Jorge Soler, Reynaldo López Given Multi-Game Suspensions
3:50pm: Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that MLB and López reach a settlement whereby his suspension is reduced to five games and he will start serving it immediately. It’s not clear if that includes today’s game, which started a few minutes after the suspension announcement.
Grant Holmes started for Atlanta today and the club is off tomorrow. On Friday, they start a series against the Guardians with Bryce Elder, Martín Pérez and Chris Sale scheduled to start. After that, they being a series against the Marlins. López’s turn in the rotation would have been the first game of that Miami series. Atlanta could instead go for Holmes on normal rest or turn to swingman José Suarez. They have Didier Fuentes and Víctor Mederos on optional assignment and could recall one of those two for a spot start.
3:00pm: Major League Baseball has announced that Angels outfielder Jorge Soler and Braves right-hander Reynaldo López have each been suspended for seven games and given undisclosed fines in relation to last night’s brawl. Both players are appealing and can continue to play until the appeals process has been completed.
López started last night’s contest for Atlanta. In the first inning, Soler launched a two-run home run off him. In the bottom of the third, Lopez hit Soler with a pitch. Soler came up again in the fifth and López threw a pitch up and in. The pitch didn’t hit Soler but he clearly took exception to it and stared López down for an extended period of time. The two exchanged words before Soler charged the mound and the two threw punches towards each other, as seen in this video from BravesVision. Both were ejected after that melee.
Players given suspensions for on-field infractions cannot be replaced on the roster. That means that the two clubs will have to play short-handed at some point. That will be on pause for now while the players are appealing.
Photo courtesy of William Navarro, 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. 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.
More to come.
Angels Injury Notes: Trout, Yates, Rodriguez
Outfielder Mike Trout was back in the lineup on Tuesday against the Mariners. The future Hall of Famer was sidelined on Monday with a hand injury. Trout was hit by a 94 mph fastball from Casey Legumina in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against the Mariners. He was immediately removed from the contest.
Trout singled and scored in his return to the lineup. He was on base for Jorge Soler‘s two-run blast in the first inning. Those wouldn’t be the last fireworks from Soler that evening. Trout’s base hit had an exit velocity above 100 mph, so he would seem to be back to full strength.
The 34-year-old Trout’s production has cooled considerably after a huge opening series. The veteran slugged home runs in the first two games of the campaign. Trout racked up six hits and seven walks in the four-game set against the Astros. He’s recorded just a pair of hits since then.
We’re still working with tiny sample sizes at this point of the season, and the main development for the Angels is that Trout is healthy and available to contribute in the middle of the lineup. He played 130 games last year, his most since 2019. Trout is now back in his familiar spot in center field after spending most of 2025 at DH.
On the pitching side, right-hander Kirby Yates faced hitters on Tuesday, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The reliever is working his way back from knee inflammation. The 39-year-old was positioned to open the year as the Angels’ closer while Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson dealt with their own injuries, but Yates hit the IL himself shortly before Opening Day.
The Angels will see how Yates recovers from yesterday’s work and determine the next step in his rehab process, relays Fletcher. He could be headed on a minor league assignment soon. The Angels signed Yates to a one-year, $5MM pact in January. The reliever was the club’s largest spend of the offseason. Los Angeles also added veteran bullpen arms Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz to improve a unit that ranked 28th in ERA last season. Romano has taken over as closer, securing four saves across six scoreless innings.
The Angels’ biggest swing of the offseason was sending outfielder Taylor Ward to the Orioles for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez. After four MLB Spring Training appearances with his new club, Rodriguez went down with shoulder inflammation. The former top prospect missed all of 2025 with a lat strain. Injuries have limited him to 43 starts since his big-league debut in 2023. Rodriguez is feeling better and is nearing mound work, per Fletcher.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Phillies Acquire Steward Berroa, Designate Yoniel Curet For Assignment
The Phillies announced that they have acquired outfielder Steward Berroa from the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Milwaukee has designated Berroa for assignment last week. In order to open a 40-man spot for Berroa, the Phillies have designated right-hander Yoniel Curet for assignment.
