Rangers Place Evan Carter On 10-Day IL With Oblique Strain
Rangers outfielder Evan Carter is heading to the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, the team announced. The Rangers recalled infielder/outfielder Cody Freeman from Triple-A Round Rock to take Carter’s roster spot.
Injuries have been an all-too-frequent occurrence during a frustrating career for Carter, who left a loss to the Red Sox on Friday with what was described as soreness. He will now hit the IL for the fifth time since he debuted in September 2023. The 23-year-old appeared in just 108 of a possible 324 regular-season games from 2024-25. Carter had been much healthier this year until this injury cropped up, as he played in 66 of the Rangers’ first 69 games. The severity of his latest malady is unclear, but oblique problems often lead to lengthy absences.
The lefty-swinging Carter looked like a future star when the Rangers promoted him to the majors in September 2023. He slashed .306/.413/.645 over a 23-game, 75-plate appearance span to close out the regular season. Carter followed that up by hitting .300/.417/.500 in 72 trips to the plate during a playoff run that concluded with the Rangers’ World Series victory over the Diamondbacks.
Carter was riding plenty of momentum going into 2024, but lower back troubles held him to 45 games and kept him out from late May onward. He hit a meek .188/.272/.361 with five home runs in 162 plate appearances that year. Carter’s performance improved in 2025, in which he batted .247/.336/.392 with five HRs and 14 stolen bases, but quadriceps, back and wrist troubles limited him to 63 games and 220 PA.
While Carter has been the Rangers’ primary center fielder this year, his offense has backslid. He is going on the shelf with a .176/.292/.321 line, six homers and 10 steals in 229 trips to the plate. Carter’s .209 batting average on balls in play suggests he has been unlucky, but his xBA, xSLG and xwOBA all rank in the league’s bottom 19th percentile or worse. Lefties have been especially hard on Carter, who has gone a miserable 1 for 27 with a single, 11 strikeouts and three walks against them.
Michael Helman, the Rangers’ second option in center this year, will start there on Saturday against the Red Sox. He could get most of the work at the position while Carter is out. Corner outfielders Wyatt Langford and Brandon Nimmo also have experience in center, though the latter hasn’t seen much action there since 2023.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
Tigers Activate Tarik Skubal, Place Jack Flaherty On 15-Day IL
Six weeks since he last took the mound, superstar left-hander Tarik Skubal is officially back. The Tigers have activated the two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner from the 15-day injured list and placed right-hander Jack Flaherty on the 15-day IL with a left peroneal strain. In other moves, the Tigers recalled infielder Hao-Yu Lee from Triple-A Toledo and optioned righty Ty Madden.
Skubal will get the ball on Saturday against the AL Central rival Guardians, whom he has held to a 2.33 ERA over a dozen starts since he debuted in 2020. It will be Skubal’s first MLB outing since he fired seven frames of two-run ball against the Braves on April 29. In his lone rehab start last Sunday with High-A West Michigan, Skubal tossed 54 pitches over five scoreless, two-hit innings. He struck out six and walked none.
Skubal underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow on May 6. At that point, the fear was Skubal would miss two to three months. Instead, opting for the relatively new NanoNeedle procedure – a less invasive surgery – led to a far quicker recovery for Skubal. He is just 38 days removed from going under the knife. Injured Dodgers lefty Blake Snell has also made good progress since he underwent the same surgery about a week and a half later than Skubal. It could be a game changer for pitchers if Skubal and Snell bounce back from it.
Skubal’s surgery temporarily derailed what has been yet another excellent season for the 29-year-old. He came out of the gates with 43 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball and recorded a 27.1 strikeout percentage against a microscopic 3.6 percent walk rate. The Tigers were off to a bit of a slow start with a healthy Skubal, as they owned a 15-16 record after his most recent start. The wheels came off for most of his time on the shelf.
The Tigers now sit a highly disappointing 29-41, but they have won seven of their last 10 to climb back into the playoff race in a weak league. While they are nine games back of the surprising White Sox in the Central, they face a more manageable 5 1/2-game deficit to earn a wild-card spot. As the Tigers know, even nine games may not be too much to overcome. They lost what looked like an insurmountable 15 1/2-game lead to the Guardians over the final couple months of the 2025 campaign.
