Dodgers Place Mookie Betts On Injured List With Oblique Strain
The Dodgers announced this morning that they’ve placed veteran star Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list. Jack Harris of the California Post relays that, according to manager Dave Roberts, Betts has suffered an oblique strain. Utility man Hyeseong Kim was recalled from the minors in a corresponding move. Maddie Lee of the LA Times first reported that the club was likely to recall Kim earlier this morning, though she noted that they intended to check in with Betts about the status of his back before doing so.
It’s hard to know how long Betts will be sidelined until the Dodgers give a more firm timeline, but oblique strains are notoriously finicky for position players due to the rotational nature of hitting. Even the most minor of oblique strains can require weeks on the shelf thanks to the risk of re-injury, so it’s entirely possible that the Dodgers will be without their star shortstop until sometime in May. A more significant oblique strain could take significantly longer, and a rehab assignment would further push Betts’s timeline back. The good news, however, is that The Athletic’s Katie Woo writes that Roberts didn’t put an immediate timeline on the veteran’s recovery window but that the team is hopeful he could be back before the standard 4-6 week recovery timeline.
Regardless of how long it takes for Betts to return, it goes without saying that losing him is a real blow. The 33-year-old is coming off a down 2025 season where he posted a wRC+ of just 104, but he’s managed to make himself into a solid defensive shortstop and certainly has the ability needed to return to form offensively this year if his health permits it. The loss of Betts’s bat is something the club can paper over in the short-term thanks to the other stars in the lineup and a strong early-season performance from Andy Pages, but it’s going to be harder to stomach his absence from a defensive perspective.
In the past, Miguel Rojas has been tapped to handle shortstop for the Dodgers when Betts has been injured. That still appears to be the case for now, as Rojas is slated to fill in at shortstop during today’s game against lefty Foster Griffin. With that said, Rojas has played the position with less and less frequency over the past few years and is now 37 years old. If the Dodgers find that he’s lost a step defensively at the position, perhaps Kim could be another option given his experience at shortstop for the club last year. MLB.com’s Sonja Chen reports that Kim and Rojas are expected to share shortstop, with prospect Alex Freeland continuing to mostly handle second base. Freeland has more than 3000 innings of experience at the position in the minors but has yet to play the position in the majors.
As for Kim, the 27-year-old has hit a robust .346/.438/.385 in six games at Triple-A since the Dodgers’ surprising decision to option him to the minors for the start of the season, and his 95 wRC+ in 71 games for L.A. last year was more than acceptable for a utility player. Given that the Dodgers have shown a preference for playing both Rojas and Santiago Espinal against primarily left-handed pitching, that paves the way for Kim to get frequent reps against right-handed pitching while Betts is on the shelf as the team’s shortstop next to Freeland at second base. Against lefties, Rojas at shortstop and Espinal at second base seems to be the likely lineup of choice, though the Dodgers could also consider giving Max Muncy a breather to get Freeland (or Kim) in the lineup against a southpaw or two. While Freeland has been protected from lefties to this point in his young MLB career, he is a switch-hitter whose development could benefit from taking extra reps on his weaker side at the big league level.
Pirates Place Jared Triolo On 10-Day Injured List
The Pirates announced this morning that they’ve placed infielder Jared Triolo on the 10-day injured list due to patellar tendon injury in his right knee. Outfielder Billy Cook was recalled to the majors in a corresponding move.
The news comes just days after Triolo moved into a new role as the team’s starting third baseman after being bumped off shortstop in favor of top prospect Konnor Griffin. Triolo ultimately wound up making just one start at the hot corner before hitting the shelf. Kevin Gorman of TribLive reports that Triolo’s injury occurred while running the bases on Friday. The infielder did not play Saturday in what at first looked like a routine day of rest but now appears to have been an effort to give Triolo a day to recover before a potential IL decision.
