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Yankees Notes: LeMahieu, Infield, Gil

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The Yankees plan to activate DJ LeMahieu from the injured list before tomorrow’s game against the Mariners, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). LeMahieu is already en route to Seattle but will not be active for tonight’s series opener. They’ll ease him back in, as he’ll be off the bench on Tuesday and draw into the starting lineup on Wednesday.

LeMahieu will make his season debut after a six-week IL stay. The veteran infielder strained his left calf fairly early in Spring Training. The Yankees announced it as of borderline Grade 1 or 2 severity. It ended his camp after one game and two at-bats. The Yanks sent him out on a minor league rehab assignment on April 22. Position players can spend up to 20 days on a rehab stint before the team either needs to activate them or pull them off the stint for at least another five days. The rehab window closed today.

While there’s not much to be gleaned from a player’s stats during a rehab stint, the Yankees are presumably encouraged by LeMahieu’s form. He batted .444 with a home run and nearly as many walks (three) as strikeouts (four) over nine games. He divided that time between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

LeMahieu projected as the Yankees starting third baseman entering camp. New York seemingly made little effort to upgrade at the hot corner even though he’s coming off a .204/.269/.259 showing in his age-35 season. He also missed time with foot and hip injuries. Boone suggested last week that LeMahieu could see more time at second base while Jazz Chisholm Jr. is on the shelf (relayed by Chris Kirschner of The Athletic).

The Yanks have been relying upon Oswaldo Cabrera and Jorbit Vivas at third and second, respectively. The switch-hitting Cabrera owns a .243/.319/.311 slash through 117 plate appearances. Vivas is hitting .158 through his first nine MLB games. Their other second/third base candidates are out-of-options bench players Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes. LeMahieu will play regularly.

Boone also provided an update on Luis Gil (via Greg Joyce of The New York Post). Last year’s AL Rookie of the Year remains two to three weeks away from working off a mound. Gil began a throwing program at the end of April but has worked solely on flat ground. Gil sustained a high-grade lat strain a couple weeks into Spring Training. He wasn’t able to pitch in an exhibition game. He’s going to need multiple bullpen sessions and an extended rehab assignment. It seems Gil might not get onto a mound until the end of May, making it tough to envision a return to Yankee Stadium before the calendar flips to July.

White Sox Outright Nick Maton

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May 12: Maton cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Charlotte, relays James Fegan of Sox Machine. He’ll again have the right to test free agency but seems likelier to accept another outright and remain in the organization.

May 10: The White Sox announced that infielder Nick Maton has been designated for assignment.  First base prospect Tim Elko’s contract was selected in the corresponding move, as was reported yesterday.

This is the second time in two weeks that the Sox have designated Maton, and his first trip through DFA limbo saw him clear waivers and then accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte.  Maton had the option of becoming a free agent because he has been outrighted in the past, but chose to remain in the organization and wait for another crack at a spot on Chicago’s big league roster.  That chance came when Maton’s contract was selected again as a corresponding move to Andrew Benintendi’s placement on the injured list, though Maton’s latest stint with the White Sox lasted just a couple of days.

Maton has hit .167/.286/.315 over 63 plate appearances, and he has played in 25 of Chicago’s 39 games this season primarily as a first baseman and designated hitter.  Since Maton is out of minor league options, the White Sox have to designate him and expose him to the waiver wire whenever they wish to send him to Triple-A, thus giving Maton repeated chances to elect free agency.

As a veteran utilityman on a rebuilding team, Maton isn’t likely to receive the benefit of the doubt when it comes to playing time, as the White Sox are obviously prioritizing young talent.  That said, catching on with another team that has more established players also might not give Maton much time on the diamond.  Maton’s lack of minor league options leaves him with little flexibility, so if he isn’t claimed on waivers this time around, he’ll face another decision about whether or not to stick with the White Sox or test the open market.

Brandon Bielak Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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Right-hander Brandon Bielak recently underwent season-ending surgery, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. He’s expected to be ready for 2026 Spring Training. Bielak was released from a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks on Saturday after going on the full-season injured list last month.