There is still over a month and a half left until the Aug. 3 trade deadline, giving the Tigers enough time to emerge as buyers or at least avoid selling. If they fall out of the race, president of baseball operations Scott Harris will have to decide how to proceed with Skubal. The Scott Boras client is due to reach free agency in the offseason, and odds are Detroit will not be the highest bidder for his services. As someone who will be the most coveted trade chip in the game leading up to the deadline, Skubal could net the Tigers a nice package of prospects. Otherwise, if he departs in free agency after receiving and rejecting a qualifying offer, the Tigers will get one a draft pick as compensation. That pick will come after the first round.
While Skubal’s long-term future will be determined at a later date, the Tigers can take solace in the fact that their rotation is getting healthier. Righty Casey Mize, who has been down since late May with groin tightness, will return Sunday. Franchise icon Justin Verlander, who made his lone start of the year way back on March 30, is making progress in his recovery from hip inflammation. Meanwhile, after missing almost two full months with elbow inflammation, righty Troy Melton debuted May 24 and has since notched a 2.81 ERA over a four-start, 25 2/3-inning span.
For now, Skubal and Mize will rejoin Melton, Keider Montero and big-money offseason signing Framber Valdez in the Tigers’ rotation. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was prepared to deploy a six-man group, but that was before Flaherty exited a loss to the Guardians on Friday after just three innings. His injury “affects the tendon that wraps around the outside of the foot and ankle,” Evan Woodbery of MLive.com explains.
Like Skubal, Flaherty is on track to reach free agency during the offseason. However, barring a turnaround when Flaherty comes back (assuming he does), he will not reach the market with much momentum.
After exercising a $20MM player option to stay with the Tigers over the winter, Flaherty has pitched to a 5.35 ERA with a 25.5 strikeout percentage and an 11.1 percent walk across 15 starts and 65 2/3 frames this season. The 30-year-old has doled out free passes at the second-highest clip of his career and recorded a personal-worst 30.3 percent ground-ball rate. A higher-than-usual .337 batting average on balls in play and an abnormally low 63 percent strand rate have hurt Flaherty, whose FIP (4.10), SIERA (4.19), xFIP (4.52). xERA (4.58) are all far lower than his ERA. Perhaps there will be positive regression if he returns.
Braves Place Spencer Strider On 15-Day Injured List
1:11pm: Ritchie will indeed take Strider’s spot in the rotation, Weiss announced (via Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
9:05am: The Braves announced that right-hander Spencer Strider has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. Right-hander Anthony Molina was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move.
The placement comes a day after Strider was removed during the fourth inning of Friday’s 7-5 loss to the Mets. Strider was charged with seven runs over his three innings (plus one batter) of work, and he was visited on the mound by a team trainer after walking MJ Melendez to begin the fourth inning.
During the game, the Braves said Strider’s departure was due to soreness in both his right elbow and shoulder. Manager Walt Weiss told MLB.com’s Matthew Ritchie and other reporters post-game that Strider would undergo an MRI, and the fact that Strider has been immediately placed on the IL likely isn’t a good sign.
After an All-Star season in 2023, Strider’s emergence as a homegrown ace of the Braves rotation has been dimmed by multiple injuries. An internal brace surgery sidelined him for almost all of the 2024 season and the first few weeks of the 2025 campaign, and then Strider quickly picked up a hamstring strain that led to another month on the shelf. This season, Strider strained his oblique during Spring Training and didn’t make his 2026 debut until May 3.
Strider has a 5.31 ERA over eight starts and 39 innings in 2026. While his 4.09 SIERA is considerably better than his ERA and Friday’s outing can probably be chalked up to injury, Strider hasn’t really looked like his old self. Strider’s strikeout rate is an impressive 27.9% but he is walking a lot of batters (12.1BB%) and has allowed nine home runs over his small sample size of work. The elite fastball velocity that Strider showed pre-UCL surgery hasn’t returned, as his four-seamer is averaging a modest 95.1mph this year.
Strider’s inconsistency has been one of the few down notes during an otherwise superb year for the Braves, who lead the majors with a 45-24 record. Some early-season injuries thinned Atlanta’s rotation depth and that may be a question again now that Strider is again on the IL, yet the Braves are now in better position to fill a hole in the starting five. JR Ritchie threw five shutout innings in relief of Strider last night and might simply be bumped up to rotation duty, or Reynaldo Lopez could again be stretched out to be a starting pitcher.