Even with Griffin now in the majors, losing Triolo is a real blow for the Pirates. He’s gotten off to a slow start this year with a wRC+ of just 71 in six games, but he’s proven to be a solid and dependable role player for Pittsburgh in recent years thanks to his ability to play solid defense all over the infield while hitting within spitting distance of league average. Triolo figured to get the lion’s share of reps at third base now that Griffin has shortstop locked down, but with him headed to the shelf for an uncertain length of time the position now figures to be split between Nick Gonzales and Nick Yorke.
Gonzales’s 86 wRC+ for his career is no better than Triolo’s and he lacks significant experience at the hot corner, but he has gotten off to a hot start at the plate (120 wRC+) this year and is a former top prospect who has long been looked at as a possible breakout hitter. As for Yorke, he was once a first-round pick by the Red Sox but got traded to Pittsburgh prior to his big league debut in 2024. He has just 38 games in the majors on his resume and is just as inexperienced at third base as Gonzales, but he too is off to a hot start with a 137 wRC+ in his first five games. Triolo’s injury, then, serves as a prime opportunity for either Gonzales or Yorke to step up and claim the third base position if one of them can prove capable at the position defensively and sustain their hot start to the year.
As for Cook, the 27-year-old has just 22 games and 55 plate appearances in his career. He’s hit .236/.236/.436 in those limited opportunities, but he has hit a respectable enough .264/.352/.440 in 197 games at Triple-A. He’s stolen 94 bags over the past four seasons, and that combination of speed on the bases and at least solid offensive numbers in the minors leaves a path for him to be an effective fourth outfielder in the majors. Perhaps he’ll see time as a defensive replacement in the Pirates’ outfield, given that all three of Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn, and Bryan Reynolds are unimpressive defenders on the grass.
Cubs To Promote Riley Martin
April 5: Martin’s recall and Horton’s placement on the IL are now official. In addition, the Cubs have recalled right-hander Ethan Roberts to the majors as the club’s 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Guardians.
April 4: The Cubs will promote left-hander Riley Martin from Triple-A Iowa to their active roster before today’s game with the Guardians, according to Bleacher Nation’s Jacob Zanolla. Martin is likely the corresponding move for Cade Horton‘s forthcoming placement on the 15-day injured list, and no other transaction is needed since Martin is already on Chicago’s 40-man roster.
The 28-year-old Martin will be making his Major League debut whenever he is first used in a game. The southpaw was a sixth-round pick for the Cubs in the 2021 draft, and he has pitched at the Triple-A level in each of the last four seasons. Working almost exclusively as a reliever, Martin has a 3.88 ERA and an impressive 30.67% strikeout rate over 139 1/3 innings in Iowa, but with an inflated 15.57% walk rate. Left-handed Triple-A batters contributed most of that damage, as Martin had significant reverse splits in both 2024 and 2025.
Baseball America ranked Martin 20th on its list of the top 30 Cubs prospects, while MLB Pipeline has the southpaw 28th on their top-30 ranking. He relies almost entirely on a plus curveball that, as per Pipeline’s scouting report, “can be devastating at times and also lose some shape and miss the zone by wide margins at others.” In general, Pipeline’s evaluation feels Martin “trades control for deception” in deploying an upright delivery to maximize the break on his pitches.
Chicago placed Martin on the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and the lefty will now take the next step into the big leagues for the first time. Martin has often worked multiple innings out of the pen, giving the Cubs some extra length as they figure out how to manage Horton’s absence. Swingman Colin Rea could be the top candidate for rotation work, Ben Brown is another candidate already on the active roster, or the Cubs might use both pitchers and other arms for a bullpen game or two until Rea is fully stretched out for a starting role.
Juan Soto Day To Day With “Minor Strain” In Right Calf
5:53PM: Soto told SNY and other media that the MRI revealed “just a minor strain” in his right calf. The plan is for Soto to go “day by day and see how it feels. Definitely no decisions made yet [about the injured list]. We’re going to see how I wake up for the next couple of days and then go from there.” The Mets have an off-day on Monday, which gives the team some extra time to monitor Soto and potentially make a roster decision before Tuesday’s game with the Diamondbacks.
