Brewers Notes: Chourio, Vaughn, Misiorowski, Henderson
Jackson Chourio‘s 2026 debut may be delayed by at least a few more days, as the outfielder fouled a ball off his left ankle during a Triple-A rehab game on Saturday. “We got an X-ray on it right away and thank God it’s negative,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters, though “we’ve got to see how he progresses. Today’s going to be a critical day.”
It isn’t uncommon to see players placed on the injured list in these instances, as even if a foul ball may not fracture or break anything, there can often be lingering soreness for days afterwards. Given Chourio’s importance to the Brewers, the team isn’t likely to rush anything in terms of his return, even if that means Chourio spends more time in Triple-A or his official rehab period is halted entirely.
Chourio knows all too well how a seemingly innocuous injury can linger, as x-rays were also negative on his left hand when he was hit by a pitch during a World Baseball Classic exhibition on March 4. The outfielder went onto play in the WBC and for the Brewers during the rest of Spring Training, but some additional soreness led to a check-up MRI just prior to Opening Day, and a new diagnosis of a minor hairline fracture.
As such, Chourio has yet to see any big league action this year, and he was already beyond the initial recovery timeline of 2-to-4 weeks. Monday was expected to be his activation date from the 10-day IL, before that errant foul ball delivered another setback.
It isn’t all bad news for the start of tomorrow’s series with the Cardinals, however, as Andrew Vaughn is expected to be activated from the 10-day IL. Vaughn’s 2026 campaign consists of just one game, as he sustained a hamate bone injury on Opening Day that required surgery. His recovery process hasn’t hit any snags, so he’ll return within the usual 4-to-6 week timeline associated to hamate surgeries.
After being dealt from the White Sox to the Brewers last June, Vaughn’s bat came to life, as he hit .308/.375/.493 with nine home runs in 254 plate appearances with his new club. Jake Bauers has done decently well while getting most of the first base playing time in Vaughn’s absence, but naturally Milwaukee’s lineup will benefit from getting closer to full strength.
It also looks like Jacob Misiorowski may have dodged a bullet after leaving his last start due to a hamstring cramp. Misiorowski came out a running drill yesterday feeling fine, but Murphy cautioned that the Brew Crew won’t be fully comfortable with the right-hander’s status until he throws without any discomfort. If all goes well, Misiorowski should line up to make his next start on Wednesday in St. Louis.
Brandon Woodruff‘s placement on the 15-day IL on Friday already left Milwaukee’s rotation even more short-handed, as Quinn Priester has yet to pitch this season due to a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder. The Brewers turned to Logan Henderson for the spot start today in Woodruff’s place, and Henderson delivered a quality start in the 3-2 loss to the Nationals. Henderson allowed two runs on three hits over six innings of work, while recording eight strikeouts and zero walks.
Henderson’s young career has been plagued by injuries to date, and he has logged only 302 1/3 pro innings (269 in the minors, 33 1/3 in the majors) since he was a fourth-round pick for Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. The right-hander made his MLB debut last season in the form of 25 1/3 innings, but his rookie year was cut short by elbow inflammation in early August. While the Brewers will continue to be careful with Henderson’s innings, today’s start might well earn him more looks in the big league rotation.
Nationals Sign Shawn Dubin To Minors Contract
The Nationals signed right-hander Shawn Dubin to a minor league contract, as reflected on the team’s official transactions page. Dubin made his debut with Triple-A Rochester yesterday, tossing a scoreless inning of relief work.
Dubin has a 4.81 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, and 10.2% walk rate over 88 career innings in the majors, all with the Astros and Orioles during the 2023-25 seasons. The righty had spent his whole career in the Astros organization before he was designated for assignment last August and then claimed by Baltimore. The O’s outrighted Dubin in November and he caught on with the Diamondbacks on a minors deal, but he was released from that contract 10 days ago after just two games with Triple-A Reno.
