A’s Place Denzel Clarke On Injured List
The Athletics placed center fielder Denzel Clarke on the 10-day injured list before today’s loss in Seattle. Colby Thomas was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take the vacated active roster spot.
Clarke is dealing with a bone bruise in his right foot. Manager Mark Kotsay told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that the issue relates to a lingering injury to his big toe that Clarke has battled for some time. It reached a point where the defensive stalwart felt better shutting things down rather than continuing to play through the discomfort.
This is Clarke’s first full season at the MLB level. He’s living up to his reputation on both sides of the ball. Clarke has rated highly in center field and had another of his patented home run robberies to take one away from Drake Baldwin on April 1. The 6’3″ Clarke is among the most talented defensive players in the sport. His bat is well behind, and he’s hitting .170 while striking out 24 times in 60 plate appearances (40%).
Lawrence Butler got the start in center field today against Logan Gilbert. The A’s had turned to Zack Gelof at the position for the first two games of the Seattle series. A career-long second baseman, Gelof has begun working in the outfield this year after the A’s traded for Jeff McNeil to handle the keystone.
It’ll likely be Gelof taking the bulk of the center field work. Butler can play there on occasion, with Carlos Cortes drawing into right field on those days. The righty-hitting Thomas will also be in the mix after a strong start to his year in Triple-A. Thomas was batting .309/.397/.574 with five homers in 17 games for Las Vegas. He debuted last season and popped six homers in 132 plate appearances, but he struck out 49 times (37.1%) en route to a meager .267 on-base mark.
Marlins To Designate Austin Slater For Assignment
The Marlins are designating veteran outfielder Austin Slater for assignment, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid. Esteury Ruiz has played four Triple-A games on a minor league rehab stint and will be activated for Friday’s series opener in San Francisco. Miami’s 40-man roster count will drop to 39.
Slater signed a $1MM free agent contract at the end of Spring Training. He had been in camp on a minor league deal with Detroit but didn’t crack their roster. The Fish wanted a righty-hitting platoon outfielder with Ruiz shelved by an oblique strain and starting left fielder Kyle Stowers down with a hamstring strain. Stowers returned over the weekend, and Ruiz’s forthcoming return pushes Slater off the roster.
It wasn’t a great showing for the 33-year-old Slater. He played in 12 games and collected just four hits, all of them singles. He took four walks but struck out nine times in 28 plate appearances. Slater has pinch hit a few times but hasn’t been in Clayton McCullough’s starting lineup since April 12. Heriberto Hernández gets some work as a righty-hitting left fielder. Utilityman Javier Sanoja can also play out there.
Ruiz, an offseason trade pickup from the Dodgers, adds a speed element off the bench. He hasn’t hit much in the big leagues but raked in Triple-A last year. Ruiz stole 67 bases for the A’s back in 2023, his only full season at the MLB level.
Miami has five days to trade Slater or place him on waivers. He has sufficient service time to decline an outright assignment and seems likely to be released.
Dodgers Notes: Snell, Sasaki, Bullpen
The Dodgers are cruising along with an MLB-best 16-7 record (tied with the Padres) and a share of first in a competitive NL West. Still, more pitching help should be on the way soon. Lefty Blake Snell is slated to start for Single-A Ontario Tower Buzzers tonight as he builds up for his season debut, according to Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
Shoulder fatigue in his throwing arm dates back to last year. While Snell was able to toss an excellent 95 1/3 innings between the regular season and postseason last year, the Dodgers erred on the side of caution and placed the left-hander on the IL to open the season. Snell is tabbed for three innings tonight and will need four starts to build up to the five-inning/75-pitch MLB level, placing his earliest big league return timeline as late May.
Even in Snell’s absence, the Dodgers rotation hasn’t missed a beat. Their 14 quality starts lead all of MLB entering play today. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani have been typically excellent, but Justin Wrobleski has offered some surprising stability at the back of the rotation (despite a lack of strikeouts). Between Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, and Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers will have a rotation decision to make in the coming weeks upon Snell’s return.
