Astros To Select J.P. France
The Astros will select J.P. France’s contract from Triple-A Sugar Land before tomorrow’s game against the Mariners, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. He will be able to take the 40-man roster spot left vacant after Roddery Muñoz was designated for assignment on Monday.
As for the 26-man roster, there’s a good chance France is replacing Cristian Javier, who exited his start on Wednesday with shoulder tightness. It’s also possible the Astros won’t be ready to make a decision about Javier by tomorrow, but that they still want a fresh arm for the bullpen, given the workload their relievers shouldered in yesterday’s 9-1 loss. In that case, they might consider optioning AJ Blubaugh, who has given up nine runs on nine hits in his last two outings. Meanwhile, Spencer Arrighetti is the most likely candidate for a call-up if Houston needs a longer-term replacement for Javier in the rotation. Jason Alexander is also available at Triple-A.
France, 31, made 23 starts for the Astros in 2023, his rookie campaign. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury ruined his next two seasons. He made just seven appearances for Houston between 2024 and ’25 and struggled in a handful of minor league outings as well. The team designated him for assignment this past offseason and sent him outright to Triple-A. However, if the early results from 2026 are any indication, France seems to be throwing with a healthy shoulder again. He struck out 13 batters in 11.2 innings this spring and another eight in his first 5.1 frames for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. The righty has yet to allow a run at Triple-A, with just one walk and two hits allowed to the 19 batters he’s faced.
If France can get back to pitching the way he did in 2023 – whether he’s starting or working in long relief – the Astros will surely be grateful. Through 13 games, Houston’s pitchers have the highest ERA in the AL (6.05). Walks and home runs have both been serious problems. What’s more, two of the team’s most important arms are on the injured list: Hunter Brown (shoulder strain) and Josh Hader (biceps tendinitis). Losing Javier for any period of time would only further weaken a beleaguered staff. While the team still has depth arms to call on for the rotation and the bullpen, those options are starting to wear thin.
The Opener: Astros, Rockies, Tigers
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Astros roster moves incoming?
The Astros got hit with a double whammy on the injury front yesterday, as both center fielder Jake Meyers and right-hander Cristian Javier exited yesterday’s game due to back and shoulder injuries respectively. There’s likely to be some roster shuffling as a result of those injuries today. In particular, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle notes that outfielder Taylor Trammell was scratched from the Triple-A lineup last night as Meyers is expected to head to Houston for imaging. That would fairly cleanly replace Meyers on the roster, but it leaves open the question of how the Astros will handle the potential loss of Javier. Hunter Brown is already on the injured list, and the club was seemingly planning to go to a six-man rotation in the coming days. Spencer Arrighetti, Colton Gordon, and Jason Alexander are among the options at Triple-A who could be asked to take up a rotation role moving forward.
2. Rockies going streaking:
The Rockies didn’t enter the 2026 season with much hope for a successful campaign on the field. It will take more than the first couple weeks of the season to change that perception, but the club has put together a bit of a winning streak with wins in each of their last four games to pull them up to .500. That keeps them out of last place in the NL West and makes them the only club in the division besides the Dodgers with a positive run differential. All of that leads into a series against the division rival Padres that opens today wherein Colorado could have a chance to pull themselves into a winning record and perhaps even sole possession of second place in the division. Those efforts will start tonight at 6:40 local time in San Diego when right-hander Randy Vasquez takes the mound for the Padres against an as-of-yet unnamed Rockies starter, though Chase Dollander is expected to get the bulk of today’s innings.
3. Tigers looking to avoid sweep:
Meanwhile, the Tigers entered the season with lofty expectations but have gotten out to a rough start this year. They’re 4-8 to open the season this year, putting them tied for last in the AL Central alongside the White Sox. That’s in large part due to a rough series against the Twins, who have won three straight against the Tigers. Today, Detroit will be looking to avoid a sweep while the Twins will try to finish the job with Mick Abel on the mound against veteran right-hander Jack Flaherty. That game is scheduled for 12:40pm local time at Target Field in Minnesota. Both have struggled badly so far this year, with a 7.56 ERA in two starts for Flaherty while Abel has posted an 11.05 ERA in 7 1/3 innings of work. Will one be able to get back on track today?