Hurston Waldrep was also activated from the 60-day IL yesterday and optioned to Triple-A, as Waldrep continues to build up arm strength after undergoing a February surgery to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow. Spencer Schwellenbach underwent a similar surgery at the same time but isn’t expected back until after the All-Star break. AJ Smith-Shawver should be back around the same time assuming no setbacks in the righty’s recovery from a June 2025 Tommy John surgery.
Rangers Select Joe Ross, Designate Michel Otañez
The Rangers announced that they have selected right-hander Joe Ross from Triple-A Round Rock and designated fellow righty Michel Otañez for assignment. They optioned righty Luis Curvelo to Round Rock to clear a 26-man roster spot for Ross.
While Ross went 25th overall to the Padres in the 2011 draft, he has spent the majority of his career in Washington. He debuted in 2015 and went on to combine for 3.52 ERA over 181 2/3 innings 35 appearances and 32 starts in his first two seasons. Thanks in part to injury problems, the two-time Tommy John patient’s effectiveness has dropped off since 2017. Also a former Brewer, Phillie and Diamondback, Ross has pitched to a 4.37 ERA in 572 major league frames.
Ross was out of the league from 2022-23 and has since worked almost exclusively in relief. The 33-year-old cracked the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster this season, but they designated him for assignment after he coughed up eight earned runs on seven hits and four walks in a three-appearance, 3 2/3-inning span. After the D-backs released Ross in late May, he quickly joined the Rangers on a minor league pact. Ross has since made seven relief appearances with Round Rock and registered a quality 2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 innings, though he has managed just eight strikeouts against five walks.
The Diamondbacks cut Ross when he was just one day shy of reaching eight years of big league service time. He will hit that mark in his return Saturday. Meanwhile, Otañez will go into DFA limbo for up to a week. The Rangers claimed him off waivers from the Athletics last November, but the hard-throwing 28-year-old has not gotten to the majors this season. Texas booted him from its 40-man roster after he logged a 6.15 ERA with high strikeout and walk rates of 30.8 and 20.8 percent, respectively, in 26 1/3 innings with Round Rock. In 39 1/3 frames with the A’s from 2024-25, Otañez notched a 4.81 ERA with a 34.1 percent strikeout rate and a 14.1 percent walk rate.
Padres Place Miguel Andujar On 10-Day IL, Select Nick Solak
The Padres have placed infielder/designated hitter Miguel Andujar on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain (retroactive to June 11). To take his 26-man roster spot, the Padres selected outfielder Nick Solak from Triple-A El Paso. They now have a full 40-man roster.
The 31-year-old Andujar tweaked his hamstring in a loss to the Mets last Sunday. While he avoided an IL stint for several days, he wound up totaling just two plate appearances this week before landing on the shelf. The injury adds to a tough start for Andujar, who has not come close to matching the .318/.352/.470 line (125 wRC+) he posted in 470 plate appearances between the Athletics and Reds in 2025. A career-high .348 batting average on balls in play helped fuel the right-handed Andujar, who did most of his damage against lefties. He torched them for a .389/.409/.578 line and a 171 wRC+.
The Padres brought Andujar in on a one-year, $4.5MM guarantee in free agency, and he came out of the gates quickly this season. Andujar recorded a sizzling .925 OPS in April, but his numbers have nosedived in the past several weeks. With his BABIP down to .285, he has slashed a modest .254/.288/.418 (96 wRC+) with five home runs in 198 trips to the plate. Surprisingly, Andujar had more success against righties (104 wRC+) than lefties (76).
Aside from a handful of appearances in the corner infield, Andujar has spent almost all of his time at DH this season. Will Wagner will make his fourth straight start there Saturday against the Orioles.
Solak, also 31, combined for 985 plate appearances with the Rangers, Braves and Pirates from 2019-25, though he has totaled just 15 since 2023. Overall, the righty has batted .250/.325/.369 with 21 homers and a 91 wRC+ at the game’s highest level. While Solak has gotten extensive defensive work at second base and both corner outfield spots, he has typically earned negative marks. After joining the Padres on a minor league deal in the offseason, he opened the year with a .340/.419/.522 line, nine homers and five steals in 237 trips to the plate with El Paso. Even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, his production has been 31 percent better than average.
