Brewers Place Brandon Woodruff On IL With Shoulder Inflammation
The Brewers announced that right-hander Brandon Woodruff has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty Easton McGee has been recalled in a corresponding move.
The IL placement is unsurprising but ominous. Woodruff has been battling shoulder problems for years. He was limited to 11 starts in 2023 and eventually required surgery, which wiped out his entire 2024 season. He got back on the mound in the summer of 2025 and made 12 starts but then finished the season on the IL due to a lat strain.
The Brewers felt confident enough in Woodruff’s health to issue him a $22.025MM qualifying offer for 2026, a deal he accepted. He got healthy enough this spring to break camp with the club. However, alarm bells started ringing when he made his start yesterday, as his velocity was down about 7 mph. He had been averaging about 92 miles per hour in his previous starts but couldn’t really get past 85 mph yesterday.
Milwaukee removed him from the game but the details were a bit murky. Manager Pat Murphy said that Woodruff wasn’t experiencing any pain, but merely felt his arm was a bit dead. The Brewers weren’t sure if an IL stint would be necessary or if maybe they would simply try pushing his next start by a few days. He did go for an MRI and it seems there was enough concern to put him on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks.
Further details may be revealed later today but all the pieces add up to a worrisome situation. Woodruff hasn’t been fully healthy for an extended stretch of time since 2022 and it seems he can’t fully shake the shoulder problems.
More to come.
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Red Sox Recall Jake Bennett For MLB Debut
For the past several days, it’s looked likely that Red Sox lefty Jake Bennett would be called up for his major league debut at some point this weekend. Boston made it official Friday, formally recalling Bennett from Triple-A Worcester to fill the roster spot created when utilityman Nate Eaton was optioned following yesterday’s game. Bennett will start tonight against the visiting Astros.
Acquired from the Nationals in an offseason trade sending righty Luis Perales back the other way, Bennett is a 6’6″, 234-pound lefty who entered the season ranked by Baseball America and MLB.com as the Red Sox’ No. 6 prospect. He’s turned in a sparkling 0.86 ERA across 21 innings (five starts) in Worcester to begin his tenure in the organization. The left-hander has fanned a below-average 20.3% of his opponents but also owns a brilliant 3.8% walk rate and a mammoth 58.9% ground-ball rate so far in 2026.
Bennett sits 93 mph with his heater and doesn’t miss all that many bats, but he has six pitches at his disposal and is credited with plus (60-grade) command on the 20-80 scale. His feel for location and that deep array of pitches helps him keep hitters off balance. His changeup draws the strongest grades from scouting reports at BA, MLB.com and FanGraphs. In addition to his four-seamer and changeup, Bennett utilizes a cutter, sinker, curveball and slider — though he’s barely used the slider to this point with the Red Sox organization.
Entering the season, Bennett was 10th or 11th on the Red Sox’ rotation depth chart, but Boston has been hit with a huge number of injuries. Ace Garrett Crochet just landed on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation, though both he and the team have expressed optimism that he’ll be able to return after a minimal stint. The Sox have also lost Sonny Gray (hamstring strain) and Johan Oviedo (flexor strain) to new injuries this season, while Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck are all still mending from injuries that predate the 2026 campaign. Sandoval had Tommy John surgery in 2024 and has to return. Houck had Tommy John surgery last August. Crawford is recovering from wrist surgery. Triple-A righty Tyler Uberstine, who made his MLB debut earlier this season, is on the minor league injured list due to shoulder discomfort.
With so many pitchers banged up, the Red Sox will plug Bennett into a rotation that currently includes Ranger Suarez, Brayan Bello, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle. Suarez, Early and Tolle have all enjoyed productive starts to their 2026 seasons. Bello has been one of the game’s least-effective starters, serving up 26 runs in 25 2/3 innings (six starts), but the Red Sox don’t have the luxury of removing him from the rotation right now due to that wide swath of injuries.
Bennett was added to a 40-man roster for the first time this past November, so he’s in the first of three minor league option years. He can’t reach a full year of big league service at this point, so the Sox will control him for at least six more full seasons following the 2026 campaign.
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Stearns: No Plans To Make Managerial Change
The Mets are out to an awful start, which is a situation that often puts a manager in the hot seat. However, president of baseball operations David Stearns downplayed the likelihood of manager Carlos Mendoza getting the sack. “We know our record is not what we want, and we know we are capable of more,” Stearns told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “We don’t view this as a manager problem, and we don’t intend to make a change.”