MLB Mailbag: Jordan Walker, Cubs, Guardians, Tigers, Riley
This week's mailbag gets into Jordan Walker's hot start, the Cubs' approach to Cade Horton's season-ending injury, the future of the Guardians, and slow starts for the Tigers as well as Braves third baseman Austin Riley.
Sam asks:
I know it way too early to ask this question I cannot help it. Jordan Walker has a 183 wRC+ and is on pace for 39 HRs is he has 456 ABs (ZIPS AB projection). He will cool off a bit—at least. But say he has finally arrived (met his potential, however you want to call it) and settles into being a 130-135 wRC+ and 30-35 HR hitter, how do you think that impacts the Cardinals' short and long term outlook with their rebuild?
Walker, 24 in May, sits at a 181 wRC+ through 44 plate appearances after hitting a solo home run in five trips to the plate Tuesday at Nationals Park.
I pulled up the wRC+ leaderboard last year through April 6th, with a minimum of 40 plate appearances. Here's a list of the top 20, first showing their wRC+ through April 6th and then showing what it was for that player for the rest of the season.
- Aaron Judge - 246 / 202
- Kyle Tucker - 224 / 126
- Kristian Campbell - 207 / 63
- Tyler Soderstrom - 206 / 119
- Jackson Merrill - 201 / 108
- Spencer Torkelson - 193 / 112
- Anthony Volpe - 192 / 75
- Corbin Carroll - 181 / 136
- Nolan Arenado - 178 / 75
- Kyle Schwarber - 178 / 151
- Lars Nootbaar - 171 / 90
- Alex Bregman - 166 / 121
- Fernando Tatis Jr. - 164 / 129
- Sal Frelick - 162 / 110
- Heliot Ramos - 159 / 103
- Brendan Donovan - 157 / 115
- Jose Altuve - 155 / 111
- Teoscar Hernandez - 153 / 97
- Eugenio Suarez - 152 / 123
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. - 150 / 124
- Jordan Westburg - 149 / 110
- Shohei Ohtani - 148 / 174
- Andres Gimenez - 147 / 60
- Julio Rodriguez - 144 / 125
- Nico Hoerner - 138 / 108
- Jackson Chourio - 136 / 109
- Seiya Suzuki - 135 / 121
- Lawrence Butler - 134 / 93
- Rafael Devers - 134 / 135
- Brice Turang - 134 / 123
Walker came into the 2026 season with 1,039 Major League plate appearances and an 89 wRC+. Every player is different, but the best comp here might be Torkelson, even though the latter had a little more experience and success in his career to that point. But I'd say the range of rest-of-season outcomes on Walker remains very wide: this could be nothing, or a full breakout. Sorry, the truth is often boring.
I also think it's worth asking whether Walker has hit like this in the Majors before. For that, we use the Stathead Span Finder. I'm not a huge OPS guy, but that's probably the best "overall offense" stat in this tool. Walker's OPS is currently 1.014, spanning 11 games and 44 PA. He has had a couple of streaks at least this good, basically in June and August of his 2023 rookie season:
- 6-6-23 to 6-18-23: Walker hit .395/.477/.789 (1.267 OPS) with 4 HR in 44 PA
- 8-22-23 to 9-5-23: Walker hit .432/.488/.838 (1.326 OPS) in 4 HR in 43 PA
Even in his lousy 2025 season, Walker had a 43-PA July run where he hit .342/.419/.500 (.919 OPS) over 43 PA, though he did not homer during that streak.
What kind of evidence is on the breakout side of the ledger?
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MLBTR Podcast: Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The April edition of MLBTR’s 2026-27 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:15)
- Tarik Skubal‘s free agency (5:00)
- Freddy Peralta‘s free agency (16:10)
- Bo Bichette‘s free agency (21:20)
- Jazz Chisholm Jr.‘s free agency (27:50)
- Trevor Rogers‘ free agency (34:20)
- Michael King‘s free agency (38:55)
- Daulton Varsho‘s free agency (41:40)
- The Pirates promoting Konnor Griffin a few days into the season (recorded prior to his extension becoming official) (48:30)
Check out our past episodes!