The injury essentially ended Bielak’s stint with Arizona before it got off the ground. The 29-year-old signed a minor league contract with the Snakes in February. He worked 5 2/3 frames of two-run ball during Spring Training before being reassigned to the minors. Bielak started twice for Triple-A Reno. He allowed three runs across 9 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and walks apiece. Both appearances came within the first week of April. Bielak landed on the injured list on April 9 and was ruled out for the season within three days.

There’s a decent chance Bielak will spend the rest of the year as a free agent. He’ll be limited to minor league offers next winter but would again project as rotation or long relief depth if his recovery goes as expected. A former 11th-round draftee by the Astros, Bielak has spent most of his minor league career as a starting pitcher. He made 13 big league starts with Houston a couple seasons ago, though his 16 MLB appearances last year all came in relief.

Bielak divided last season between Houston and the A’s. He turned in a 5.16 ERA over 29 2/3 big league frames and a 6.08 mark across 16 Triple-A appearances. He now owns a 4.63 ERA over 204 major league innings. Bielak has a 4.37 mark over six career Triple-A seasons — a decent number for a depth starter who has spent all that time in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Brandon Woodruff Pulled Off Rehab Assignment Due To Ankle Injury

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Right-hander Brandon Woodruff seemed on the cusp of returning to the Brewers but that will have to wait a bit longer. He has some right ankle tendinitis and has been returned from his rehab assignment, per Andrew Wagner of Freeman Sports and 105.7 The Fan.

Woodruff, 32, is trying to work his way back from shoulder surgery. His 2023 was cut short due to an injury to his throwing shoulder and the subsequent operation prevented him from pitching in 2024. He was still working on getting healthy as the 2025 campaign began, which landed him on the 15-day injured list.

He didn’t seem to be too far off, as he started a rehab assignment pretty early, making a minor league appearance on April 12. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last as long as 30 days, so he was coming to the end of that window, making his sixth rehab start yesterday.

However, this new injury will prevent that from happening. It’s unclear how long the Brewers expect him to rest his ankle but, per MLB rules, he has to wait at least seven days before starting a new rehab assignment.

That will delay the return of a pitcher who was once a huge part of the club’s success. From 2019 to 2022, he posted a 3.02 earned run average over 528 innings for the Brewers. He struck out 30% of batters faced, only gave out walks at a 6.3% clip and got grounders on 42.2% of balls in play.

The Brewers non-tendered him ahead of the 2024 season but re-signed him to a back-loaded deal, accounting for his expected injury absence. He made $2.5MM last year and is making $5MM this year, followed by a $10MM buyout on a $20MM mutual option for 2026. Mutual options are almost never picked up by both sides, so that was just an accounting measure to kick some of the money into the future.

For now, the Brewers will have a few other rotation issues to deal with. The club optioned right-hander Tobias Myers yesterday morning, perhaps hoping that Woodruff would take his rotation spot, though that won’t be happening now. Pitchers optioned to the minors have to stay down for a minimum of 15 days unless they are being recalled to replace someone going on the injured list. That means Myers can’t be called back unless someone else gets hurt.

Also, left-hander Jose Quintana has a minor issue of note. The lefty was scheduled to start Wednesday’s game but has a “cranky arm,” per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The club plans to push him to Friday but that may depend on how he responds between now and then. Whatever issue he’s dealing with wasn’t apparent in the data of his most recent start, as his velocity on all his pitches was actually up relative to his previous outing.

With Myers optioned and Quintana out of action for a few days, the club is down to Freddy Peralta, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick as healthy rotation options. Peralta and Priester are scheduled for today and tomorrow but the club will need a solution for Wednesday, and maybe another solution after that if Quintana needs to miss some time.

Patrick just started yesterday and won’t be available by Wednesday. Tyler Alexander has starting experience but pitched in relief for the Brewers in each of the past two days. Perhaps they could lean on him for multiple innings on Wednesday if they can stay away from him between now and then. Aaron Civale, on the IL due to a hamstring strain, threw four innings in a rehab outing on Thursday. That was his first rehab outing but he got his pitch count up to 50. Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are also on rehab assignment but Ashby’s most recent outing was just two innings while Hall’s was just three.

Elvin Rodríguez is on the 40-man but was optioned in recent days and is therefore in the same boat as Myers. Carlos Rodríguez just pitched on Saturday and wouldn’t be rested by Wednesday. Logan Henderson is on the 40-man and could be an option. Prospect Jacob Misiorowski could also be available, though he’s not yet on the 40-man roster.