Sasaki has recorded outs in the fifth inning in only two of his four starts this season. Given his excellence operating out of the bullpen in last year’s championship run, it’s natural to wonder if Sasaki could be ticketed for relief. At least for now, Sasaki’s role appears to be safe. In response to a hypothetical Sasaki in relief, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes gave Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo of The Athletic a flat “No.” Reading between the lines, it appears the final rotation spot will fall to Wrobleski or Sheehan, with Wrobleski currently occupying the inside track. Performance in the coming weeks could shift this assessment (and injuries to the rest of the rotation could upend it entirely).
It’s an interesting position by Gomes and the organization, given Sasaki’s struggles, but it reflects the Dodgers’ long-term belief in his potential. Sasaki surrendered only a single run in 10 2/3 innings last postseason, but wasn’t dominant by any means. His 2.3 K-BB% was lackluster, and ERA models like xFIP (5.72) and SIERA (5.35) didn’t love his work in an admittedly small sample. However, Sasaki was able to corral the long ball issues (again, small sample size) that have plagued his MLB work up to this point. In all likelihood, Sasaki’s gutsy October performance had little bearing on the organization’s long-term vision for him.
Sasaki’s 2026 starting work looks largely similar to 2025, with a marginal improvement in strikeouts and more fly balls leaving the yard on a rate basis. But if the Dodgers remain committed to locking him into rotation, one of Wrobleski or Sheehan will be squeezed off the roster or the bullpen. Fortunately, both Wrobleski and Sheehan have options remaining, meaning either of them can be freely moved between the major league club and its minor league affiliates them being exposed to waivers. Sasaki also has options remaining, meaning the Dodgers could theoretically allow him to continue working as a starter in the minors if they want to keep him stretched out as a starter, though this route seems unlikely.
LA’s bullpen pecking order is also currently under evaluation after closer Edwin Diaz went under the knife to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow. While manager Dave Roberts acknowledged top lefty Tanner Scott could receive the majority of the save opportunities, he stopped short of anointing him interim closer, plainly stating (via Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register) the approach as “…the closer-by-committee way of doing it.” High-leverage righty Brock Stewart, currently rehabbing with Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, is also nearing a return. Between lefties (Scott and Alex Vesia) and righties (Blake Treinen and Stewart), Roberts should have a multitude of options at his disposal to attack hitters in the late innings until Diaz’s reinstatement.
Rangers To Place Wyatt Langford On IL With Flexor Strain
The Rangers are going to place outfielder Wyatt Langford on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain. The player himself told members of the media, including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. It’s a grade 1 strain and Langford expects it will just be a minimal stint. Fellow outfielder Alejandro Osuna will be recalled as the corresponding move.
It’s a bit of an unusual injury situation. Flexor strains are common for pitchers but not so much for position players. It also appears that Langford didn’t hurt himself throwing but rather on a swing, as he told reporters last night, including Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. It’s possible that Langford has been banged up for a decent chunk of the season so far. He also suffered a small quad strain a couple of weeks ago but didn’t land on the IL at that time.
He has a .238/.274/.363 batting line and 78 wRC+ through his first 84 plate appearances. That’s well below his normal production, as he hit .247/.335/.423 for a 115 wRC+ over the previous two campaigns. Though it’s not good that he now has this flexor strain to deal with, perhaps some time on the shelf will be the reset he needs to get healthy and back on track.
The Rangers have primarily had an outfield trio of Langford in left, Evan Carter in center and Brandon Nimmo in right. Sam Haggerty, Ezequiel Durán and Andrew McCutchen have chipped in on occasion. Those three and Osuna are now options to cover left field while Langford is out.
McCutchen is 39 years old and has mostly been a designated hitter in recent years. The last time he played more than eight games in the outfield was 2022. He has said that was the Pirates’ preference and not his own but is still seems unlikely the Rangers would throw him out there on a regular basis.