- Lots Of Extensions And Big-Picture Topics – listen here
- The PCA and Sanchez Extensions, And Prospect Promotions And Reassignments – listen here
- Banged-Up Reds And Braves, Kevin McGonigle, And Spring Breakouts – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Pirates Outright Enmanuel Valdez
The Pirates sent utility infielder Enmanuel Valdez outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the MLB.com transaction log. He evidently cleared waivers after being designated for assignment when the Bucs called up Konnor Griffin last week.
Pittsburgh acquired Valdez from Boston over the 2024-25 offseason in a DFA trade that sent minor league pitcher Joe Vogatsky to the Sox. He spent a month as Pittsburgh’s primary first baseman while Spencer Horwitz was working back from wrist surgery. Valdez hit .209/.294/.363 across 31 games before sustaining a season-ending dislocation of his left shoulder, which required surgery.
Valdez is healthy but no longer had much of a path to playing time on the Pittsburgh infield. Horwitz has established himself as the primary first baseman. They acquired Brandon Lowe to play second and have Griffin up at shortstop. Third base is still a question mark, especially with Jared Triolo shelved by a knee injury, but Valdez had dropped below Nick Yorke and Nick Gonzales on the infield depth chart.
The 27-year-old Valdez owns a .230/.288/.392 batting line in a little less than 500 MLB plate appearances. He didn’t hit during Spring Training and is out to an 0-10 start with five punchouts through four Triple-A games. He doesn’t have the service time or previous career outright to elect free agency. Valdez will remain at Indianapolis, where he’d begun the season on optional assignment, and try to shake off the rust offensively. He’d qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if the Bucs don’t add him back to the 40-man roster.
Diamondbacks Re-Sign Joe Ross To Minor League Deal
The Diamondbacks re-signed righty Joe Ross to a minor league contract. He has been assigned to Triple-A Reno, where he’s back in action.
Ross had a brief stay on the open market after electing free agency earlier in the week. Arizona had designated him for assignment. It’s common for veterans in his position to decline an outright assignment but re-sign on a new minor league deal. Those can come with a higher minor league salary or opt-out/upward mobility opportunities that might not have been present had they accepted the outright.
The 32-year-old Ross broke camp in a long relief role after signing a minor league contract in February. He worked a perfect inning in his season debut but was knocked around over the next two appearances. Ross gave up six runs without getting through an inning against the Tigers on March 30. He surrendered three walks and a Mauricio Dubón homer in a blowout loss to Atlanta two days later.
Ross has plenty of starting experience but has worked as a multi-inning reliever for the past year-plus. He posted a 5.12 ERA across 51 innings out of the Philadelphia bullpen last season. Ross worked in relief of pitching prospect Mitch Bratt tonight in his first appearance with Reno. He gave up six hits and four runs, including a two-run homer to Trey Mancini, across 2 1/3 frames.
Gabriel Arias To Miss 4-8 Weeks With Moderate Hamstring Strain
The Guardians will be without shortstop Gabriel Arias for 4-8 weeks, the team announced. The infielder suffered a moderate strain of his left hamstring while legging out a double during Monday’s loss to the Royals.
Arias started 10 of Cleveland’s first 11 games at shortstop. He connected on a couple home runs but otherwise hasn’t contributed at the plate, batting .200 with 12 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances. That’s usual for Arias, who strikes out as much as any regular in MLB. He’s in the lineup for his above-average glove.
Brayan Rocchio slides over from second base to replace Arias as the regular shortstop. Rocchio has ample shortstop experience and should be a steady if unspectacular hand there. The bigger change comes at second base, where the Guardians called up prospect Juan Brito when placing Arias on the injured list yesterday.