The spotlight seemed to pivot to Mendoza in the past week when manager firing season began. The Red Sox got things started by canning Alex Cora last weekend, giving the interim job to Chad Tracy. The Phillies followed suit by letting Rob Thomson go. That job was offered to Cora but he declined, so Don Mattingly has taken over on an interim basis.
Like the Red Sox and Phillies, the Mets came into the 2026 season with every intention of contending but have fallen flat in the early going. Despite having the second-highest payroll in baseball, behind the Dodgers, the Mets have the worst record in baseball at 10-21.
How much blame lies at the feet of the manager in such situations is something that has been debated throughout baseball history and that will surely continue to be the case. A skipper certainly does make some decisions that impact results, such as setting the lineup and making pitching changes, but how much those things can actually impact the win-loss is debatable. Some feel a manager’s job as a strategist is essential while others feel that role is overblown and a skipper is more about being a motivational clubhouse leader.
In the case of the Mets, one could take either side of the debate. As a team, the Mets are hitting .227/.289/.342 this year. That results in a wRC+ of 80, indicating the entire team is 20% below league average. They’re the worst team in the majors in that category. Eight guys on the team have taken at least 70 plate appearances, a group that doesn’t include Juan Soto since he spent time on the IL. Of those eight, Francisco Alvarez is the team leader with a 104 wRC+. Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Brett Baty and Carson Benge are all below 70.
The pitching is a bit better but still not great. Their 4.17 earned run average is very middle of the pack, putting them 15th out of the 30 teams in the majors. David Peterson, Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga have each posted ERAs north of 6.00 in samples of 20 innings or more. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver were supposed to be the lockdown bullpen arms but Williams has an ERA of 8.00 and Weaver is at 6.00.
An endless debate could be had about what role Mendoza plays in those numbers. One side could argue a manager should find ways to wring better results from his players. The other camp could say the manager can only do so much if the players aren’t performing. Stearns has been consistent in his viewpoint. “I think Mendy’s doing a very good job,” Stearns said two weeks ago, per SNY Mets. “I think Mendy is putting players in position to succeed and we need to go out and play better.” Today’s comments echo those.
It will be unwelcome news for those who want heads to roll but it seems the Mets don’t view the manager as the key issue, at least for now. If the struggles continue, it’s possible the club’s desire to make a change will grow.
Mendoza is in the final guaranteed year of his three-year contract. They won 89 games in 2024 and went to the NLCS. Last year, they were on an even better pace for most of the year. They were 62-47 through July but had an awful August and September, going 21-32. That put them at 83-79 and just outside the playoff picture. Mendoza’s deal has a club option for 2027. The events of the coming months will determine if that seems likely to be picked up.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Paul DeJong Opts Out Of Yankees Deal
Veteran infielder Paul DeJong has opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees and is now a free agent, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
DeJong is only hitting .203 in Triple-A, but he’s clobbered six homers and walked at a 19% clip in 83 plate appearances, leaving him with an overall .203/.361/.516 batting line (127 wRC+). New York brought him in as a depth option in the offseason, knowing Anthony Volpe would miss the beginning of the year recovering from shoulder surgery. However, the Yanks also have Jose Caballero and Oswaldo Cabrera as infield options, and after signing DeJong they also acquired infielder Max Schuemann from the A’s. Volpe is set to return in the near future, and all of Caballero, Schuemann and Cabrera are still on the 40-man roster, leaving DeJong little path to a big league promotion.
A veteran of nine big league seasons, DeJong is a slick fielding, right-handed hitting shortstop who’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield. He strikes out too often (career 27.9%) and doesn’t walk enough to completely offset that (7.1%). DeJong has plenty of power though, evidenced by 146 round-trippers and a .187 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) in the majors. He’s a career .229/.294/.416 hitter in exactly 3500 big league plate appearances.
DeJong has played in each of the past nine major league seasons and logged at least 208 plate appearances in every 162-game season in that time (plus 174 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 campaign). He spent the 2025 season with the Nats and hit .228/.269/.373 in 208 trips to the plate. He’d have logged more playing time were it not for a fractured nose — suffered when an errant fastball hit him in the face — that sidelined him for two months.
There are plenty of teams with starting infielders on the shelf at the moment, which could lead to a new opportunity for DeJong. The Astros (Jeremy Peña), Athletics (Max Muncy), Orioles (Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday) and Mets (Francisco Lindor) are among the clubs dealing with prominent infield injuries. There are surely several other teams that might have interest in adding a quality defender with some pop to help out the big league bench or to stash in the upper minors (with a clearer path to the majors for DeJong).
