Astros Option J.P. France, Recall Jayden Murray
The Astros have made a pair of minor pitching moves after Tatsuya Imai exited his start with right arm fatigue. According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, the team has optioned right-hander J.P. France to Triple-A and recalled Jayden Murray to take his spot on the roster.
France’s contract was selected from Triple-A two days ago as Roddery Muñoz was designated for assignment. His selection was mostly to give the Astros a fresh bullpen arm, and he was ultimately used for 2 2/3 long relief innings in the team’s 9-6 loss to the Mariners yesterday. Although he did not earn the loss, France walked four batters and allowed four earned runs, including the game’s deciding runs. With France having thrown 59 pitches and likely being unavailable for a few days, the team opted to cycle in Murray as another fresh arm.
That the club is keeping France on the 40-man roster means is a good sign for him. He was designated for assignment back in January, but it appears he’ll get more big league opportunities this time around. That may be partly due to Cristian Javier‘s uncertain status after he incurred a shoulder injury on Wednesday. It is also due to the fact that France is now healthy after missing significant time in 2024-25. In 24 innings at Triple-A last year, the righty posted a 6.59 ERA while striking out 21.9% of opponents and walking 17.2%. While his ERA and walk rate were eyesores, some rust was expected after a long layoff, and the club was probably happy just to have him pitching in games again. For his part, France has a more manageable 4.49 ERA and 8.9% walk rate in 168 1/3 big-league innings.
In the meantime, the 29-year-old Murray joins the active roster as the last man in the bullpen. Since joining the Astros organization in a trade with the Rays in 2022, Murray has mostly pitched at the Triple-A level. He threw 64 innings in 50 relief appearances there in 2025, posting a 4.64 ERA along with a 10.6% walk rate. He made his major league debut last year with a small sample of 11 2/3 innings, although his peripherals were less impressive than his 1.54 ERA. Given his age, minimal track record, and three remaining option years, he’s probably due to cycle on and off the roster when the club needs a fresh reliever.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Wyatt Langford Leaves Game Due To Quad Tightness, Will Undergo MRI
5:11 pm: Langford has a “small strain” in his right quad, according to McFarland. He expects to be out for 2-3 days and possibly pinch hit tomorrow. He will avoid the injured list.
8:16 am: Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford left Friday’s 8-7 loss to the Dodgers due to tightness in his right quad. Langford told reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) that he felt the injury was “pretty minor,” but he’ll undergo an MRI today to explore the quad issue.
Somewhat unusually, the injury occurred when Langford hit a home run in the top of the fifth inning. Langford said he “reached down” to make contact with Tyler Glasnow‘s pitch, and in the process created some discomfort in his quad that began to surface as he rounded the bases. Langford remained in left field for the bottom of the fifth, but was replaced by Ezequiel Duran in the bottom of the sixth. Duran, Sam Haggerty, and Andrew McCutchen could all end up seeing time in left field if Langford ends up on the injured list.
Getting hurt on a homer adds to the snake-bitten nature of Langford’s start to the 2026 season. Langford’s first home run was just his ninth hit in 53 plate appearances, as the outfielder is batting .170/.185/.340. His exit velocity and hard-contact numbers are all at least at league average, so a .205 BABIP may be somewhat to blame for Langford’s struggles, though he has also recorded only one walk against 13 strikeouts.
After hitting .247/.335/.423 with 38 homers over his first 1130 PA in the majors, Langford was viewed as a candidate for a true breakout in his third Major League season. Obviously there’s still plenty of time for Langford to heat up at the plate, though if Friday’s quad tightness lands Langford on the IL, it will mark the fifth IL stint of his young career. As McFarland notes, the previous four placements were also for soft tissue injuries — a hamstring strain that cost him about three weeks in 2024, and then three separate oblique strains in 2025.
Tatsuya Imai Dealing With “Right Arm Fatigue,” Undergoing Examination
5:04 pm: The official wording from the team is that Imai is experiencing “right arm fatigue,” according to Rome. He remains on the active roster as of now.
2:47 pm: As the Astros prepare for tonight’s game with the Mariners, Tatsuya Imai has left Seattle to return to Houston to undergo examination from team doctors. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reported earlier today that Imai was heading to Houston, and The Athletic’s Chandler Rome adds the detail that Imai is dealing with a “tired arm,” in the words of a team source.