Duran has a strong .298/.353/.447 line so far this year and could perhaps step up for more regular work, especially with Haggerty hitting .154/.214/.154 on the season. Durán’s production is helped by a .371 batting average on balls in play but he’s also showing improvement elsewhere, as this year’s walk and strikeout rates would be career highs if he could maintain them.
Osuna made his big league debut last year and slashed .212/.313/.278 in 176 trips to the plate. He’s been better in the minors but is out to a slow-ish start this year. His .262/.355/.354 line translates to a 91 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He had a much more robust .292/.493/.417 line at that level last year, though in an equally small sample of 67 plate appearances. Osuna is a lefty, so perhaps the Rangers could do some platooning, as both Durán and McCutchen are righties.
Photo courtesy of Jim Cowsert, Imagn Images
Tigers Select Burch Smith
3:45pm: The Tigers have made the move official, announcing they have selected Smith and optioned De Jesus. Left-hander Bailey Horn was transferred to the 60-day injured list as the 40-man move. Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group reported the Horn move prior to the official announcement. Horn began the season on the 15-day IL while recovering from left elbow arthroscopy. He began a rehab assignment earlier this month and pitched on April 7th and 11th but that rehab was shut down. His 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he will be eligible for reinstatement in late May.
2:45pm: The Tigers are going to select the contract of right-hander Burch Smith. Left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding active roster move. The Tigers will need to open a 40-man spot to make it official. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic was among those to relay that Smith had a locker in the clubhouse and that De Jesus has been optioned.
Smith, 36, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the winter. He has been with Triple-A Toledo to begin the season and has been off to a hot start. Through eight appearances and ten innings, he has allowed just two earned runs via four hits, no walks and one hit batter while striking out 16. He has been throwing his changeup 12.6% of the time in that small sample, after only using that pitch about 1-3% of the time in recent years.
The Tigers will give Smith a chance to face major league hitters for the first time since 2024. Though he is in his mid-3os and debuted in the majors over a decade ago, his big league track record is still pretty limited. At the end of 2021, he had 191 major league innings with a 6.03 earned run average. He spent 2022 in NPB in Japan and 2023 in the KBO in South Korea.
He was back in the majors with the Marlins and Orioles in 2024 and posted a 4.95 ERA in 56 1/3 innings. Last year, he was stuck in the minors with the Pirates after signing a minor league deal. He bounced on and off the injured list in the minors and put up a 7.08 ERA in Triple-A before being released in July.
Though Smith didn’t sign anywhere else in the latter months of 2025, the Tigers may have been intrigued by a stint in winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Pitching for Águilas Cibaeñas, Smith logged 15 1/3 innings with a 1.76 ERA. He struck out 20 of the 63 batters he faced, a 31.7% clip. He has carried over that form so far this year, with a 29% strikeout rate in spring training and a huge 44.4% clip in Triple-A.
If he provide something close to that in the majors, it would be a nice under-the-radar find for the Tigers. If not, Smith has at least five years of service time, meaning he can’t be optioned back to the minors without his consent.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Phillies Place J.T. Realmuto On Injured List
3:20pm: The Phillies have now officially announced Realmuto’s IL placement, listing his ailment as back spasms. To open a 40-man spot for Stubbs, right-hander Max Lazar has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Lazar began the season on the 15-day IL due to a left oblique strain. His 60-day count is retroactive to the start of the season, so he can be reinstated in late May. He hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment.
1:10pm: The Phillies are going to place catcher J.T. Realmuto on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back injury, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Fellow catcher Garrett Stubbs will be selected to take Realmuto’s place on the active roster. A corresponding move will be required to open a 40-man spot for Stubbs.
Realmuto was removed from Saturday’s game due to lower back tightness. He sat out the contests on Sunday and Monday before rejoining the lineup on Tuesday, though Gelb notes the injury was still limiting him. It seems the Phils and/or Realmuto have decided that he needs to rest up, rather than try to play through the issue.