Cardinals Designate Luis Peralta For Assignment
The Cardinals designated lefty Luis Peralta for assignment Friday, the team announced. His 40-man roster spot goes to fellow southpaw Jared Shuster, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Memphis. The Cards opened an active roster spot by optioning righty Hunter Dobbins to Triple-A following yesterday’s season debut.
St. Louis only claimed Peralta off waivers out of the Rockies organization three days ago. He’s yet to even pitch in a game in their system and will now be in limbo for up to a week as he awaits the outcome of this morning’s DFA. The Cardinals will have five days to either trade Peralta or place him back on outright waivers. Since outright waivers are a 48-hour process, it could take up to seven days for a resolution.
The 25-year-old Peralta has pitched in parts of two big league seasons, both with the Rockies. He’s logged 31 1/3 MLB frames and been charged with 21 earned runs (6.03 ERA) on 33 hits, 23 walks and four hit batters. He’s fanned 30 of his 150 opponents. Peralta is effectively a two-pitch reliever, working off a four-seamer that averages 94.7 mph and a curveball that sits 81.7 mph. He mixes in an extremely occasional mid-80s changeup; only two percent of his MLB pitches have been changeups.
Peralta had a huge 2024 season in the minors, logging a pristine 0.94 ERA with a 40.1% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate in 47 2/3 innings across three minor league levels. He’s been hit hard and missed time with a hip injury over the two subsequent seasons. If the Cardinals can succeed in passing him through waivers, he’ll have to head back to Triple-A Memphis, as he lacks the prior outright or three years of MLB service time needed to reject an outright assignment to the minors. He’s already been claimed once and has a pair of minor league options remaining, however, so it’s possible another club will scoop him up.
Shuster has already had one stint with the Cards this season. The 27-year-old pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed two runs before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment to Memphis.
A former first-round pick by the Braves, Shuster has pitched in parts of four major league seasons without much success. He owns a lifetime 5.26 ERA in 145 1/3 innings and has posted strikeout and walk rates that are both worse than league average. He’s been tagged for nine earned runs in 9 2/3 Triple-A frames this season.
It could very well be another short stay on the roster for Shuster. The Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the bullpen after Dobbins was chased in the fifth inning yesterday. They needed five relievers to get through the rest of the game. All five threw at least 15 pitches. Ryne Stanek and JoJo Romero have both pitched on consecutive days and combined for 37 and 38 pitches, respectively. The Cards would probably prefer to stay away from either, if possible.
D-backs Designate Aramis Garcia For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced this morning that they’ve designated catcher Aramis Garcia for assignment and reinstated fellow backstop Gabriel Moreno from the 10-day injured list. Additionally, the Snakes recalled lefty Brandyn Garcia from Triple-A Reno and optioned lefty Philip Abner in his place.
Aramis Garcia, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Snakes in the offseason. He started the year as Triple-A depth, as Arizona deployed a catching tandem of Moreno and James McCann. The season began with Adrian Del Castillo on the injured list with a calf strain but he was activated after a minimal stint. Injuries to Pavin Smith and Carlos Santana opened up the designated hitter spot and allowed the Diamondbacks to roll with three catchers, with Del Castillo getting a decent amount of DH time.
Moreno suffered an oblique strain in mid-April. Arizona could have continued with McCann and Del Castillo as the catching duo but they decided to add Garcia, keeping them at three backstops and giving them more freedom to keep Del Castillo in the DH mix. That didn’t leave a lot of playing time available for Garcia. He’s been on the roster for over two weeks and only appeared in three games, making three plate appearances. He went one for three with a single and a strikeout.
Del Castillo has options and could have been sent down today, especially since he’s hitting .207/.246/.362 so far this year, but the Diamondbacks have decided to keep him in the mix. He is much better against righties, so perhaps Moreno’s return will allow him to be deployed situationally instead of behind the plate.
Garcia is out of options, so he had to be bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Diamondbacks could take five days to field trade interest, though they could also put him on waivers at any time before that. Garcia is probably not likely to garner too much interest. Given his out-of-options status, another club would have to be willing to plug him directly onto the big league roster.
He’s never been much more than a part-time catcher, as his career high for games in a season is 47. Over multiple seasons, he has appeared in 124 contests with a .210/.245/.321 line in 334 plate appearances. He’s a solid defender and framer but the bat is light and the lack of roster flexibility hurts him.