1:09PM: Juan Soto left yesterday’s 10-3 Mets win over the Giants with what the team described as right calf tightness. Manager Carlos Mendoza told the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters postgame that Soto will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury.
Soto lasted just a half-inning into Friday’s game, as he picked up the injury while advancing from first to third on a Bo Bichette single in the first inning. Soto was retired on a force play at the plate later in the frame, and Tyrone Taylor took over for Soto in left field for the bottom half of the first.
Over 34 plate appearances, Soto has hit .355/.412/.516 with one home run in the early stages of the 2026 campaign. The superstar’s hot start has been a bright spot within an inconsistent Mets offense — beyond yesterday’s rout of the Giants and an 11-7 win over the Pirates on Opening Day, New York has scored only 14 runs over its other six games.
Needless to say, losing Soto for any amount of time would be a rough break for the Mets’ lineup. Brett Baty would likely get the bulk of playing time in left field if Soto is sidelined, with Taylor providing some platoon cover apart from his usual fourth-outfielder duties. Jorge Polanco has been limited mostly to DH duty due to his bothersome left Achilles, so Mark Vientos (who is also off to a hot start in limited playing time) would see more action at first base if Baty is needed more regularly in left field.
Soto’s durability is an underrated aspect of his standing as one of baseball’s best players. Over the 2021-25 seasons, Soto played in 783 of a possible 810 games, and he hasn’t been on the injured list since 2021 (when he missed two weeks with a left shoulder strain). The MRI results will determine whether or not this streak of good health will continue, though even if the tests are negative, the Mets could opt to give Soto a 10-day IL stint just as a precaution in order to let him fully heal up.
Luis Gil To Return To Yankees Next Week
Right-hander Luis Gil is expected to rejoin the Yankees next week, manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. The skipper said Gil will be back with the big-league club on regular rest following his Triple-A start on Sunday. That would line him up to pitch on Friday against the Rays.
New York went into the season with a four-man rotation. Several off days allowed the club to skip the fifth starter spot during the first two weeks of the campaign. That left Gil on the outside looking in for a role on the Opening Day squad, and he was ultimately optioned to the minors. The 27-year-old righty made six appearances in MLB Spring Training. Tomorrow’s outing will be his first, and likely his only, with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The four-man approach went about as well as Boone could’ve hoped for to begin the year. The Yankees’ starting pitchers entered play on Saturday leading the league in ERA and ranking second in WHIP. The foursome of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers racked up five wins in seven tries. Weathers ran into some trouble against the Marlins tonight, but it’s still been a stellar start for the rotation.
After a handful of appearances in 2021 and 2022, Gil missed all of 2023 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2024 and became an integral part of New York’s pitching staff. The righty notched a 3.50 ERA with a 26.8% strikeout rate across 29 starts. The performance was good enough to narrowly edge Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser for AL Rookie of the Year honors.
Gil went down with a lat strain shortly before the 2025 season. He was limited to 57 innings last year. Gil managed a 3.32 ERA, but his xFIP and SIERA were well above 5.00. His strikeout rate slipped to 16.8%, while his walk rate jumped to 13.5%, his worst mark since his 2021 debut.
The Yankees will need a roster move to add Gil to the 26-man roster. The demotion will almost certainly be a member of the nine-man bullpen. Jake Bird and Brent Headrick both have minor league options. So do Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz, but they’re both key cogs of the late-inning group. Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest made the team in Gil’s spot. He’s yet to appear in a game this season. The lack of usage could suggest Winquest isn’t long for the club.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Brewers Notes: Frelick, Pratt, Zastryzny
Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick left Saturday’s matchup with left side tightness, the team announced. Frelick received a visit from the trainer after a base hit in the fourth inning of the night game against the Royals. He was ultimately replaced by Brandon Lockridge. Frelick grimaced and jogged to first on the single, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Frelick has started all eight of Milwaukee’s games so far. He walked and singled in the first game of today’s doubleheader against Kansas City. Even with the hit in the nightcap, he’s still hitting under .200 this year. Lockridge, Blake Perkins, and recent trade acquisition Luis Matos are candidates to pick up more reps if Frelick is forced to miss time.