That’s probably a sensible decision in the long term but the timing is challenging for the Phillies. They are out to a brutal 8-15 start to the season. They would be the worst team in the majors if not for the Mets struggling even more. The offense has been a particularly weak part for Philly thus far, as they have only scored 80 runs. The Mets and Giants are the only MLB teams with fewer.
Losing Realmuto won’t help. He hasn’t been on fire this year but his .259/.344/.352 line translates to a 100 wRC+, indicating he’s been exactly league average. Catchers are usually about ten points below par, so that’s actually pretty solid production for a backstop. It also has value in the context of so many other hitters in the Philadelphia lineup struggling.
For at least ten days, the Phillies will go with the pairing of Rafael Marchán and Stubbs behind the plate. Marchán has been part of Philly’s catching mix for years, debuting back in 2020, but hasn’t been able to get much playing time behind Realmuto. He has just 271 big league plate appearances spread across the years, with a .223/.283/.364 line and 77 wRC+. That includes a brutal .065/.094/.161 line so far in 2026.
Stubbs has also been in the Philly catching mix for years but both he and Marchán were out of options coming into 2026. The club dabbled with Stubbs playing other positions in spring but ultimately made the decision to go with Marchán as the backup and push Stubbs off the roster. He cleared outright waivers, allowing the Phillies to keep him around as non-roster depth.
That has led to today’s return to the big leagues. He has an excellent .289/.413/.632 line in Triple-A this year, but in a tiny sample size of ten games and 46 plate appearances. In his major league career, he has stepped to the plate 521 times and produced a .215/.293/.310 line and 70 wRC+.
Stubbs and Marchán will try their best to cover for Realmuto’s absence but his IL stint will make it a bit harder for them to pull out of this early tailspin. Ideally, he will heal up and return after a minimal absence. As mentioned, both Stubbs and Marchán are out of options, so one of them will likely be pushed off the roster when Realmuto’s IL stint is done.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images
MLB Mailbag: Devin Williams, Braves, Blue Jays, Prospects
This week's mailbag gets into the rough start to Devin Williams' Mets career, the Braves' apparent rotation depth, the Blue Jays' playoff chances, whether Konnor Griffin had a shot at a billion-dollar free agency, and which prospects who have yet to reach MLB may have an impact at the highest level this year.
Charles asks:
As a Yankee fan, I thought Devin Williams was going to have to take a one year show me deal in the 12-15 range, the Mets foolishly gave more than that.
He was having problems locating his fastball, especially up in the zone. This allowed batters to sit on his change up. If the changeup was too far up in the zone or was his flatter B- Change, he became more hittable. As well as giving up walks. Several broadcasters commented on just that..... Surprise surprise......the same thing is happening this year. Yet I kept reading the pundits, based off sabremetrics, say he would be fine and his contract was fine. Are there more advanced stats people were ignoring? What gives?
Before the MLBTR team begins deliberations for our Top 50 Free Agents list, we come up with our own contract projections individually. For Williams, I initially had two years and $24MM with an opt-out, in the range of the contract the Orioles eventually gave Ryan Helsley.
My colleagues rightfully convinced me that Williams was still considered one of the better relievers in the game during the offseason, and I was relatively on board with our four-year, $68MM prediction. Accounting for deferrals, Williams got a deal resembling three years and $45MM. We may have considered three years the least likely outcome, as Williams wouldn't want to be tied down to a less-than-elite contract if he expected to return to elite performance. But it looks like Williams chose to secure the maximum possible guarantee in lieu of returning to the market earlier.
I don't think sabermetrics were required to look at Williams' entire body of work and suggest that 2025 was something of a blip. I believe enough MLB teams mostly agreed with that in their evaluation of him last winter.
Nor is it all that complicated to note that a pitcher typically strands around 72% of his baserunners (Williams entered 2025 around 82%), so Williams stranding only 55.2% of his baserunners with the Yankees was an aberration. With relievers, we're dealing in very small samples, in this case 62 innings. For example, Emmanuel Clase stranded only 60.5% of his baserunners in 2023, and that didn't represent any kind of meaningful trend. Still, there's a lot more to unpack regarding Williams' time in New York.