He has previously been outrighted in his career, which means he would have the right to elect free agency if he is passed through outright waivers again. Twice last year, he briefly joined the Arizona roster and then got bumped off, eventually ending up back in Reno. It seems the most likely scenario is that he clears waivers and then either accepts an assignment with the Aces or elects free agency and then re-signs on a new minor league deal.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Tigers Acquire Zack Short
The Tigers have acquired infielder Zack Short from the Nationals. The Nats get cash considerations or a player to be named later. Short was not on Washington’s 40-man roster and doesn’t need to be immediately added to Detroit’s. He has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo. Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group first reported that the Tigers were getting Short for cash. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic mentioned the PTBNL.
Short, 31 this month, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the offseason. It’s not especially common for players on minor league deals to get traded but it has happened to Short twice this year. He was flipped to the Nationals for cash in March and has now been traded again.
For the Nats, Short provided some non-roster depth at shortstop. They have CJ Abrams there but don’t have an amazing fallback plan, which is presumably why they added Short. Since then, they’ve been getting some decent results from Jorbit Vivas. He doesn’t have a ton of shortstop experience but is perhaps at least an emergency option there. Nasim Nuñez doesn’t hit much but is a strong defensive backup. Prospect Seaver King is crushing Double-A pitching at the moment and could be up in Triple-A soon. The odds of Short getting a call-up were perhaps not high.
But Detroit just lost Javier Báez to the injured list with a right ankle sprain. He and Kevin McGonigle had been sharing the shortstop position, with McGonigle also playing third base and Báez also spending some time in the outfield. The Báez injury leaves McGonigle all alone at short, since other shortstop options like Trey Sweeney and Zach McKinstry are also on the IL. This week, manager A.J. Hinch told Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press that the backup shortstop is Hao-Yu Lee, who hasn’t played the position since 2023.
Báez, Sweeney and McKinstry will eventually get healthy again but it’s an imperfect situation for the short term. Adding Short gives them a glove-first non-roster depth option to fall back on. In 594 big league plate appearances, Short has a meager .172/.271/.296 line but he has almost 800 innings of shortstop experience. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average view him as a subpar shortstop for his career, but mostly due to struggles in his 2021 debut. Since then, he’s been roughly par. He also has experience at second base, third base and in the outfield.
Perhaps the Tigers will add Short and option Lee, which would improve their shortstop depth but would be a downgrade offensively. They could also just keep Short in Triple-A in case another injury pops up. If he’s added to the 40-man at any point, Short is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Nationals To Sign Max Kranick
The Nationals and right-hander Max Kranick have agreed to terms on a deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The former Pirates and Mets righty underwent flexor tendon surgery last July and was non-tendered by the Mets in November. The Covenant Sports Group client’s contract is still pending a physical.
Kranick, 28, has pitched in parts of three seasons but never been able to carve out any staying power, thanks largely to injuries. He underwent Tommy John surgery in June of 2022 and missed the vast majority of the 2023 season as a result. The Mets claimed him off waivers in the 2023-24 offseason but didn’t call him to the majors in ’24 — despite solid results in the minors.
In 2025, the Mets gave Kranick a real look. He got out to a nice start and was sitting on a 3.65 ERA through 37 frames at the time of his flexor injury. Kranick’s 16.9% strikeout rate was well south of the 22.3% league average, but his 3.4% walk rate was outstanding. Those trends have been fairly typical for Kranick. He’s never missed many bats but has generally run a better-than-average walk rate (granted, not quite to his 2025 extent) when healthy.
Washington’s pitching staff has been one of the worst in the game this year. The Nats’ 5.11 team earned run average sits 29th in the majors. That’s due largely to struggles in the rotation (Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell, in particular), but Washington’s collective 4.90 ERA from the bullpen ranks 23rd in the game as well.
Given those poor results, it’s hardly a surprise to see the Nats bring in some outside arms. Kranick isn’t going to be ready to jump right into the mix, however. He threw for teams back in January and was said at the time to be targeting a second-half return from the injured list. Once the deal is finalized, he’ll presumably need to work through a throwing progression and then go through a lengthy minor league rehab stint.
Kranick has 3.011 years of big league service time, so if he makes it back to the majors with the Nats and pitches well, he can be controlled for another three seasons beyond the current campaign. He’s out of minor league options, so once he’s added to the active big league roster, Washington won’t be able to send him to the minors unless he clears outright waivers.