The Brewers have dealt with a handful of key injuries early in the year. Outfielder Jackson Chourio began the campaign on the IL due to a fractured hand suffered in the World Baseball Classic. First baseman Andrew Vaughn went down with a hamate bone injury on Opening Day.
The pitching staff hasn’t been immune to the injury bug. Quinn Priester is working through a nerve issue in his shoulder. Craig Yoho is out with a strained calf. Rob Zastryzny was rehabbing a shoulder injury and suffered a setback. The veteran lefty reinjured himself and is headed back to Milwaukee for further testing, per Rosiak.
Zastryzny joined the organization on a minor league pact ahead of the 2024 season. He delivered a pristine 1.17 ERA in nine games with the club that year. Zastryzny bounced around last offseason, ultimately landing with the Yankees. He returned to the Brewers in a May 2025 trade. Zastryzny provided 22 innings of a 2.45 ERA last season.
Milwaukee doesn’t currently have a clear need for another lefty in the bullpen. Manager Pat Murphy has four at his disposal, with Jared Koenig and Angel Zerpa on hand for high-leverage spots and DL Hall and Aaron Ashby capable of covering multiple innings. The Brewers came into today’s action leading the league in bullpen xFIP and SIERA.
On a more positive note, prospect Cooper Pratt shared details about the decision to ink an eight-year, $50.75MM extension. The deal came as a surprise for multiple reasons, including Pratt’s inexperience and the fact that his agent, Scott Boras, isn’t known to pursue extensions. “They brought it up in spring training, and it just worked out to happen early into the season,” Pratt told reporters, including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “But I feel like we made a good decision. I feel like, in my heart, I made a good decision.”
Pratt was the driving force behind the extension, and he convinced Boras by pointing out that the security of the contract would allow him to grow and develop with less pressure, relayed Hogg. “And when I heard that, we will end up with a better player on both sides, and a more advanced player and potentially a star-level player,” Boras said. “Which, then, will justify the contract concerns I have when you are essentially doing a contract like this that will have substantial economic benefits for the team and delay free agency.”
The Brewers took Pratt with a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft. He posted a 123 wRC+ in his first full season of professional ball. The infielder spent last season at Double-A. Pratt slashed .238/.343/.348 in 120 games with Biloxi. He began the 2026 campaign at Triple-A. The news of the extension emerged a few games into Nashville’s season. “It’s not going to change anything on how I want to perform,” Pratt said. “I’m still going to want to go 5-for-5 every night. It’s just that thought in the back of your head disappears.”
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
AL West Notes: Donovan, Joyce, Crawford
Mariners utilityman Brendan Donovan left last night’s game with an apparent leg injury in the seventh inning. Facing Angels left-hander Reid Detmers, Donovan hit a grounder to second base that he attempted to beat out for an infield hit. He landed awkwardly on the bag with his left leg, and he was replaced by Leo Rivas on defense in the bottom half of the inning. Donovan has soreness in his groin region, per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. Divish added in a separate post that imaging came back clean.
Donovan has gotten off to a hot start in 2026, batting .370/.485/.667 across his first 33 plate appearances. Defensively, he has played all eight of his games at third base, though he’ll inevitably spend time around the diamond as the season goes on. The club recently signed infield prospect Colt Emerson to a record extension, and they will reportedly play him at third base when he gets called up. That said, the club immediately optioned him after signing the deal, so he can get more seasoning in the upper minors. A short-term Donovan absence wouldn’t change that plan, leaving Rivas as the likeliest candidate to fill in if needed.