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Mets Reinstate Juan Soto
April 22nd: Soto has been officially activated, as expected, with Senger optioned as the corresponding move.
April 21st: The Mets are planning to reinstate Juan Soto from the injured list on Wednesday, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He has been on the 10-day IL for a little over two weeks but will now return without a rehab assignment.
Soto, of course, is one of the best hitters in the league. He put up a huge .355/.412/.516 line in the club’s first eight games. A strain in his right calf put him out of action and sent him to the IL. Soto’s absence almost perfectly aligns with the club’s season going into a tailspin. The Mets won their first game with Soto on the IL, increasing their record to 7-4. They have since dropped 11 straight contests, dropping them to 7-15. That’s the worst record in the National League and only half a game better than the Royals for worst in the majors.
Ideally, Soto’s return will help the Mets to get back in the win column before the season slips away. They still have lots of time to make up ground but they’ve already put themselves in a hole. FanGraphs still gives the Mets a 41.4% chance of making the postseason, which doesn’t seem too bad in the current context, but that’s basically half of the 80.4% chance they had to begin the campaign.
The outfield has been a particular weak spot for the club since Soto landed on the shelf. The club has received a collective .232/.305/.322 line from their outfielders since Soto’s IL placement. That line translates to an 83 wRC+, indicating the group has been 17% below average, with only seven clubs below them in that category.
The Mets had planned on having Carson Benge in right, Luis Robert Jr. in center and Soto in left as their primary alignment. Robert is playing well but Benge has a .143/.229/.206 line on the year. That’s partially due to a rough .182 batting average on balls in play but his struggles have unfortunately coincided with Soto’s absence. Brett Baty has been largely bumped to the outfield by the Mets’ offseason infield additions but he has a .200/.206/.277 line this year. Tyrone Taylor is hitting .214/.241/.357. Tommy Pham is hitless in eight plate appearances.
Due to both Soto and Jorge Polanco being on the IL, MJ Melendez has picked up some playing time in the designated hitter spot. He has a .357/.438/.714 line but in a tiny sample of 16 plate appearances. That’s been helped by a massive .800 BABIP and has come despite him striking out eight times, half of his plate appearances. He won’t sustain this kind of production, especially since he’s a .216/.298/.391 hitter in almost 1700 career plate appearances.
The Mets will have to remove someone from the active roster when Soto is officially reinstated. They are currently carrying three catchers, so optioning Hayden Senger is probably the easiest solution. Recalling Senger for Polanco a few days ago may have been about giving the club the option of using Francisco Alvarez in the DH spot when he was getting a day off from catching, but they have been riding the hot hand of Melendez instead.
Optioning Benge is another option, since he is struggling so much. But as mentioned, some of that is due to poor batted ball luck, so the Mets might keep him around and hope his luck changes. Melendez also has options but the Mets might let him keep going until the hot streak ends. Designating Pham for assignment would be another possibility, since he’s not playing much and hasn’t hit when given the chance.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Jackson Holliday Undergoing MRI For Continued Hand Discomfort
Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday is in Baltimore for another MRI on his ailing right hand, the team announced to reporters (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). The O’s will likely have further updates once the imaging has been performed. However, with an off-day tomorrow, said update might not come before Friday.
Holliday suffered a broken hamate bone during a batting practice swing early in spring training. He had surgery on Feb. 12 to remove the hamate hook — standard procedure for hitters who incur this injury. That surgery typically comes with a recovery period of four to eight weeks, but Holliday hasn’t been able to get back on track. The O’s halted his first rehab stint and sent him for additional testing. He went out on a new rehab stint a few days later but has now been pulled back again after experiencing another painful swing.