All of these various injuries and others have left the Milwaukee rotation in a state of flux all year. That’s what prompted the late signing of Quintana and the early-season trade for Priester. With so many guys nearing a return from the injured list, some stabilization could be just over the horizon, but that won’t involve Woodruff for now.

Photo courtesy of William Glasheen, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Outright Dillon Tate

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The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that reliever Dillon Tate accepted an outright to Triple-A Buffalo. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Friday.

Tate, 31, first landed in Toronto last September. The Jays claimed him off waivers from the division-rival Orioles, with whom the former fourth overall pick had pitched parts of five MLB campaigns. Toronto dropped him over the offseason in lieu of a projected $1.9MM arbitration salary. They re-signed him midway through Spring Training on a split deal that pays at a $1.4MM rate in the big leagues and $500K for whatever time he spends in the minors.

The Jays have mostly kept him in Triple-A early this year. He opened the season on optional assignment to Buffalo. The Jays recalled him in mid-April and kept him on the active roster for around two and a half weeks. He made five appearances, allowing three runs on seven hits and six walks over 5 1/3 frames. He fanned seven hitters but got whiffs on only 6.8% of his total pitches. The results have been much better over his six innings with the Bisons: one run on six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts and a huge 18.2% swinging strike rate.

Tate has spent most of his career working in middle relief. His best season came in 2022, when he provided the O’s with 73 2/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball behind a 57.4% ground-ball percentage. A flexor strain wound up costing him the entire following year. Tate avoided surgery but was unable to progress through multiple attempts at a rehab assignment.

He wasn’t as effective when he returned last season, allowing 4.66 earned runs per nine across 36 2/3 frames. His stuff hasn’t been as sharp since the injury. Tate’s sinker averaged 94 MPH during the ’22 season. It was down to 92.6 last year and is checking in below 92 MPH on average through this season’s first six weeks.

Tate entered this season with four years and 144 days of major league service. He has collected another 17 days on Toronto’s roster this season. Players reach a full service year at 172 days, meaning Tate will tip beyond the five-year threshold with 11 more days in the big leagues. At that point, he’d be able to refuse any optional assignments and retain his salary if he declines an outright and elects free agency after clearing waivers. Until then, he’d need to forfeit his salary to test free agency, so it’s no surprise that he decided to accept the assignment back to Buffalo.

Ronald Acuña Jr. To Begin Rehab Assignment

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The Braves announced to reporters, including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. will start a rehab assignment in the Complex League tomorrow. He will be playing the outfield and will be monitored for a potential transfer to Triple-A Gwinnett at some point. The club also announced that right-hander Spencer Strider will throw a simulated game on Wednesday, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The plan is for Strider to throw 70 to 75 pitches before a decision is made about whether to send him on a rehab assignment or simply reinstate him from the injured list.

The news is obviously quite welcome for Atlanta fans. The injuries to the two players have been hampering the club for almost all of the past year-plus. Strider required UCL surgery in the middle of April last year. Just over a month later, Acuña suffered a torn left ACL. The club limped through the rest of the season without those two, qualifying for a Wild Card spot in the final game of the season. They were quickly swept by the Padres in the Wild Card round.

Here in 2025, things have gotten out to a rough start. Strider was reinstated from the IL last month but made just one start before a hamstring strain put him back on the shelf. Jurickson Profar, signed in the offseason to bolster the outfield in Acuña’s absence, played just four games before receiving an 80-game PED suspension. Reynaldo López made just one start before requiring arthroscopic shoulder surgery and is going to be out for several months.

Around all of those speedbumps, Atlanta has managed to somewhat tread water, currently sporting a 19-21 record. The upcoming returns of both Acuña and Strider should improve their chances of climbing in the standings going forward.

When last healthy, Acuña was on top of the world. He was the Most Valuable Player in the National League in 2023. He hit 41 home runs and stole 73 bases that season, producing a .337/.416/.596 batting line and 171 wRC+. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 9.1 wins above replacement while Baseball Reference had him at 8.4. That was all the more impressive because he had recovered from a previous ACL tear in his right knee.