Solak is not in the Padres’ lineup on Saturday. They will instead go with Samad Taylor and Jase Bowen in the outfield corners.
A.J. Puk To Undergo Shoulder MRI
Diamondbacks left-handed reliever A.J. Puk is nearing the one-year anniversary of the internal brace procedure he underwent on his elbow on June 20, 2025. Puk is now dealing with another issue that will delay a potential 2026 return. The Diamondbacks have paused his rehab as a result of left shoulder discomfort, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Puk will undergo an MRI.
The Athletics drafted Puk sixth overall in 2016. He continued as a premium starting pitching prospect in the minors over the next couple of years. Unfortunately, though, injuries have plagued Puk throughout his professional career and largely limited him to a relief role. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018, keeping him out all of that season. The A’s promoted Puk to the majors in August 2019, but after an encouraging late-season debut, a shoulder strain shelved him for the entire pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. He has since gone on the IL five more times with various arm troubles, including his current 60-day placement.
When he has taken the mound, the 31-year-old Puk has held his own. During a mostly healthy stretch with the A’s, Marlins and Diamondbacks from 2022-24, he made 178 appearances and fired 180 2/3 innings of 2.94 ERA ball with a 31.1 percent strikeout rate and a walk percentage of 6.4. He was in top form after Arizona acquired him from Miami ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. Puk posted a pristine 1.32 ERA with 43 strikeouts and a mere five walks over 27 1/3 frames.
The Diamondbacks hoped for similar dominance last year, but Puk was only healthy enough to total eight innings. His most recent appearance in the majors came on April 17, 2025. While Arizona could have non-tendered Puk in the offseason, it kept him around on a $3.1MM salary for his final year of team control. Puk had been working back on a rehab assignment before this shoulder problem cropped up in a 24-pitch outing with Triple-A Reno on June 5.
The Diamondbacks have started the year 35-34, putting them 8 1/2 back of the NL West-leading Dodgers. That may be too big of a deficit to overcome, but they are just a half-game out of a wild-card spot. A bullpen that has gotten nothing from Puk or June 2025 Tommy John recipient Justin Martinez ranks 20th in ERA (4.27) and 25th in K-BB percentage (10.5). However, a good portion of the damage has come against current minor leaguers Brandon Pfaadt (5.91 ERA in 21 1/3 relief innings) and Andrew Hoffmann (7.71 ERA in 11 1/3 frames).
The Diamondbacks have gotten impressive results from a unit consisting of closer Paul Sewald, Kevin Ginkel, Taylor Clarke, Juan Morillo, Ryan Thompson, Jonathan Loáisiga and Brandyn Garcia. They have each logged ERAs ranging from 2.12 to 3.20, and all of them carry decent or better peripherals. There isn’t much variety with Puk unavailable, though, as Garcia is the lone southpaw in the group. Martinez, another righty, could return sometime in the second half, per the team’s injury report at MLB.com. He threw his eighth bullpen session on Friday.
Expecting to buy before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, D-backs general manager Mike Hazen has already identified the bullpen as an area he would like to address. If Puk’s latest injury proves severe, it could increase Hazen’s urgency to upgrade his relief corps this summer.
Yankees Place Trent Grisham On 10-Day IL, Activate Jasson Domínguez
The Yankees have placed outfielder Trent Grisham on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, the team announced. Fellow outfielder Jasson Domínguez, whom the Yankees reinstated from the 10-day IL, will take Grisham’s roster spot.
Grisham suffered the injury sliding into second base in a loss to the Blue Jays on Friday, forcing him to leave early. The Yankees brought in Max Schuemann to play right field and shifted Spencer Jones to center to replace Grisham. They are now down two starting outfielders, having lost superstar right fielder Aaron Judge to a stress fracture in his rib earlier this month. Judge will not be back until at least August, while the length of Grisham’s absence will depend on the severity of his strain.
