki against lefties in the other team’s lineup, though the three-batter minimum makes that a challenge. Little has pitched in the past two games and three of the past four, so it’s possible he’s not available tonight.

Pina, 26, was acquired from the Marlins in a June trade. He has largely been on optional assignment since then. His health status is unclear but he hasn’t pitched in an official game since August 1st. The Jays putting him on the 60-day IL suggests they don’t expect him to pitch again this season. If his UCL sprain requires surgery, then he’s obviously slated to be out even longer. There’s no 60-day IL between five days after the World Series and the start of spring training. The Jays will therefore have to add him back to the 40-man roster in November or remove him somehow.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

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