Berroa, 27 in June, has a fairly limited track record in the big leagues. He appeared in 28 games for the Blue Jays in 2024 and then two for the Brewers last year. He has a rough .167/.314/.190 line in 51 plate appearances.
But he has a decent floor as a speed-and-defense guy. In the minors, he’s generally good for 40-plus steals per season. He was limited to 34 bags in both 2024 and 2025 but played in only 79 games in the former and 86 games in the latter. Put those two together and it’s basically a 60-steal pace for a full season. In only 120 big league innings in the outfield, he’s been credited with five Defensive Runs Saved and three Outs Above Average. It’s also possible there’s a bit more in the bat than what he has shown in the big leagues, as he has a .255/.353/.373 line in 673 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Outfield depth is an area of concern for the Phillies. They are trying out rookie Justin Crawford in center field. He has a strong .324/.361/.382 line so far but in just 36 plate appearances and with a .407 batting average on balls in play. He has always had high BABIPs in the minors thanks to his speed but staying at that level is impossible. For instance, Aaron Judge led the majors with a .376 BABIP in 2025.
If a time comes where Crawford needs to be sent back down to the minors, or an injury pops up, then Johan Rojas would have been a fallback plan. However, he received an 80-game PED suspension prior to the season. The Phils have started the year with utility guys Dylan Moore and Otto Kemp as their backup outfielders behind Crawford, Adolis García and Brandon Marsh.
Berroa still has one option season remaining, so he can be kept in Triple-A. If the Phils need to dip into their outfield depth at some point, he’ll be a candidate to get the call. They also have Pedro León and Gabriel Rincones Jr. on the roster.
Curet, 23, was a Rays prospect for a long time. Tampa designated him for assignment in December and the Phils then acquired him, sending Tommy McCollum the other way. He hasn’t yet appeared in a minor league game this year. The Phils optioned him to Double-A Reading to start the year but his transactions tracker at MLB.com says he was reassigned to Single-A Clearwater a week ago.
He’ll now head into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Phils could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. Curet does still have an option season and can be kept in the minors. In his minor league work, he has shown big strikeout potential but with control problems. Overall, he has thrown 371 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.10 earned run average. He has punched out 30.7% of batters faced but given out free passes at a 13.8% pace.
Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
Robert Stephenson Undergoes Season-Ending Elbow Surgery
Angels right-hander Robert Stephenson has undergone elbow surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Manager Kurt Suzuki gave the bad news to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. It was a ligament and flexor repair surgery, per Bollinger.
The Halos took a gamble on Stephenson by signing him to a three-year, $33MM deal ahead of the 2024 season. Unfortunately, that bet has not paid off at all due to Stephenson’s injury woes. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 campaign. He returned to the mound by the end of May 2025 but some biceps inflammation put him back on the shelf after just two appearances. He came off the injured list in August and made eight more appearances but finished the season back on the IL due to elbow inflammation.
As of about a month ago, he was throwing and seemed on a path to being healthy in 2026. But about three weeks ago, he suffered a setback and relayed that he had apparently suffered damage to his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor muscle. Yet another surgery means that he’s going to miss a full season for the second time in three years. He’ll have given the Angels just ten innings for their $33MM investment.
The contract does contain a conditional option for 2027. It’s valued at $2.5MM and was to be unlocked if Stephenson spent 130 consecutive days on the IL at any point due to an elbow ligament injury. That option was therefore already triggered when Stephenson missed the 2024 campaign. That means there is technically still a chance for the Halos to get some value out of Stephenson but they would have to cough up a bit more money. Given how the past three years have gone, that’s hard to see right now.
At the time of the signing, Stephenson wasn’t really proven but it felt like perhaps he was about to break out. He was once a first-round pick and a top prospect. His major league track record was mixed but it seemed as though the Rays may have unlocked something. He finished 2023 with Tampa and posted a 2.35 earned run average in 38 1/3 innings. He paired a massive 42.9% strikeout rate with a tiny 5.7% walk rate.