The switch-hitting Brito has hit well throughout his minor league career and is out to a 4-8 start with a couple doubles as a big leaguer. There’ll be a defensive downgrade in the middle infield, though, as scouts have long been cool on Brito’s glove. He committed an error on a routine grounder in this afternoon’s win over Kansas City. Skipper Stephen Vogt could lean on Daniel Schneemann as a defensive upgrade late in games. Schneemann also projects as the backup shortstop if Rocchio needs a day off.
Arias will be sidelined into May and may be down into June. There’s a chance that top second base prospect Travis Bazzana, the first overall pick in 2024, is up by that point. Bazzana is out to a relatively slow start in Triple-A, though playing in cold weather in April is probably a factor. Aside from Chase DeLauter, Cleveland hasn’t hit much in the early going. They’re nevertheless out to an 8-5 start with series wins over the Dodgers, Cubs, and Kansas City behind excellent work from the starting rotation.
Zach Eflin Undergoes UCL Surgery
The Orioles announced that Zach Eflin underwent UCL reconstruction (Tommy John) surgery today. He’ll miss the rest of the season and probably at least the first half of 2027.
Things had seemingly been trending in this direction. Eflin, who turns 32 today, left his season debut citing elbow discomfort. The team announced last week that he was going for a second opinion, implying the initial prognosis wasn’t good. The reexamination evidently confirmed the ligament damage that required surgical repair.
It’s another injury-wrecked season for Eflin, a mid-rotation caliber starter who has an unfortunately checkered health history. He battled chronic knee issues early in his career with Philadelphia. Eflin stayed mostly healthy between 2023-24 despite intermittent back discomfort, combining for a 3.54 ERA with a 23.1% strikeout rate over 343 innings between the Rays and Orioles.
The more significant injuries have resurfaced over the past two seasons. Eflin sustained a lat strain early in 2025. That shelved him for a month. He quickly returned to the injured list with lower back discomfort. After a brief reinstatement, he underwent season-ending lumbar surgery. Eflin made an encouraging return from that procedure and entered this season with no restrictions, but he could only complete 3 2/3 frames before his elbow gave out.
Baltimore re-signed Eflin to a one-year, $10MM free agent contract last offseason. That’ll go down as an unfortunately lost investment. Eflin, whom the O’s have already moved to the 60-day injured list, will return to the open market at season’s end. He’ll likely look for a two-year deal to cover his rehab season. That might need to be a minor league contract given his age and recent durability record.
Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt remain Baltimore’s top four starters. They recalled lefty Cade Povich as a potential fifth starter on Sunday. He was needed in relief of Bassitt, who was shelled and only made it through two innings against the Pirates. Povich tossed 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball in relief. Brandon Young made a spot start on Monday and was optioned back to Triple-A postgame.
The O’s are off tomorrow and list Baz, Bassitt and Povich as the probable starters for their weekend series against the Giants. Rogers and Bradish, who started the final two games of this week’s series against the White Sox, would line up early next week against the Diamondbacks. It seems they’ll give Povich first look as Eflin’s replacement in the rotation. Young and Dean Kremer are on optional assignment with Triple-A Norfolk.
Davey Lopes Passes Away
The Dodgers announced today that Davey Lopes passed away today at the age of 80. Lopes made his debut as a player in the early 1970s and went on to have a career as a coach and manager, making him a staple of the game for the bulk of five decades.
Lopes was a late bloomer. He didn’t make it to the majors until 1972, which was his age-27 season. Even then, he only got into 11 games for the Dodgers. The following year, his age-28 campaign, he finally established himself as a big league regular. He became the club’s second baseman and showed off the speed that would become his standout trait. He swiped 36 bags that year, his first of what would eventually be a 14-year streak of stealing at least 15 bases.
He stayed on the Dodger roster through the 1981 season, mostly covering the keystone but also with occasional action at shortstop, third base and in the outfield. The Dodgers had a very consistent infield during that stretch, with Steve Garvey the mainstay at first, Lopes at second, Bill Russell at short and Ron Cey at third.
Lopes played in 1,207 games for the Dodgers from his 1972 debut until the end of that 1981 campaign. He hit .262 in that time and launched 99 home runs but the eye-popping stat was his 418 stolen bases. He led the league in steals in both 1975 and 1976, with 77 in the former and 63 in the latter. The second instance was particularly impressive as injuries limited him to only 117 games. In 1978, he won a Gold Glove and also made the All-Star team, the first of four straight All-Star selections.