Washington has already used 22 different pitchers this season, so Dubin has a good chance of making it back to the majors as part of the Nats’ bullpen churn. Dubin is out of minor league options, however, so any call-up may well be followed by a DFA if the Nationals want to get another fresh reliever in the pen.
The Nats’ bullpen is unsettled enough that there’s opportunity for Dubin to stick around if his contract is selected. Dubin’s history as a swingman and long reliever makes him a candidate to eat innings, and he has shown good-to-great strikeout ability in the minors, even if he has yet to miss many bats during his time in the majors.
Giants To Promote Bryce Eldridge, Jesus Rodriguez
The Giants will promote prospects Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez prior to Monday’s game with the Padres, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Slusser wrote earlier today that the Giants were giving “serious consideration” to bringing the duo up to the Show, and neither Eldridge or Rodriguez were in the lineup today for Triple-A Sacramento.
Both players are already on the 40-man roster, so the Giants will just need to make two 26-man roster adjustments to create space. Eldridge made his MLB debut in the form of 10 games last season, while Rodriguez is on the verge of his big league debut.
While nobody expects two rookies to instantly change the team’s fortunes, it isn’t surprising that the Giants are looking for any kind of spark for their dismal offense. Heading into Sunday’s action, San Francisco ranked 30th of 30 teams in runs (105), home runs (19), and stolen bases (eight), while ranking 29th in OBP (.289) and OPS (.646).
The lineup sputtered again in today’s 2-1 loss to the Rays in 10 innings, and the Giants have now lost six straight games. The 12-win Mets are the only team in baseball with fewer victories than the 13-21 Giants, underlining San Francisco’s struggles over the first five weeks of play.
Eldridge has been a consensus top-30 prospect for the last couple of years, though the 16th overall pick of the 2023 draft hit only .107/.297/.179 over his first 37 plate appearances in the Show. He struck out in 13 of those 37 trips to the dish, and the Giants’ decision to start Eldridge’s 2026 campaign at Triple-A was due in part to the team’s desire to see the 21-year-old correct those contact issues. This specific problem hasn’t been solved since Eldridge has whiffed 41 times in 137 PA so far in Sacramento this season, but he is crushing the ball to the tune of a .333/.445/.518 slash line and five home runs.
Though Eldridge played 23 games in right field during his first minor league season, he has since played only first base. That means the Giants would have to use Eldridge and Rafael Devers in some combination as the first baseman and DH. Casey Schmitt has been in that timeshare with Devers so far, and removing Schmitt from the lineup is an issue since Schmitt has (surprisingly) been far and away the Giants’ best hitter in the early going.
Schmitt has experience at all four infield positions, but inserting him elsewhere around the diamond would mean the Giants would have to sit one of Devers, Luis Arraez, Matt Chapman, or Willy Adames. Arraez is the only member of that group who is hitting well, but the Giants may be hesitant to take at-bats away from any their highest-paid veterans even despite their slumps.
Rodriguez would bring much more defensive versatility to Tony Vitello’s roster. The 24-year-old has played mostly as a catcher and third baseman over his minor league career, with some time in left field and at both corner outfield slots. Rodriguez has primarily stayed behind the plate this season in Sacramento, but he has made two appearances at second base and five appearances in left field.
As much as this extra versatility adds to Rodriguez’s resume, he might just end up at the catcher position. Patrick Bailey is hitting even less than usual, and the Giants may want to get more pop in the lineup even if it means a downgrade in terms of catcher defense. Rule 5 pick Daniel Susac was off to a blazing start at the plate, but is expected to miss perhaps another week on the 10-day IL while he recovers from elbow neuritis. Veteran Eric Haase had his minor league contract selected in the wake of Susac’s injury and is probably a DFA candidate tomorrow when Rodriguez is called up.
For all of Rodriguez’s multi-positional usage, he isn’t considered much of a defender at any position. As a catcher, Rodriguez has subpar blocking and receiving skills, though he is a good pitch-framer and he has a good throwing arm.