The Angels thought there was a potential lights-out closer in there but that didn’t come to fruition as he has been bit hard by the injury bug. He just turned 33 years old and will turn 34 in February of next year. It’s not exactly clear if he underwent full Tommy John surgery or some kind of internal brace alternative. In either case, it seems likely he’ll still be recovering by the time the 2027 season gets underway.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Johan Oviedo Diagnosed With Flexor Strain
Red Sox manager Alex Cora informed reporters today that right-hander Johan Oviedo has been diagnosed with a flexor strain. He has avoided surgery but will be shut down from throwing for six weeks. Chris Cotillo of MassLive was among those to relay the details of the situation.
“Thankfully, (the ligament) is really strong right now,” Oviedo said of his own arm. “It’s just the things that are around it, all the little muscles are what’s getting damaged right now. Still, it’s not what you want. You don’t want anything to get to this, but it’s just the case right now. No one wants to get hurt but it’s better to get rest and heal from it than actually going through a surgery or anything like it. We’re positive about it.”
As Oviedo himself outlined, it is good news, in a sense. He required Tommy John surgery in the fall of 2023 and missed the following season, in addition to part of the 2025 campaign. He started this season with diminished velocity and then landed on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain. If his ulnar collateral ligament had required another operation, it would have put him on the shelf for another year-plus.
Relative to that scenario, this is a welcome development, though it’s still quite notable. Even if he is fully recovered after six weeks of not throwing, he’ll then have to ramp back up, effectively starting spring training from scratch. Even in a best-case scenario, he’s probably looking at something in the range of a three-month recovery timeline.
In the short term, the Red Sox have a good on-paper rotation without him. They currently have Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suárez, Connelly Early and Brayan Bello taking the ball every five days. Both Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford are making rehab starts this week and should be back in the mix soon. Prospect Payton Tolle is pitching in Triple-A. The rotation numbers haven’t been great so far, contributing to the club’s grim 3-8 start, but the results should be better going forward.
Still, it’s a less than ideal outcome. The Sox made Oviedo a key piece of their offseason. They traded a couple of prospects, including Jhostynxon García, for a three-player package headlined by Oviedo. At the time, Oviedo had just come off his surgery absence but showed some promise by posting a 3.57 earned run average with the Pirates in 2025. The Sox decided to jump on him, with Oviedo having two years of club control at the time of that deal. He will now miss a decent chunk of the first of those two years.
Turning to another part of the roster, Triston Casas appears to have hit another unfortunate speed bump. Casas recently tried swinging and Cora said it “didn’t go well,” per Cotillo. Casas began the season on the injured list, still recovering from last year’s knee surgery. About a week ago, a strained left intercostal muscle added to his woes. Thanks to those injuries and some torn cartilage in his ribcage in 2024, Casas has only played in 92 games since the end of the 2023 campaign.
The Sox don’t really need Casas for now, as they have Willson Contreras at first base. The designated hitter spot is being used to spread playing time between outfielders Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida. But getting Casas back to full health would give the Sox some coverage for the event of someone else getting injured, or perhaps allow them to make a midseason trade.
Casas hit 24 homers in 2023 and slashed .263/.367/.490 for a 131 wRC+. He is under club control through 2028. He’s in wait-and-see mode until he gets back into game action and it’s unclear when that will be.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Mariners Select Connor Joe, Place Victor Robles On IL
Veteran outfielder Connor Joe is joining the Mariners, the team announced. He’ll replace Victor Robles, who’s heading to the injured list with a pectoral strain. Right-hander Carlos Vargas was shifted to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot for Joe. Vargas went down with a lat strain in late March.
Joe joined the organization on a minor league deal in February. He was tremendous in MLB Spring Training, slashing .340/.411/.560 over 20 games, but fell short of a big-league roster spot. Joe spent a couple of weeks with the Padres in 2025. He went hitless in 10 plate appearances. The veteran was traded to the Reds in May. He hit .213 in 35 games with Cincinnati.
The 33-year-old Joe will provide some defensive flexibility off the bench for the Mariners. He spent time at all three outfield spots and first base with the Reds. Joe graded out as a neutral defender by Defensive Runs Saved last year. He’s likely overextended as a center fielder, but should be able to contribute on the corners.