More will be known once the Astros’ in-house medical staff gets a look at Imai, and it is possible the righty is just dealing with a bit more fatigue than usual. Some adjustment time was probably inevitable for Imai in his first season in the majors, first and foremost because he is pitching with a bit less rest than usual. Starters in Nippon Professional Baseball usually start just once per week, as opposed to every-five-days approach of MLB clubs. Imai hasn’t even been on the five-day schedule yet, as he has had five full rest days between his starts.
That said, Imai’s 7.27 ERA over his first 8 2/3 Major League innings is a sign that something isn’t quite right. Ironically, his only good start came in the hitter-friendly environment of Sutter Health Park, as Imai tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Athletics on April 4. That impressive outing was sandwiched between two duds — Imai allowed four runs over just 2 2/3 innings against the Angels on March 29, and last night the Mariners torched Imai for three runs in just a third of an inning. Imai retired only one of the seven Seattle batters he faced, as he hit a batter, allowed one hit, and issued four walks.
Imai told reporters (via interpreter) postgame that that he was bothered by both the cooler weather in Seattle and a hard mound at T-Mobile Park. McTaggart notes that Imai had also expressed his issues with getting used to both Major League mounds and the MLB baseball. Again, an adjustment period isn’t unusual for pitchers coming over from NPB for the first time, though the “tired arm” factor now adds an injury scare to Imai’s status.
Imai signed a three-year, $54MM deal with the Astros last offseason, and he can opt out after each of the first two seasons. The contract fell below most projections, as it seemed like several teams had concerns over Imai’s ability to translate his NPB success to MLB. Imai and his agent Scott Boras therefore settled for a shorter-term deal that still locks in some solid immediate money for the right-hander, and allowed him the flexibility to re-enter the market as early as next winter if he pitched well in his first season in the Show.
Losing Imai to the injured list would be another big hit to an already undermanned Houston rotation. Just within the last week, Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier were both placed on the 15-day IL due to Grade 2 shoulder strains. The plan for both pitchers is a re-evaluation after two weeks and a general shutdown period of at least three weeks, though the timelines are still fluid. Even in a best-case scenario, Brown and Javier won’t be back until May, leaving the Astros scrambling for starters even before Imai’s situation arose.
The Astros’ rotation currently consists of Imai, Mike Burrows, and Lance McCullers Jr. Cody Bolton already made one spot start and might be pressed into more rotation duty. J.P. France, Ryan Weiss, AJ Blubaugh, and Jason Alexander are other starting candidates either already in the big league bullpen or at Triple-A, and the Astros could use any of this group or more pitchers in a piggyback capacity rather than in a normal starting capacity. Houston won’t have any time for a rotation reset until an off-day on April 23, as Friday’s game was the first in a stretch of 13 games in 13 days for the club.
Diamondbacks Will Place Gabriel Moreno On Injured List
The Diamondbacks are going to place catcher Gabriel Moreno on the injured list, per Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Manager Torey Lovullo described it as a muscular issue in Moreno’s back and added that the team doesn’t expect a long absence for him.
It was reported a few hours ago that Moreno was set to undergo an MRI today after leaving yesterday’s game against the Phillies after playing just two innings. Lovullo initially described Moreno as day-to-day with lower back tightness, and for his part, the catcher downplayed the severity of his injury. From that lens, it seemed like today’s MRI was done out of an abundance of caution. The end result is a little more serious, as Moreno will now miss a minimum of 10 days, though the team is clearly confident it won’t be much longer than that.
The 26-year-old has been Arizona’s primary catcher since arriving in December 2022 via trade with the Blue Jays. That deal saw a strong defender in Daulton Varsho head to Toronto, though Moreno has shown excellent defense himself in his time with the Diamondbacks. He has been worth 32 Defensive Runs Saved from 2023-26, including an astonishing 20 DRS in 2023 alone. Statcast put him in the 61st percentile last year for caught stealing above average, while his blocking, pop time, and framing were all in the 80th percentile or better. It also helps that Moreno is a capable hitter, having posted a 102 wRC+ or higher in every season since 2023. He is off to a 107 wRC+ start this year in 45 plate appearances.