At the plate, Rodriguez has posted at least solid hitting numbers at all levels of the minors, including a .330/.400/.440 slash line with two home runs over 115 Triple-A plate appearances this year. Rodriguez has a knack for getting on base and making a lot of solid contact, yet the MLB Pipeline and Baseball America scouting reports note that his contact ability can work against him to some extent — Rodriguez goes after a lot of pitches outside the strike zone, resulting in less-than-ideal contact.
Pipeline ranks Rodriguez 18th on their list of Giants prospects, and Baseball America puts him 19th. He began his career as an international prospect in the Yankees’ farm system, and Rodriguez was one of the four minor leaguers acquired at last year’s trade deadline as San Francisco’s return for sending Camilo Doval to the Bronx.
Brewers’ Angel Zerpa Could Require Tommy John Surgery
MAY 3: Murphy specified to Rosiak and company today that Zerpa is weighing a Tommy John surgery.
MAY 1: The Brewers placed lefty Angel Zerpa on the injured list earlier this week after he experienced forearm tightness. Manager Pat Murphy suggested not long after that the southpaw could be facing a lengthy absence. Murphy provided another ominous update Friday, telling the Brewers beat that surgery is on the table (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
A specific diagnosis remains unclear. Forearm tightness can be a precursor to a host of serious injuries for pitchers, including UCL and/or flexor tendon damage and irritation of the ulnar nerve, among other possibilities. The nature of the injury and the still under-consideration surgery will determine the length of absence, but it seems the Brewers shouldn’t plan on Zerpa returning anytime soon.
Milwaukee acquired Zerpa from the Royals in an offseason trade sending Isaac Collins and Nick Mears back to Kansas City. The Brewers sold high on both players — Collins in particular — in apparent hopes of acquiring a more controllable, hard-throwing lefty with big ground-ball numbers. Given Zerpa’s solid track record with K.C. and the Brewers’ success in coaxing new levels of performance out of players, there was reason to be optimistic about a potential breakout.
That hasn’t panned out in the slightest. Zerpa has appeared in a dozen games and been roughed up for 11 runs (nine earned) on 16 hits and six walks in just 12 2/3 frames. His 14.5% strikeout rate is among the lowest in the league, and his 10.9% walk rate is a career-worst mark. Zerpa’s sinker is averaging 95.6 mph — down a full mile per hour over last year’s average of 96.6 mph.
From 2021-25 in Kansas City, Zerpa combined to record a 3.97 ERA with a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 7% walk rate and a massive 57.1% grounder rate. He tended to struggle against right-handed opponents, but the Brewers presumably had some ideas about how to help him correct that problem.
With Zerpa increasingly looking like a 60-day IL candidate, any such hopes from the Brewers will be placed on hold. They control him through 2028, so there’s still some hope for down-the-road contributions even if he ends up requiring a major surgery. He’d need to be tendered a contract, but Zerpa is playing this season on a $1.095MM salary, so even the generally frugal Brewers wouldn’t find his salary to be a true roadblock.
Zerpa joined fellow southpaws Rob Zastryzny and Jared Koenig on the injured list when he landed there. Zastryzny is dealing with a back strain. Koenig has a UCL sprain that he’s currently trying to rehab without surgery.
Three lefty relievers on the injured list would normally deplete an organization’s supply, but the Brewers are deeper in southpaw bullpen arms than nearly any team in the sport. Even with Zerpa, Koenig and Zastryzny out, the have Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, Shane Drohan and Brian Fitzpatrick in the MLB bullpen. Fitzpatrick was added to the roster after Zerpa’s injury and just recently made his big league debut. Ashby and Hall both have ERAs under 2.50 with big strikeout numbers but troubling command woes.
Yankees Option Anthony Volpe To Triple-A
The Yankees have activated Anthony Volpe from the 10-day injured list and optioned the shortstop to Triple-A, as per a team announcement. Joel Sherman of the New York Post broke the news shortly before the Yankees’ official release.