After a couple of seasons in Colorado, Joe showed he wasn’t just a product of Coors Field, posting a 106 wRC+ with the Pirates in 2023. He earned regular playing time with the club the following year, but his production slipped below league-average levels. Seattle already has a right-handed bench outfielder in Rob Refsnyder. Joe could factor in at first base against lefties when Josh Naylor needs a day off.
Robles had been limited to part-time work with Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone both off to decent starts. He was injured during a pregame workout on Tuesday, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. A dislocated shoulder limited Robles to just 32 games in 2025.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Reds Designate Christian Encarnacion-Strand For Assignment
Reds first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been designated for assignment, the team announced. Catcher P.J. Higgins is taking his spot on the 40-man roster. Higgins was recalled after catcher Jose Trevino went to the IL due to a thoracic spine strain.
Encarnacion-Strand was the heir apparent at first base as Joey Votto‘s legendary career wound down. He delivered a 113 wRC+ across 63 games as a rookie in 2023. With Votto moving on at the end of that season, Encarnacion-Strand opened 2024 as Cincinnati’s everyday first baseman. He hit just .190 over the first six weeks of the year. A broken wrist ended his campaign in early May.
It was more of the same for Encarnacion-Strand last year. He had the first base job to begin the season, but posted a .482 OPS through three weeks, then hit the IL with back inflammation. Encarnacion-Strand spent most of June with the big-league club, slashing .230/.262/.410 over 17 games. He was sent back to Triple-A in early July.
The Reds landed Encarnacion-Strand in an August 2022 trade that sent right-hander Tyler Mahle to Minnesota. Cincinnati also acquired infielder Spencer Steer and left-hander Steve Hajjar in the deal. The swap seemed like a good piece of business for Cincinnati after 2023, with Mahle limited to nine starts in his Twins tenure and the infielders looking like key cogs for the Reds. Outside of Steer’s league-average contributions the past couple of seasons, it’s largely ended up as a wash for both sides.
Higgins hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2022 with the Cubs. He was decent in part-time work with Chicago, delivering a 99 wRC+ with six home runs across 74 games. After bouncing to the Diamondbacks and then back to the Cubs, Higgins landed with the Reds on a minor league deal ahead of the 2024 season. He’s provided subpar offensive numbers over the past two years at Triple-A. The 32-year-old will serve as the backup to Tyler Stephenson while Trevino is sidelined.
Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images
Red Sox Place Justin Slaten On Injured List, Recall Tyler Samaniego
Red Sox right-hander Justin Slaten hit the IL with an oblique strain, the team announced. Left-hander Tyler Samaniego was recalled to take his spot in the bullpen. Samaniego was acquired from the Pirates as part of the trade that sent Jhostynxon Garcia to Pittsburgh. If he appears in a game, it will be his big-league debut.
Slaten has been a reliable member of Boston’s bullpen when healthy, but injuries have been a consistent issue. He missed time in 2024 with elbow inflammation. Shoulder inflammation cost him nearly three months last year. Slaten told reporters, including Christopher Smith of MassLive.com, that the oblique injury popped up during his outing on Saturday.
“This is the third year that I’ve had to miss time,” Slaten said. “I can promise you like no one’s more upset or feels worse about than me. Part of our job is to be healthy for 162.” The Red Sox do not believe it’s a significant injury and have not scheduled imaging for Slaten.
Samaniego came over from Pittsburgh along with right-hander Johan Oviedo and catcher Adonys Guzman in December. He made a case to break camp with Boston after cruising through 5 1/3 scoreless innings in MLB Spring Training, but ultimately began the year with Triple-A Worcester. Samaniego allowed two earned runs over three appearances with the WooSox prior to his promotion.
The Pirates took Samaniego with a 15th-round pick in 2021. He put together a strong first full season in the pro ranks, compiling a 2.45 ERA between High-A and Double-A. The lefty racked up 14 saves in 38 appearances. Samaniego scuffled in a repeat of Double-A in 2023, then went down with an elbow injury the following season. He bounced back with a healthy 2025, recording a 3.99 ERA across 38.1 innings spanning four minor league levels. Samaniego gives Boston a fourth lefty in the bullpen, along with closer Aroldis Chapman and middle relievers Danny Coulombe and Jovani Moran.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Doster, Imagn Images
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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