In the short term, James McCann and Adrian Del Castillo will see some more playing time behind the plate. McCann is a veteran of 13 big-league seasons and was 10% better than average offensively last year by wRC+. He is struggling so far in 2026, with six strikeouts in 18 PA. Del Castillo is 26 and has a 106 wRC+ in 230 PA from 2024-26, with most of that production coming in a limited sample in 2024. The two are passable defenders and hit from opposite sides (Del Castillo being the lefty), so it’s possible the club will use them in a platoon until Moreno is able to return. McCann could draw starts against southpaws in that scenario, as he performed better with the platoon advantage last year.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Rays Place Joe Boyle On 15-Day Injured List
The Rays announced that right-hander Joe Boyle has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow strain. The placement is retroactive to April 10. Right-hander Jesse Scholtens was called up from Triple-A to take Boyle’s spot on the 26-man roster.
Tampa manager Kevin Cash told Ryan Bass and other reporters that Boyle’s MRI revealed the strain and some inflammation, without any structural damage. The plan is to “shut him down from throwing for a week…and hopefully we caught it early enough where we can start building back up,” Cash said.
Boyle himself also spoke with the media, and is “not too worried about” his elbow strain. He felt discomfort on the day following his last start on Wednesday, so the elbow wasn’t to blame for a rough outing that saw Boyle tagged for five earned runs on four hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings against the Cubs.
Ryan Pepiot‘s season-opening IL stint (due to hip inflammation) created a spot for Boyle in Tampa Bay’s rotation, and the righty delivered a 5.17 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and 9.2% walk rate over three starts and 15 2/3 innings. Apart from a significantly improved walk rate, the numbers aren’t far removed from the 5.51 ERA and 25.2K% Boyle posted over 99 2/3 innings with the Athletics and Rays over the 2024-25 seasons, with Boyle starting 19 of his 26 games in those two seasons.
Known for his high-velo and high-spin fastball, Boyle’s velocity is also down to 97.1mph after an average of 98.5mph in 2025. This could just be related to early-season build-up in a small sample size, and trading a bit of velocity for improved control is probably a good thing for Boyle in the long run. There has long been a sense that Boyle might thrive in a bullpen role, though the Rays don’t want to close the door on Boyle as a starter until his viability has been fully explored.
The IL stint will now interrupt this latest chance for Boyle to prove himself as a starter. Tampa Bay’s rotation now consists of Shane McLanahan, Steven Matz, Nick Martinez, Drew Rasmussen, and probably Scholtens in the interim until Pepiot is ready. The latest step in Pepiot’s recovery process was his first live batting practice session yesterday, so while he might not be far away from a minor league rehab assignment, Pepiot’s 2026 debut is probably a couple of weeks away.
Tigers Claim Grant Holman From Dodgers
The Tigers announced that right-hander Grant Holman was claimed off waivers from the Dodgers. Holman has been optioned to the Tigers’ Florida Coast League affiliate. To create room on Detroit’s 40-man roster, infielder Trey Sweeney was moved from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL.
There hasn’t been any indication that the Dodgers had designated Holman for assignment, but the 25-year-old hurler will now find himself once again riding the waiver wire to a new team. Holman was a sixth-round draft pick for the Athletics in 2021 and had spent his entire career in the organization until he was DFA’ed and then claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks in February. Arizona then designated Holman just prior to setting its Opening Day roster, and Los Angeles claimed him away once more.
One might associate this resumes of DFA and waiver claims with a player who is out of minor league options, but Holman still has two option years remaining. The Tigers therefore now have a pitcher they can shuffle up and down from the minors if a fresh arm is needed for the bullpen, which is always useful for a team who has embraced “pitching chaos” as a tactic over the last couple of years.
Holman made his Major League debut in 2024, and he has a 4.66 ERA over 38 2/3 innings and 40 career games in the Show, all with the Athletics in 2024-25. The strong strikeout ability Holman posted in the minors has yet to emerge in the big leagues, as he has only an 18.8% strikeout rate in his 38 2/3 frames. Injuries hampered Holman in 2025, as rotator cuff tendinitis limited him to 32 1/3 total innings in the majors and minors.