After undergoing shoulder surgery last October, Volpe began this season on the 10-day IL to allow more time to fully recuperate. He began a minor league rehab assignment in April that has thus far consisted of 13 games (nine in Double-A, four in Triple-A), and today marked the final day of the 20-day window allotted for rehab assignments. The Yankees therefore had to decide on activating Volpe and adding him either to the big league roster, or optioning him to Triple-A.
The writing seemed to be on the wall yesterday when New York manager Aaron Boone said Volpe would be kept in the minors for the entirety of his 20-day rehab period. While Boone said Volpe was in “a really good spot and had a good rehab,” the skipper also noted that the shortstop “played, what, two-plus weeks of games. Spring Training is a lot longer than that. And he got a lot of live at-bats and reads in the field even leading up to that. He’s had pretty much close to a full Spring Training, but I don’t think it hurts to have him continue to play regularly.”
This rehab assignment had marked Volpe’s first taste of minor league ball since 2022, as had pretty much been a fixture at the Yankees’ shortstop position since he made his MLB debut on Opening Day 2023. As a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball, Volpe’s debut came with a ton of hype, and those (probably unfair) expectations have yet to be met over three big league seasons.
Volpe has hit .222/.283/.379 with 52 homers over 1886 career PA in the Show, translating to an 85 wRC+. He was at least a superb defender in his first two seasons and won the AL shortstop Gold Glove in 2023, but Volpe’s glovework also drastically dropped off last year, likely due to the fact that he played through much of the season with a partially torn left labrum.
New York acquired Jose Caballero from the Rays at last summer’s deadline, and the utilityman quickly made an impression upon his arrival in the Bronx, particularly when he filled in at shortstop when Volpe spent a week recovering from a cortisone shot. With the knowledge that Volpe could likely miss time at the start of the 2026 campaign to recover, the Yankees explored the shortstop market last winter but opted to stick with Caballero as the interim shortstop, and the results have been very solid.
Through 124 PA this season, Caballero is hitting .259/.306/.405 with four home runs, as well as 13 stolen bases in 17 attempts. Even his modest 99 wRC+ is still an improvement over Volpe’s career numbers, and Caballero has also put himself in the early Gold Glove conversation with his strong defensive play at shortstop.
The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” cliche may be the simplest answer behind the Yankees’ decision on Volpe. New York is 23-11 and its .676 winning percentage is the second-best in baseball, behind only the Braves. There isn’t any real pressing need for Volpe to be brought up now, and should Caballero start to struggle or if an injury arises elsewhere within New York’s infield, Volpe can easily be called up for his 2026 debut.
(In what may be a related item, Ben Rice is day-to-day with a left hand contusion that forced him out of today’s game. X-rays were negative on Rice’s hand, and the fact that the Yankees are still optioning Volpe is probably a sign that Rice might miss a game or two at most.)
In the bigger picture, it is fair to wonder if Volpe is still considered a key piece of the Yankees’ future plans. He is only in his first year of arbitration eligibility and is under team control through 2028, yet Volpe now finds himself in the position of seemingly having to just win his old job back, let alone figure out how to break out against MLB pitchers. New York has another top shortstop prospect in George Lombard Jr. knocking on the door for his big league debut, so Lombard might supplant Volpe if Caballero hasn’t done so already.
Braves Place Ronald Acuna Jr. On IL, Reinstate Spencer Strider
6:07PM: In another move announced by the Braves today, Joel Payamps cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett. The right-hander was designated for assignment earlier this week, and he has enough MLB service time to reject the outright assignment and opt for free agency. However, becoming a free agent would mean surrendering the roughly $1.78MM in remaining salary Payamps is owed for 2026, so the righty is probably more likely to accept the outright and continue in Gwinnett.
11:00AM: Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. is heading to the injured list with a hamstring strain, the team announced. Jose Azocar was selected to the roster as a replacement. Atlanta also reinstated right-hander Spencer Strider from the IL. Righty Hunter Stratton is headed back to Triple-A to clear a spot.
Acuna was removed in the second inning of Saturday’s game against the Rockies after a groundout. He was replaced by Eli White in right field. The Braves had an opening on the 40-man, so no corresponding move was needed to add Azocar.