After Grisham unexpectedly erupted for 34 home runs during a 3.2-fWAR showing in 2025, the Yankees issued him a $22.05MM qualifying offer as he prepared to hit free agency. The 29-year-old accepted it, and though he got off to a slow start this season (.610 OPS through April), he has reemerged as a key part of the Yankees’ offense over the past several weeks. While Grisham isn’t hitting for as much power this year, he has slashed his strikeout rate from 23.6 percent to 15.9 over 264 plate appearances. Thanks in part to a strong 14.4 percent walk rate, Grisham is batting .232/.341/.406 with eight homers. He has also chipped in six stolen bases. His offensive performance has been 12 percent better than average, according to wRC+, and a .360 xwOBA that easily outdoes his .334 wOBA suggests he has deserved even better results.
Grisham drew excellent defensive grades earlier in his career, but that has not been the case recently. Defensive Runs Saved (minus-4), Outs Above Average (minus-3) and Fielding Run Value (minus-2) have all assigned him negative marks this year. Nevertheless, it is a significant blow to lose an everyday center fielder who brings quality offense to the table. Jones and left fielder Cody Bellinger are logical candidates to see time in center, where they have garnered plenty of experience. Most of Jones’ work has come in the minors, though he has also started in center twice during his brief 15-game career in the majors. But the strikeout-prone Jones is fanning at an awful 41.9% clip, meaning there will likely be an offensive drop-off from Grisham.
Domínguez will give the Yankees another corner outfield option as he returns from missing over a month with a low-grade AC sprain in his left shoulder. The former top prospect, 23, suffered the injury crashing into the wall in left in a home win over the Rangers on May 7. Domínguez began the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but the Yankees called him up in late April. Before heading to the IL, he hit just .200/.250/.367 (70 wRC+) with one homer over a small sample of 32 plate appearances. He played in 123 games in 2025 and batted a more appealing .257/.331/.388 (103 wRC+) with 10 homers and 23 steals in 429 trips to the plate.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Garrett Crochet Unlikely To Return Before All-Star Break
Garrett Crochet spoke to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other reporters Friday about his health status, though the left-hander still didn’t have any clear timeline about when he might return to the Red Sox rotation. “I think it would take a huge leap to say I’d be back before” the All-Star break, Crochet said, as “I think that would be really rushing it” given that his rehab process will now have to be essentially restarted in the aftermath of a lat strain.
Crochet tossed six shutout innings on April 25 and was then (retroactively) placed on the 15-day injured list the next day due to left shoulder inflammation. After about a month on the sidelines, Crochet had progressed to facing live batters before the lat strain resulted in a throwing shutdown that has now lasted over two weeks.
The lat strain is now no longer a real issue, and Crochet said he is “getting close to throwing.” Understandably, the southpaw is frustrated “that I’ve been out this long” due to a confluence of two relatively minor injuries that overlapped at just about the most inconvenient time.
The best-case scenario would have Crochet ready to go when the second half begins on July 17, as the Red Sox face the Rays in a doubleheader. It remains to be seen if that twin bill may have much impact on the AL East race, as 12.5 games currently separate the division-leading Rays from the Sox at the bottom of the division standings. Boston is looking like a trade deadline seller as things stand now, and not having Crochet for several more weeks will make it even harder for the Red Sox to climb back into contention.
Between Crochet’s injury absence and Brayan Bello pitching so poorly that was optioned to Triple-A last week, the emergency of Connelly Early and Payton Tolle have been a godsend to the Sox rotation. With Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray also pitching well, the rotation hasn’t been much of an issue, at least not in comparison to the offensive woes that have been Boston’s biggest Achilles heel.
Brewers Place Coleman Crow On 15-Day IL Due To Flexor Strain
The Brewers placed right-hander Coleman Crow on the 15-day injured list on Friday (retroactive to June 10) due to right forearm flexor strain. Right-hander Craig Yoho was called up from Triple-A Nashville in the corresponding move.
The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, and the lighter variety of such flexor injuries would see Crow return to action in under a month. Beyond that best-case scenario, it isn’t out of the question that Crow’s 2026 season could be in jeopardy, especially given his past history of arm troubles. A Tommy John surgery cost Crow almost all of the 2023-24 seasons, and he was limited to 50 minor league innings in 2025 due to hip problems and another flexor strain.
It seemed like Crow had put his injury woes behind him when the righty made his MLB debut earlier this season. Crow has been called up to the majors three times in his rookie year — twice to make spot starts, and his last three appearances have consisted of two starts and a two-inning relief outing. This appearance out of the pen last Tuesday marked Crow’s last game before his flexor strain surfaced.