Diamondbacks Notes: Moreno, Carroll, Kelly, Pfaadt
Gabriel Moreno is set to undergo an MRI today after leaving yesterday’s game due to lower back tightness, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. Manager Torey Lovullo told Piecoro and other media yesterday that Moreno was viewed as day-to-day, and the catcher downplayed the seriousness of the issue.
The MRI could simply be a precaution given Moreno’s early exit. Moreno took one plate appearance and caught the first two innings of the Diamondbacks’ 5-4 win over the Phillies, and Moreno ended the bottom of the second by throwing out Justin Crawford on a steal attempt. Once the bottom of the third began, however, James McCann had replaced Moreno behind the plate.
The D’Backs are better equipped than most teams in handling a day-to-day injury to a catcher, as McCann and Adrian Del Castillo are both already on the active roster. Since Arizona is already dealing with several injuries up and down the lineup, the club has been able to find at-bats for all three backstops, as Del Castillo (who himself started the season on the injured list with a minor calf strain) has made two starts at DH.
Despite this catching depth, obviously the Diamondbacks hope Moreno’s back issue won’t prevent him from soon returning to action. Moreno has a solid .275/.333/.400 slash line and five doubles over his first 45 plate appearances, making him one of the more productive hitters within an Arizona lineup that has yet to really get going this season.
Corbin Carroll has been a huge part of the Diamondbacks’ offense, beginning his season by hitting .333/.408/.690 with two homers and three triples in 49 PA. The hot start came in spite of a hamate surgery that cost Carroll most of Spring Training, but he is now dealing with a new injury — a minor hip problem that has sidelined him for the last two games. Lovullo said Carroll was available off the bench yesterday and might play as early as today, plus the hip injury wasn’t considered serious enough to merit an MRI for further examination.
Moving onto the pitching side of the injured list, Merrill Kelly is slated to make his season debut during Arizona’s upcoming road series in Baltimore, which begins on Monday. Lovullo told Piecoro and company that the plan is for Kelly to toss a bullpen session with the big league team this weekend, as a final check-up before Kelly is activated from the 15-day injured list.
Kelly’s injury was officially termed as intercostal nerve irritation. The bad back kept the right-hander on the shelf for most of Spring Training, and cost him the honor of being the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter. Kelly tossed 6 1/3 innings during three Cactus League games, five innings during a Triple-A rehab start on April 3, and 83 pitches over six innings of work during an extended Spring Training game last Thursday (as per reporter Jody Jackson).
With Kelly on the verge of returning, Piecoro feels Brandon Pfaadt will probably be removed from the rotation. Pfaadt is starting today’s game with the Phillies, so there might be a bit of extra pressure on the right-hander if he’s competing to keep his spot. Michael Soroka is the other starter whose rotation spot is less assured, but Soroka has a 2.87 ERA through 15 2/3 innings and three starts.
While Soroka has been solid, Pfaadt has a 6.75 ERA over 10 2/3 frames in his first two starts of 2026. If he isn’t starting, Piecoro writes that the D’Backs could use Pfaadt in an extended long relief role on the active roster, rather than send him to Triple-A to keep him stretched out as a proper starter.
Braves Select Luke Williams
The Braves announced a quartet of roster moves today, including the news that Michael Harris II has been placed on the team’s paternity list. Utilityman Luke Williams‘ contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Harris’ spot on the active roster, and Atlanta moved left-hander Danny Young from the 15-day IL to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot. Right-hander Daysbel Hernandez was also reinstated from the 15-day IL and optioned to Gwinnett.
Williams has played for five different teams over his 221 career big league games, but he has spent the better part of the last three seasons (and his last 80 MLB games) with Atlanta. Though he has hit only .151/.213/.209 over 95 plate appearances in those 80 games, Williams has been utilized in a super-sub role, seeing time at all four infield positions, in left field, and even a few pitching appearances in a mop-up capacity.
Harris figures to be back in a few days after celebrating the new arrival to his family, so Williams will likely find himself designated for assignment in short order. Williams is out of minor league options, which is why the Braves had to outright Williams a few times last season in order to send him back to Triple-A.