A few other updates from around the division:
- Emerson’s extension happens to align with the end of shortstop J.P. Crawford‘s contract. The veteran is in the final year of the five-year, $51MM extension he inked in 2022. Crawford missed the first week of the season with a shoulder injury. Seattle did not opt to give Emerson the role while Crawford was sidelined, but he appears to be the heir apparent at the position. The incumbent is taking it in stride, though. “I congratulated him, wishing him nothing but the best,” Crawford told Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. “And he’s going to come up here and help us win ballgames. And that’s what we want at the end of the day, is to go win the World Series — and he will for sure help us do that. So I can’t wait to get him up here.” Crawford seemed to acknowledge his impending departure, calling 2026 the biggest year of his career.”I have the chance to make some money if I play well, and we’ll see what happens after that.”
- Angels reliever Ben Joyce is currently on the mend from May 2025 shoulder surgery, and Jack Janes of The Sporting Tribune reports that Joyce is throwing normal bullpen sessions without issue. However, it is unknown when he will start facing live hitters. Joyce is well known for his triple-digit fastball velocity, but his impact in the majors has been limited by injuries. The 2022 third-round draft pick has thrown 49 big-league innings from 2023-25 with a 3.12 ERA, a 21.0% strikeout rate, and an 11.4% walk rate. He had a 2.08 ERA and a massive 58.9% groundball rate in 2024, but he was less impressive in limited samples in the other two years. Joyce is expected back relatively early in the season, though he’ll need a rehab assignment after such a long layoff.
- Astros reliever Enyel De Los Santos is nearing a big-league return. The right-hander made consecutive Double-A appearances on Thursday and Friday. Manager Joe Espada called De Los Santos “close” to rejoining the Astros, relayed by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. As Kawahara notes, getting De Los Santos back in the mix could create a difficult roster decision for Houston. Cody Bolton and Roddery Munoz are out of options. Bryan King, Ryan Weiss, Kai-Wei Teng, Steven Okert, and AJ Blubaugh are off to solid starts. Bryan Abreu obviously isn’t going anywhere. De Los Santos himself is out of options. The Astros also plan to go with a six-man rotation soon, which would trim down another reliever. That tweak could be Weiss moving into the rotation.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images
Mookie Betts Leaves Game Due To Back Injury, Will Undergo MRI
Mookie Betts exited today’s 10-5 Dodgers win over the Nationals in the middle of the first inning due to what the team announced as pain in the shortstop’s right lower back area. In the top of the first, Betts walked and later scored on Freddie Freeman‘s two-run double, but the run around the basepaths apparently aggravated something in his back. Miguel Rojas took over at shortstop for the bottom of the frame.
Postgame, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Katie Woo) that Betts would undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. Regardless of the test results, Betts will miss at least the next couple of games to recover, and Roberts said they’ll have another player on hand in Washington for tomorrow’s game just in case Betts is placed on the injured list.
While more will be known once the MRI is completed, Roberts described Betts’ issue as “more moderate than significant.” It therefore seems possible that Betts might be back in action after just a few days off. The Dodgers don’t play on Thursday, so the team could potentially hold Betts out until Friday to fully evaluate his situation, though clubs can only backdate an IL placement by as many as three days. An IL stint might be in the offing just to be cautious, as Los Angeles’ priority is obviously to keep the eight-time All-Star as healthy as possible for the full season and what the Dodgers expect to be another trip to the World Series.
Betts won his third ring with L.A. (and the fourth of his career) in 2025, though his offensive contributions were much more muted than normal. Betts posted a career-low 104 wRC+ while hitting .258/.326/.406 with 20 homers over 663 plate appearances, though he made up for this relatively modest production with spectacular defense in his first full year as the Dodgers’ shortstop.
A flu-like virus in the early part of the season and then a minor toe fracture in May (that didn’t require an IL stint) may have contributed to Betts’ lack of hitting in 2025, though the limited offense has carried into the early part of the 2026 season. Through today’s game with the Nats, Betts is hitting .179/.281/.429 with two home runs in 32 PA.
Even with Betts not heating up yet, the Dodgers are still 6-2 and look well on their way to another playoff appearance. While Betts is out (for any length of time), Rojas and Alex Freeland will fill in at shortstop. Hyeseong Kim is the likeliest candidate to be called up from Triple-A in the event of a Betts IL placement, as Kim would join Santiago Espinal as the utility infield options.