Crow has a 5.30 ERA and a tiny 11.8% strikeout rate to show for his 18 2/3 innings in the big leagues. On the plus side, his walk rate is a solid 7.1%, and his ERA was somewhat inflated by a particularly rough outing (six ER over 2 1/3 innings) against the Giants on June 4. While Crow’s time in the majors is a small sample size, the lack of punchouts is unusual considering the righty’s much more respectable 25.39K% over 299 1/3 career minor league frames in the Angels and Brewers farm systems.
Milwaukee has soared to a 42-25 record despite a number of pitching injuries, and Crow’s absence removes another rotation candidate from the mix. Brandon Woodruff (shoulder inflammation) has started a minor league rehab assignment and is expected to be back sometime in June, while Logan Henderson (back strain) is still a few weeks away. Quinn Priester‘s status remains up in the air, as the right-hander again had his rehab assignment put on hold as Priester continues to struggle in his recover from thoracic outlet syndrome.
Jacob Misiorowski‘s brilliance has helped carry the shorthanded Brewers rotation, and Kyle Harrison has also looked great in his first season in Milwaukee. Brandon Sproat has at least contributed 60 innings but with a 5.70 ERA, and Robert Gasser has a 6.38 ERA over 18 1/3 frames as a starter this season. Shane Drohan is slated to make his fourth start of the season today, and the rookie southpaw has looked pretty good in delivering a 3.11 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate in his first 37 2/3 innings in the big leagues (with 10 bullpen appearances along with his three starts).
The situation should improve itself once Woodruff and Henderson are back, and it could be that Crow’s flexor strain isn’t too serious. The Brewers have a knack for finding and developing rotation help from within, but if depth is still an issue in a month’s time, Milwaukee could consider adding a veteran innings-eater at the trade deadline.
The Opener: Misiorowski, Alvarez, Skubal
The Marlins are baseball’s hottest team, as a six-game winning streak has brought Miami back to a .500 (35-35) record. Friday’s 8-3 win over the Pirates saw Sandy Alcantara allow five runs and a walk over eight innings of three-run ball, while striking out seven. Alcantara’s impressive start included his 1000th career strikeout, with 992 of those punchouts coming in a Marlins uniform. Ricky Nolasco is Miami’s all-time strikeout leader with 1001, so Alcantara figures to set a new franchise record perhaps as early as his next start.
1. Miz’s masterpiece
Jacob Misiorowski‘s dream season continued with one of the best pitching performances in recent memory, as the Brewers ace faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 shutout of the Phillies on Friday. Kyle Schwarber‘s fourth-inning single made him the only Philadelphia batter to reach base, and Misiorowski quickly extinguished the threat by inducing Bryce Harper to hit into a double play. Misiorowski recorded 15 strikeouts and needed only 94 pitches to finish his complete-game gem, and an absurd 58 of those pitches reached or topped the 100mph threshold. Misiorowski has a 1.34 ERA over 14 starts and 87 innings this season, and he has been charged with just one earned run over his last 54 1/3 IP.
2. Yordan goes yard twice
If Misiorowski’s pitching numbers look like something out of a video game, Yordan Alvarez is posting his share of unreal statistics on the offensive side. The Houston slugger is hitting .321/.433/.659 with over 305 plate appearances, and his 24 home runs are tied with Schwarber for the Major League lead. Alvarez’s 23rd and 24th homers came in the first inning of Friday’s 10-8 Astros win over the Royals, as Alvarez also became the first batter in Astros history to record six RBI in one inning.
3. Skubal returns
For the first time since April 29, Tarik Skubal will take the mound for the Tigers. The reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner is set to be activated from the 15-day injured list for today’s key AL Central game against the Guardians, capping off what seems to be a remarkable recovery. Skubal was expected to miss at least a couple of months after he underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow, but the use of the new “NanoNeedle” scope during the procedure appears to have shaved several weeks off of Skubal’s recovery time. While the Tigers are still just 29-41, Detroit has a 7-3 record in June, and the returns of both Skubal and Casey Mize from the IL create some hope that the Tigers can continue to dig themselves out of their early-season hole. And, if not, Skubal suddenly becomes the biggest trade chip in baseball heading into the deadline.