The 28-year-old Acuna is off to a slow start this season by his lofty standards. He’s slashed .252/.362/.378 across 152 plate appearances. Acuna has just two home runs in 34 games. Atlanta’s offensive production has been just fine, though, as the club leads the league in scoring by 15 runs.
The Braves will likely lean on a mix of White, Azocar, and Mauricio Dubon for additional reps in the outfield. Michael Harris II is back from a minor quad issue, so he’ll lock down center on an everyday basis. That leaves the aforementioned trio and Mike Yastrzemski to cover the corner spots. Yastrzemski has a .642 OPS in his career against lefties, so he’ll probably remain in a platoon role.
Azocar returned to the organization on a minor league deal in December. He initially latched on with Atlanta in May after a brief stint with the Mets last season. Azocar only appeared in two games with the Braves before getting designated for assignment. He went back to New York and spent the rest of the year in the minors, then elected free agency.
The 29-year-old Azocar has spent parts of four seasons in the majors, mostly with the Padres. He debuted for San Diego in 2022 and earned semi-regular work at all three outfield spots. Azocar posted an 81 wRC+ in 216 plate appearances. He was up and down with the big-league club over the next couple of seasons. Azocar hasn’t hit enough to stick for an extended stretch in the majors, but he provides some speed along with competent defense in the outfield.
Strider has been sidelined since Spring Training with an oblique injury. He’ll make his season debut against the Rockies. The righty ramped up to 82 pitches in his final Triple-A outing, so he should be in for close to a normal workload in his return.
Injuries have limited Strider to 25 starts over the past two seasons. He missed nearly all of 2024 with an elbow injury. Strider returned in April of last year, only to go right back on the IL with a hamstring issue. He made 23 starts in 2025, pitching to a 4.45 ERA across 125 1/3 innings.
All eyes will be on the Coors Field radar gun in Strider’s return. His fastball averaged a career-low 95.5 mph last year. The pitch sat at 96.3 mph in his brief 2024 stint. Strider was consistently in the upper-90s with the heater during his elite years in 2022 and 2023. He introduced a curveball to help expand his arsenal, though he used the pitch just 8.9% of the time in 2025.
Stratton will head back to Triple-A after just one appearance with Atlanta. He came up on Friday with Anthony Molina after José Suarez and Joel Payamps were designated for assignment. Stratton lasted longer than Molina, who was sent back down yesterday with Carlos Carrasco returning to the squad.
Atlanta acquired Stratton in a minor trade with the Pirates last summer. He pitched well in 12 appearances with the club, posting a 2.20 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning. Given how frequently the Braves have shuffled pitchers on and off the roster, Stratton will likely get another shot in the majors at some point this year.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images
Joe Ryan Leaves Start With Elbow Soreness
17:44PM: After the game, Twins manager Derek Shelton told Helfand and other reporters that Ryan had imaging done on his elbow and “we’ll kind of evaluate from there. We have the off day [Monday], and then we’ll go off that.”
1:05PM: Twins right-hander Joe Ryan was pulled two batters into his start on Sunday against the Blue Jays. He departed with right elbow soreness, relayed Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Ryan struck out Yohendrick Pinango on three pitches to begin the game. He walked Kazuma Okamoto and then called for the trainer. Ryan’s final pitch was a 90 mph fastball, a couple of ticks down from his season average. Right-hander Andrew Morris came on in relief.
It’s the second injury scare of the season for Ryan, who missed time during Spring Training with lower back inflammation. He recovered in time to take the ball on Opening Day, when he delivered 5.1 scoreless innings against the Orioles. The righty has headlined a rotation that ranks ninth in ERA heading into Sunday.
Ryan has had a pretty typical season so far. He’s posted a 3.76 ERA with a decent strikeout rate while limiting walks. His fly-ball approach tends to lead to home runs, but Ryan has kept the ball in the yard better than usual, permitting just three long balls in 38 1/3 innings.