His initial return from that injury, suffered in June of 2021, was more good than great. He was reinstated from the IL in April of 2022 and then hit .266/.351/.413 for a 115 wRC+ that year. But in 2023, he was firing on all cylinders and was one of the best players in the world.

It’s anyone’s guess which version of Acuña will show up this year. With his previous ACL tear, he was eventually able to get back to MVP-level performance, but with a half-decent season in between. Now that he has suffered tears in both ACLs, it’s hard to say what’s ahead, but it shouldn’t take too much longer to find out. Rehab assignments for position players can last as long as 20 days. Even if Acuña uses that entire timeline, he’ll be back by early June, unless he suffers a setback of some kind.

When he does return, the club will have to decide which player loses playing time. Eli White is currently holding down Acuña’s right field spot. He has a .284/.333/.506 line and 127 wRC+, but is getting some help from a .350 batting average on balls in play. He could drop into a fourth outfielder role but left fielder Alex Verdugo has a .241/.300/.325 line and 76 wRC+ on the year, comparable to his poor season with the Yankees in 2024, so perhaps White could slide over to left and take some time there.

As for Strider, it seems there’s a chance he could be back as soon as a week from now, if the sim game goes well. Even if he does go on a rehab assignment, it might be a brief one. Whenever he’s healthy, he should slot next to Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and AJ Smith-Shawver in the rotation. Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes are currently in the mix but both have ERAs close to 5.00. Elder has a tepid strikeout rate but a good walk rate while Holmes has been getting more punchouts but also giving out more free passes.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Dodgers Acquire Steward Berroa

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The Dodgers have acquired outfielder Steward Berroa from the Blue Jays, according to announcements from both clubs. The Jays, who designated Berroa for assignment last week, receive cash considerations in return. The Dodgers have had an open 40-man since designating Yoendrys Gómez for assignment a week ago.

Berroa, 26 next month, got a small amount of major league experience last year. He got into 28 games for the Jays and stepped to the plate 45 times, putting up a .189/.333/.216 line in that time. He also stole six bases in eight tries and got some good reviews for his defense in that small sample, with Statcast placing his sprint speed in the 89th percentile of qualified big leaguers.

His minor league offense has often been better than that major league showing, though he was out to a slow start this year. He was optioned to Triple-A to start 2025 but hit .195/.267/.234 in 24 games before the Jays designated him for assignment.

Last year, he stepped to the plate 300 times at the Triple-A level. He hit ten home runs, drew a walk in 11.7% of those trips to the plate and struck out at a 23.7% clip, all that leading to a 120 wRC+. He also swiped 34 bags.

He also had a good year at the plate in 2023 but was subpar in 2022. As mentioned, he has started this year on a down note. His future offense may be a question, but as the old saying goes, speed doesn’t slump. Berroa had 58 steals on the farm in 2021 and then 47 in each of the two following years.

Berroa still has options and could be sent to the minors, or the Dodgers could bring him directly to the big league club. They currently have both Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández on the injured list, subtracting two outfielders from their active roster. That’s led to guys like Hyeseong Kim and James Outman getting playing time lately. Kim has a flat line of .318/.318/.318 thanks to no walks or extra-base hits, while Outman has a dismal .067/.176/.267 slash.

Whether it’s in the minors as depth or in the majors, Berroa seems at least capable of serving as a fourth outfielder. Even if the bat doesn’t come around, he could do some pinch running and defensive replacement work, while any developments at the plate would be a bonus.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Designate Garrett Hampson, José Castillo For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have recalled infielder Jordan Lawlar, a move that was previously reported. They also reinstated right-hander Kendall Graveman from the injured list. To open roster spots for those two, lefty José Castillo and infielder Garrett Hampson were both designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.

Hampson, 30, inked a minor league deal in free agency and broke camp with the D-backs after hitting .283/.393/.348 in 56 trips to the plate this spring. He hasn’t been able to carry that production over to the regular season. He’s appeared in only 18 games and taken just 41 turns at the plate, batting .167/.359/.167 in that span. He’s been a pest for opposing pitchers in the sense that he’s taken 10 walks, but Hampson is also 5-for-30 (all singles) and has bottom-of-the-scale contact metrics when he’s put the ball in play.