The Dodgers were quite good in that time but couldn’t quit win a title for most of it. They lost the World Series to the Athletics in 1974, then to the Yankees in both 1977 and 1978. In 1981, they were able to get the job done, topping the Yankees 4-2. Lopes stole ten bases in in 16 postseason games that year.
Prior to the 1982 season, he was traded to the A’s, kicking off the journeyman phase of his career. He would also bounce to the Cubs and Astros, playing past his 42nd birthday. He finished his career with 7,340 plate appearances over 1,812 games. He racked up 1,671 hits, including 155 home runs. He scored 1,023 runs and drove in 614. His 557 steals put him 26th on the all-time list.
He quickly pivoted to his post-playing career by becoming a bench coach with the Rangers. That was followed by stints as a first base coach with the Orioles and Padres. He was hired to manage the Brewers for the 2000 season. The club did not fare well and he was fired early in 2002. He never got another managerial gig and had a 144-195 record in that job. He then went back to being a first base coach, starting with a return to the Padres, followed by stints with the Nationals, Phillies, Dodgers and back to the Nationals. He retired from coaching after the 2017 season.
We at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in sending condolences to the Lopes family as well as everyone else mourning him today.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Cristian Javier Exits Start Due To Shoulder Tightness
Astros right-hander Cristian Javier was removed from today’s game after just one inning due to shoulder tightness. As relayed by Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Javier was warming up for the second inning but summoned catcher Christian Vázquez and the training staff to the mound before departing.
At this point, it’s too early to know any details about Javier’s injury or its severity. However, even a minor absence would be a big blow for the Astros. Just a few days ago, they lost their ace, as Hunter Brown landed on the injured list due to a shoulder strain.
Even with Brown’s injury, the Astros still planned to go for a six-man rotation in the near future. On Friday, they start a stretch of playing 13 games in a row. Going to a six-man rotation would lower the impact on Tatsuya Imai, who is still in the first few weeks of his MLB career. In Japan, starting pitchers normally throw once a week as opposed to the five-man rotations that are common in North America.
Imai, Javier, Burrows and Lance McCullers Jr. would have accounted for four spots. The other two would have been more up in the air. Cody Bolton was just recalled to make a spot start and could be in the mix. Spencer Arrighetti is on optional assignment but could be recalled. Ryan Weiss, AJ Blubaugh, and Kai-Wei Teng have some starting experience but have been pitching in the big league bullpen. Blubaugh came in to replace Javier today but allowed five runs in the second and was replaced in the third. He threw 39 pitches in his one inning of work.
Subtracting Javier would further require the Astros to reach even further into their depth, assuming they still want to go six deep in the rotation. Weiss threw 62 pitches in a long relief outing Monday, so he’s fairly stretched out, though he allowed six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Houston also has Jason Alexander, Colton Gordon and Miguel Ullola on optional assignment.
Houston’s outfield also seemingly took a blow today. Jake Meyers tried to check his swing during a plate appearance and grabbed at his oblique area. He left the game and the Astros announced his injury as lower back tightness. Meyers has taken the majority of playing time in center field this year. He is a strong defender and has a solid .243/.326/.378 line so far on the season.
If Meyers needs to miss some time, then the Astros will have to figure out a solution in center. Brice Matthews entered the game for Meyers today. He is one of the club’s best prospects but he entered today with just 22 games of big league experience and a .148/.212/.410 line in those. Right fielder Cam Smith has gotten some work in center but not in official game action. Left fielder Joey Loperfido does have some center field experience but less than in the corners.
Houston has Zach Cole and Shay Whitcomb on optional assignment. However, Cole recently broke his toe when he was hit by a pitch in a Triple-A game. His timeline is unclear but he’s not immediately available. Whitcomb has far more infield experience than he does on the grass. In terms of non-roster options with outfield experience, they have Taylor Trammell, Cavan Biggio and CJ Alexander.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images