An extended absence for Ryan would further test a Minnesota pitching staff already dealing with injuries to Pablo Lopez and Mick Abel. Lopez is done for the year after undergoing elbow surgery. Abel is dealing with elbow inflammation. Prospect Connor Prielipp is getting his first taste in the majors thanks to the starting pitcher injuries. Fellow prospect Kendry Rojas also got a brief look. He could be heading back to the big leagues if Ryan needs an IL stint. Zebby Matthews would be another candidate to slide into a rotation spot.
Photo courtesy of Nick Wosika, Imagn Images
Cubs Claim Luis Peralta From Cardinals
The Cubs have claimed left-hander Luis Peralta off the Cardinals’ waiver wire, according to Taylor McGregor of the Marquee Sports Network. St. Louis designated Peralta for assignment on Friday. Peralta has been optioned to Triple-A Iowa, and a 40-man roster move wasn’t require since the Cubs only had 39 players on their 40-man.
It’s the second time in less than a week that Peralta has changed teams via the waiver wire. He was designated for assignment by the Rockies on April 21 and was claimed by the Cardinals on Monday, only for the Cards to return Peralta to DFA limbo when a 40-man roster spot was needed to select Jared Shuster‘s contract from Triple-A.
Peralta’s tenure in St. Louis ends without even a minor league appearance, so his 2026 numbers remain just the ugly 17.18 ERA he posted over six appearances and 7 1/3 innings for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate. Peralta has a 10.26 ERA over 43 career Triple-A innings, with the caveat that he has worked only in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
The southpaw’s time in the majors hasn’t been much better. Peralta had an impressive 0.73 ERA across 12 1/3 innings after he made his MLB debut with Colorado in 2024, but he came back to earth with a 9.47 ERA in 19 frames of work in 2025. Peralta allowed six homers in that 19-inning sample, with more walks (18) than strikeouts (16).
Control has been a persistent issue for Peralta throughout his career, and the problem worsened to the tune of 13 walks allowed over his 7 1/3 innings in Albuquerque this year. Despite his strong strikeout numbers, it will be hard for Peralta to stick even as minor league bullpen depth if he can’t get the ball over the plate.
Chicago becomes the latest team to see if it can solve Peralta’s control woes, and any kind of extra arms are helpful given how the Cubs have six relievers currently on the injured list. Left-handers Caleb Thielbar and Riley Martin are among that sextet, so Peralta can add some depth behind the bullpen’s current southpaw pairing of Hoby Milner and Ryan Rolison.
Marlins To Promote Joe Mack
The Marlins will promote top catching prospect Joe Mack prior to tomorrow’s game with the Phillies, SportsGrid’s Craig Mish reports. Agustin Ramirez will be optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and Mack is already on Miami’s 40-man roster.
Mack was the 31st overall pick of the 2021 draft, and after steadily working his way up the Marlins’ minor league ladder, the 23-year-old is now on the cusp of his Major League debut. Baseball America ranks Mack as the 50th-best prospect in the sport, and pundits like The Athletic’s Keith Law (52nd), MLB Pipeline (54th) and ESPN.com (61st) also have Mack listed within their top-100 rankings.
The consensus is that Mack is ready for the big leagues on defense alone, as he has received praise for his framing, blocking, and strong throwing arm. There have been fewer questions about his ability to hit since Mack bounced back from a poor 2023 season to post much better numbers across the last three minor league campaigns, and he has hit .249/.334/.444 with 21 home runs over 515 plate appearances with Triple-A Jacksonville.
Mack’s approach is a little all-or-nothing since he is primarily looking to pull the ball in the air, but even if this leads to his share of strikeouts, Mack has enough power to capitalize when he does make contact. Over 103 PA in Jacksonville this season, Mack’s walk rate has shot up to 19.4% (from 8.5% in 412 Triple-A PA in 2025) and he has reduced his strikeout rate from 27.9% to 21.4%.