Young had Tommy John surgery last May, and subsequently isn’t expected to be available to pitch until at least July. The Mets non-tendered Young in November and the Braves signed the southpaw to a split contract, with an eye towards eventually moving him to the 60-day IL once a 40-man spot needed to be opened. Hernandez began the season on Atlanta’s 15-day IL due to a sebaceous cyst in his throwing shoulder, and he’ll now continue to work at Triple-A until a need develops in the big league bullpen.
Mets Designate Richard Lovelady For Assignment
The Mets announced that Craig Kimbrel‘s minor league contract has been selected to the active roster, as reported earlier today. To create space on the 26-man roster, the Mets have designated left-hander Richard Lovelady.
This is the ninth time Lovelady has been DFA’ed in his career, with five of those transactions coming from the Mets in a relationship that began when New York first signed the lefty to a big league deal last June. Lovelady is out of minor league options, which is why the Mets and other teams have had to first expose him to waivers before outrighting him off a 40-man roster.
During the offseason, the Mets signed Lovelady to a split contract that pays him $1MM when on an active roster, and $350K while in the minor leagues. Lovelady would have to give up this guaranteed salary if he clears waivers and declines an outright assignment in favor of free agency, which makes it more likely that he’ll stick around in the Mets organization. It shouldn’t be assumed that Lovelady will clear waivers, however. The Nationals claimed the southpaw last January after the Mets’ last DFA, but New York then claimed him back in March after the Nats also designated Lovelady for assignment.
After all of these comings and goings, Lovelady made the Amazins’ Opening Day roster and at least got himself a few weeks of time in the bigs. Lovelady has a 3.68 ERA and a 54.5% grounder rate over 7 1/3 innings and six appearances for New York this season, with a modest 18.8% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate. Most of the damage (.958 OPS) has come from right-handed batters, while Lovelady has limited left-handed batters to a .545 OPS.
Lovelady’s career splits are pronounced enough that it is worth wondering if he came along in the wrong time — Lovelady made his MLB debut a season before the league instituted the three-batter rule, basically ending the era of the lefty specialist. The Mets clearly like what Lovelady offers as a depth arm for their ever-rotating bullpen, even if the team perpetually views him as an expendable roster piece.
Angels Designate Jeimer Candelario For Assignment
The Angels announced that infielder Jeimer Candelario has been designated for assignment. The move creates roster space for fellow infielder Vaughn Grissom, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.
Candelario signed a minor league contract with Los Angeles during the offseason, and earned himself a spot on the Opening Day roster due to a few factors. The veteran’s big Spring Training numbers helped him stand out from some other infield candidates like Christian Moore and Kyren Paris, and Grissom was also lost to a wrist sprain. Unfortunately, Candelario couldn’t keep his Cactus League performance going into the regular season, as he hit only .111/.200/.222 over 20 plate appearances.
The cold start continues the downward slide that began after Candelario signed a three-year, $45MM free agent deal with the Reds prior to the 2024 season. Candelario hit only .225/.279/.429 over 463 PA in the first season of his contract, and Cincinnati released him last June after he batted .113/.198/.213 in his first 91 PA of the 2025 campaign. Injuries such as knee tendinitis and a lumbar spine strain certainly contributed to that falloff over the last two seasons, but Candelario was thought to be healthy heading into 2026.
The Yankees signed Candelario after his release from the Reds but didn’t use him at the MLB level, and his struggles didn’t stop the Angels from taking a flier on the 32-year-old this past winter. Another team may feel Candelario still has something in the tank, and he would cost only a prorated Major League minimum salary for any time spent on a team’s active roster, as the Reds are still responsible for the $15MM still owed on his contract.
Even if another club has interest in Candelario, however, they might not be willing to devote a 40-man roster spot to him, so it seems likely that the infielder will clear waivers. He has enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment and then elect free agency, so Candelario can test the market again for another minor league contract.
Grissom is now set to make his Angels debut, and get his first big league action of any kind since the 2024 season. Grissom has yet to live up to the promise of his impressive 2022 rookie season with the Braves, as he struggled in 2023 and then was a bust with the Red Sox after being dealt for Chris Sale during the 2023-24 offseason. While Sale resurrected his career in Atlanta, Grissom didn’t hit in Boston, battled injuries, and soon found himself supplanted by several other up-and-coming infield prospects.