Now more than two months removed from the surgery, Holliday still doesn’t appear all that close to joining the Orioles. The 22-year-old has taken 56 plate appearances between High-A Frederick and Triple-A Norfolk during his pair of rehab stints and carries an anemic .176/.250/.235 batting line with a 23.2% strikeout rate and a 5.4% walk rate. He’s averaged 86.3 mph off the bat with just a 26.7% hard-hit rate in his 47 plate appearances in Norfolk.
With Holliday sidelined, the Orioles have given utilityman Jeremiah Jackson the lion’s share of playing time at second base. He’s responded with a stout .297/.321/.527 batting line (136 wRC+) and five home runs in 78 turns at the plate.
Whether he can sustain that is an open question. Jackson has benefited from a .327 average on balls in play — a higher-than-average mark, but not egregiously so. (League average thus far is .289.) However, he’s walked only three times (2.6%), and his 73.2% contact rate ranks 139th among the 195 MLB hitters who’ve tallied at least 70 plate appearances this season. His free-swinging, low-contact approach could well prove exploitable over a larger sample, but for the time being, Jackson has more than capably held down the fort at the keystone.
Holliday’s eventual return could have ramifications around the infield. If Jackson is still hitting well, he could slide over to third base in place of former top prospect Coby Mayo. The expectation was that Mayo’s bat would be fine at the hot corner in place of the injured Jordan Westburg, but there were substantial questions about his defense. The inverse has played out. Mayo has looked plenty solid with the glove, but he’s continued to flounder against big league pitchers, hitting just .158/.262/.246 with a homer and a 27.7% strikeout rate. Mayo has drawn plenty of walks but hasn’t hit the ball hard (86.3 mph average exit velocity, 33.3% hard-hit rate).
Time will tell how much longer Holliday remains sidelined, but recent developments certainly aren’t encouraging. The former No. 1 pick hit .242/.314/.375 with 17 homers and 17 steals last year as a 21-year-old in his first full major league season.
Red Sox Select Eduardo Rivera
April 22: The Sox have made it official today, announcing they selected Rivera, optioned Anderson and put Casas on the 60-day IL. Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed the Casas move prior to the official announcement.
April 21: The Red Sox are promoting left-hander Eduardo Rivera, as first reported by Javier Sabath. The Sox will option righty Jack Anderson to Triple-A Worcester, according to Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. They’ll also need to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Triston Casas stands as a 60-day injured list candidate after suffering an intercostal strain on top of his work back from knee surgery.
Rivera makes the jump directly from Double-A Portland. The 22-year-old southpaw dominated over his first two starts of the season. He recorded 16 strikeouts against three walks over 10 innings of one-run ball. Rivera also missed bats for his native Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic. He fanned nine hitters over 6 2/3 frames in two WBC games. Rivera allowed three runs on two hits, four walks, and a hit batter.
Listed at 6’7″ and 237 pounds, Rivera cuts an imposing figure on the mound. The long limbs have also contributed to strike-throwing issues in his minor league career. Rivera was an 11th-round selection by the Athletics in 2021. He never advanced out of A-ball in their system and was released in May ’24.
The Red Sox took a flier on his size and a fastball that runs into the mid-90s. They’ve been rewarded for the pickup, as Rivera has pitched well since joining the Boston organization. He combined for a 2.48 ERA while striking out 29.7% of batters faced over 87 innings between High-A and Double-A last season. That came with a near-13% walk rate, but Rivera has been around the strike zone over his first couple appearances this year.
Rivera did not crack Baseball America’s Top 30 prospects. However, MLB Pipeline slotted him #26 in the system with praise for his fastball-slider combination. Rivera probably projects to a bullpen role but is stretched out enough to work multiple innings.
The Red Sox used seven relievers to get through Monday’s game. Their leverage arms got a rest today, as the duo of Anderson and Tyler Samaniego finished the 4-0 loss to the Yankees. Rivera will replace Anderson as a potential mop-up arm. They’re carrying a ninth reliever for the next couple days after placing Sonny Gray on the injured list but will need to drop back to an eight-man bullpen to call up a starter (most likely Payton Tolle) this weekend.