It was seen as just a matter of time before Mack got the call to the Show, even if the Marlins opted against including Mack on their Opening Day roster. Miami continued with the catching tandem of Ramirez and Liam Hicks, and Hicks has broken out to hit .309/.366/.557 with seven homers over 112 PA while splitting time between catcher, first base, and DH.
Ramirez, however, is hitting .230/.318/.345 with two home runs over 129 PA, making him the odd man out of the catching picture. Ramirez went yard 21 times in 2025 while batting .231/.287/.413 in 585 PA, but his dropoff in power has taken away his most potent offensive weapon. Since Ramirez is also arguably the worst defensive catcher in baseball, there wasn’t much of a case to continue giving him at-bats while Mack was ready to go at Triple-A, as MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald argued earlier this week.
Since Hicks is also nothing special in terms of glovework, putting Mack behind the plate should have an immediate impact on the Marlins from a defensive standpoint. While obviously the hope is that Mack can adjust quickly as a big league hitter, producing even average offense in his first looks at MLB pitching would be a bonus along with the ripple effect that Mack’s defense brings to Miami’s run-prevention efforts.
Because Mack is only coming up to the majors now, the Marlins wouldn’t earn a bonus draft pick via the Prospect Promotion Incentive if he finishes in the top two in NL Rookie of the Year voting (or has a top-three MVP finish before he is eligible for arbitration). However, Mack himself would earn a full year of big league service time if he does manage a top-two ROY finish, and he is currently on pace to achieve Super Two status and an extra year of salary arbitration eligibility if he remains on Miami’s active roster.
Angels Place Yusei Kikuchi On 15-Day Injured List
Prior to today’s game with the Mets, the Angels placed left-hander Yusei Kikuchi on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 30) due to left shoulder inflammation. Left-hander Tayler Saucedo had his contract selected from Triple-A to fill Kikuchi’s 26-man roster spot and fill the open spot on the Halos’ 40-man roster.
An IL trip seemed likely once Kikuchi left his start last Wednesday after just two innings of work. As MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger noted, Kikuchi’s velocity was 1.3mph lower than usual on Wednesday, so it seemed like something wasn’t quite right from the jump when the southpaw took the mound.
Kikuchi underwent an MRI on Friday but Angels general manager Perry Minasian didn’t have any updates on the results when speaking with Bollinger and other reporters. “We’re just waiting on how it progresses. He’s getting looked at and he’ll get looked at again,” Minasian said.
The injury adds to what has already been an uninspiring beginning to Kikuchi’s 2026 season. Over seven starts and 31 innings of work, Kikuchi has a 5.81 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, and 9.9% walk rate, plus other secondary metrics that generally sit only slightly above or below the league average. Kikuchi’s 4.16 SIERA is more reflective of his overall performance, as his actual ERA has been inflated by some bad batted-ball luck (.352 BABIP).
Led by Jose Soriano‘s sterling work, the Los Angeles rotation has been pretty decent this year despite a number of injuries that thinned out the depth chart. Kikuchi joins Grayson Rodriguez, Ryan Johnson, and Alek Manoah on the 15-day IL, leaving Caden Dana as perhaps the likeliest Triple-A candidate to be called up as a replacement starter. Minasian said the team hadn’t yet decided on a replacement, but since Dana last pitched on Thursday, he might line up well for Kikuchi’s spot.
Saucedo was signed to a minor league contract in January, and the lefty is now in line for his first MLB action of the 2026 season. Saucedo has appeared in each of the previous five seasons, and had good numbers out of Seattle’s bullpen in 2023-24 before stumbling to a 7.43 ERA over 13 1/3 innings for the Mariners in 2025. Between the lack of production and a two-month injury absence due to a lat strain, it was essentially a lost year for Saucedo, culminating in a non-tender from the Mariners in November.
A .378 BABIP certainly contributed to Saucedo’s struggles in 2025, particularly since the southpaw is a grounder specialist with a 56.2% career grounder rate. Saucedo has always had so-so control at best, but his okay strikeout ability and his knack for inducing grounders could lead to better results if he gets even average batted-ball luck, like his .298 BABIP from 2023-24.