Arizona is Hampson’s fourth team in four seasons. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Rockies but since his final season there has had one-year stints with the Marlins, Royals and now D-backs. He hasn’t hit much in any of those spots, combining for a .237/.308/.323 slash in 750 plate appearances dating back to 2022. However, Hamspon is a plus runner (84th percentile sprint speed, per Statcast) who can be deployed virtually anywhere on the diamond. Even though he’s been seldom used with the D-backs, he’s still seen time at five positions: second base, shortstop, third base, left field and center field.

Castillo, 29, has spent the better part of the past half decade in injury rehab. Since a strong MLB debut with the 2018 Padres, the southpaw has been on the injured list due to a torn ligament in his pitching hand, a torn lat and Tommy John surgery. Just making it back to the majors in the wake of so many rapid-fire injuries is a feat, but Castillo’s brief time with the Snakes didn’t go well. He pitched 6 1/3 innings out of Torey Lovullo’s bullpen — already his most in a big league season since ’18 — and was pounded for eight runs on 10 hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

As a rookie, Castillo fired 38 1/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball for the Friars, fanning a gaudy 34.7% of his opponents against an 8.1% walk rate. He was terrific in a small 5 1/3-inning sample in Triple-A Reno this year, allowing only a run on four hits and no walks with seven strikeouts and a 58% grounder rate. That performance could lead to some interest from other teams, although Castillo’s once-95-mph heater has understandably dipped to an average of 93.3 mph in the wake of all those injuries.

Both Castillo and Hampson can spend a maximum of one week in DFA limbo. The D-backs can look to trade them during that time or simply place them on outright waivers. Since waivers take 48 hours to process, the team has up to five days to orchestrate trades of either player, should there be a market. In the event that they’re placed on waivers and go unclaimed, both players have enough major league service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Guardians Option Brayan Rocchio

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The Guardians announced that outfielder Will Brennan has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus. Infielder Brayan Rocchio has been sent the other way, optioned to Columbus as the corresponding move.

Rocchio, 24, heads to the minors for the first time since the 2023 season. He spent the entire 2024 campaign in the big leagues as Cleveland’s primary shortstop. He appeared in 143 games and stepped to the plate 442 times. His offense wasn’t great, as he hit just .206/.298/.316 for a 79 wRC+, indicating he was 21% below league average on the whole. He did steal 10 bases, but was also caught six times. His glovework was well regarded, as he racked up 11 Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average.

Put all together, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 1.1 wins above replacement on the season, with Baseball Reference a bit more generous at 1.9. That’s obviously not outstanding production but fine value for a guy making modest pay since he’s in his pre-arbitration years.

It was enough for him to open the 2025 season back in that role, but his performance has tanked and he has gradually ceded playing time to others. Through 102 plate appearances this year, Rocchio is hitting .165/.235/.198. His .208 batting average on balls in play is quite low but he’s also not hitting the ball with much authority. His average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate are no higher than the 11th percentile of qualified hitters, per Statcast. His 4.9% walk rate is less than half of last year’s 10% clip. The defensive metrics have also soured on him, with OAA having him at league par and DRS at -3.

In recent days and weeks, Gabriel Arias has been taking more of the shortstop time. He has a .264/.319/.416 line and 110 wRC+ on the year, with solid defense to boot. Presumably, he will take over as the regular shortstop now that Rocchio has been optioned. Arias and Daniel Schneemann had previously been sharing second base, so perhaps Schneeman will get more playing time at the keystone as he’s hitting .273/.356/.532 for a 154 wRC+ this year. Ángel Martínez and Will Wilson are on hand to step in to the middle infield, if needed, though Martínez is currently the club’s regular center fielder.

For Rocchio, instead of sitting on the big league bench, he can get some regular playing time with Columbus as he tries to get out of his recent funk. Getting his offense back to a more acceptable level could put him in position to return to the majors when an opportunity arises. He is still young and it’s certainly possible that there are better days ahead for him.

How long he spends on this optional assignment could impact his financial position in the future. He came into 2025 with one year and 37 days of service time. That put him on track to qualify for arbitration after 2026 and free agency after 2029, though those timelines will no longer be possible if he ends up spending several months down on the farm. He also has just one option season left, so he’ll be out of options next year if he spends at least 20 days in the minors this season.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

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