AL East Notes: Corbin, Crawford, Pepiot, Uceta
Patrick Corbin signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Blue Jays yesterday, and he made his organizational debut by tossing five scoreless innings and 74 pitches in a start for A-level Dunedin today. Prior to Corbin’s outing, Toronto manager John Schneider told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, Sportsnet and other media that the Jays would see how the start went before deciding on any further progression. While Corbin’s unsigned status kept him from participating in a normal Spring Training, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith wrote yesterday that Corbin has gone beyond 80-pitch workloads in his personal workouts, and tossing 74 pitches today certainly indicates that the left-hander’s arm seems pretty close to fully built up.
The recovery periods for such injured starters as Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios, and Shane Bieber will naturally factor into how Corbin is used in Toronto, as Schneider left open the possibility that the veteran could be used in more of a long relief role. “We definitely view [Corbin] as a starter or a length option. Until the dominoes start to fall back into place with Trey, José and Bieber, you look for length and how we can use it,” Schneider said.
If and when the Blue Jays get close to their full complement of starters healthy, Corbin is likely the odd man out of a rotation mix, so a bullpen role might eventually be in his future. Using Corbin in the bullpen would also add some needed southpaw depth to Toronto’s relief corps, as left-handers Mason Fluharty and Brendon Little have both struggled badly in the early going in 2026.
More from around the AL East…
- Red Sox manager Alex Cora told MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith and other reporters that Kutter Crawford is also slated to throw four simulated innings on Monday or Tuesday before beginning a minor league rehab assignment. Crawford didn’t pitch in the majors or minors in 2025 due to both a lingering knee injury, and then wrist surgery. Between Crawford and Patrick Sandoval (Tommy John surgery) both on the verge of rehab assignments, the Sox may soon have a good deal of rotation depth. Boston already has five healthy starters in Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray, Brayan Bello, and Connelly Early, plus prospect Payton Tolle as another depth option. As the cliche goes, however, a team can never have too much pitching, and Johan Oviedo is now a question mark as he battles an elbow strain.
- Ryan Pepiot threw a bullpen session on Friday, and Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times writes that the right-hander is expected back after the Rays’ April 6-12 homestand. Pepiot wasn’t expected to miss too much time after he started the season on the 15-day IL with right hip inflammation, and he projects to be out for roughly a week beyond the minimum 15-day absence. The 28-year-old Pepiot has been a solid part of Tampa’s rotation for two seasons, and the 2025 campaign saw him post a 3.86 ERA, a 24.6% strikeout rate, and a 9.0% walk rate over 167 2/3 innings.
- Also from Topkin, Edwin Uceta may be ready for a rehab assignment after tossing 22 pitches during an extended Spring Training game on Friday. Like Pepiot, Uceta also started the season on the 15-day IL, as the reliever was bothered by a right shoulder impingement that kept him from any game action during the Rays‘ big league spring camp.
José Buttó Undergoes Procedure For Blood Clot
APRIL 4: The Giants announced today that Butto’s recovery timeline is 2-4 months.
APRIL 3: Giants reliever José Buttó has a blood clot in his throwing arm, the team told reporters (via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). He’s undergoing a procedure this evening to remove it.
Buttó landed on the 15-day injured list yesterday. The team initially announced that only as arm fatigue. The clot provides a little more clarity, but there’s no return timeline. Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle relays that it appears Buttó had pitched through the issue for a while before the clot was diagnosed earlier today.
Blood clotting can be associated with thoracic outlet syndrome. That was the case for Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, for example. The Giants have not said anything about whether that’s a fear for Buttó. However, skipper Tony Vitello told Slusser there are a few possible procedures that the right-hander might undergo.
San Francisco acquired Buttó from the Mets as one of three players in the Tyler Rogers deal last summer. Blade Tidwell, another part of the Rogers return, was coincidentally recalled to take his place in the bullpen yesterday. Buttó turned in a 4.50 ERA across 20 innings down the stretch. He surrendered five runs on six hits and four walks over two innings to begin the 2026 season.