Blue Jays Place Lazaro Estrada On 15-Day Injured List
The Blue Jays placed right-hander Lazaro Estrada on the 15-day injured list due to an impingement in his throwing shoulder. The placement is retroactive to April 5, which was the day the Jays optioned Estrada to Triple-A. As Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi explains, Estrada’s injury was discovered to have occurred when he was on the active roster, and as such Estrada has been placed on the big league version of the IL.
The transaction means that Estrada logs some extra MLB service time, which is no small matter for a player who entered the season with only four days’ worth of service time. Estrada made his big league debut in 2025, posting an 8.59 ERA over 7 1/3 innings and two appearances for Toronto. The righty only got into one game this season, but Estrada looked much sharper in tossing four shutout innings against the White Sox on April 4, issuing just two walks in the long relief appearance.
Estrada (who turns 27 later this week) began his pro career as an international signing in 2018 and has spent his entire career in the Jays organization. He didn’t reach Triple-A until 2025 and Estrada then posted a 5.73 ERA over 97 1/3 innings for Buffalo, though a .331 BABIP somewhat inflated Estrada’s ERA. Working mostly as a starter in the minors, Estrada is viewed as a long reliever or depth arm at best as a big league option.
Estrada now becomes the seventh pitcher and 11th player overall on Toronto’s big league injured list, as the Jays have been hammered by injuries in the early part of the 2026 season. The health woes may not be over yet, as Daulton Varsho left yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks due to left knee discomfort. Varsho’s issue is considered minor enough for now that an MRI isn’t being planned (as per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson), yet losing Varsho even on a day-to-day basis is another hit to the Blue Jays lineup.
Josh Sborz Remains With Rangers After Exercising Upward Mobility Clause
TODAY: Sborz will be staying with the Rangers, as Evan Grant writes that no team claimed the right-hander during the two-day period following the triggering of his upward mobility clause. Sborz has another opt-out date in his contract in mid-June if he isn’t already in the majors.
APRIL 14, 10:51pm: Curvelo exited tonight’s appearance against the A’s with an apparent arm injury after throwing a pitch several feet off the plate. The team has yet to provide any updates but an injured list stint seems highly likely.
10:25pm: The Rangers may have an upcoming roster decision. Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that Josh Sborz’s minor league contract contains an assignment clause that goes into effect tomorrow. Texas will need to make him available to every other team. If another club is willing to carry him on the MLB roster, the Rangers would either need to call him up themselves or let him go.
Sborz has spent the past six seasons in the Texas organization. The Rangers non-tendered him at the end of the 2025 campaign after he missed the entire season rehabbing shoulder surgery. They brought him back on a minor league contract over the offseason. Sborz did not break camp but has had a strong first few weeks at Triple-A Round Rock.
The 32-year-old reliever has worked seven innings of one-run ball in the minors. Sborz has recorded eight strikeouts against four walks while hitting a batter. His fastball was in the 94-95 mph range during tonight’s Triple-A appearance, in which he fired a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts. Sborz has used the heater around half the time while mixing a curveball and slider as his secondary offerings.
Sborz’s performance has been inconsistent throughout his big league career. He has a near-5.00 earned run average over 154 appearances, but he has an above-average 27.7% strikeout rate. Sborz was also a pivotal late-game weapon for Bruce Bochy during the 2023 World Series run, firing 12 innings of one-run ball en route to the only championship in franchise history.
If no other team is willing to carve out a bullpen spot for Sborz, he’ll remain in Triple-A with Texas. That’d be the easiest outcome for the Rangers. If another club expresses interest and they don’t want to lose him, they’d need to create active and 40-man roster space. The former wouldn’t be difficult, as they could option Luis Curvelo back to Triple-A.
The Rangers’ 40-man roster is at capacity. Cody Freeman and Cody Bradford are on the injured list and the only candidates for a move to the 60-day IL, which would keep them out of MLB action until the final week of May.
Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News provided updates on both players over the weekend. Freeman is beginning baseball activities after suffering a lower back injury at the beginning of camp. Bradford, who is working back from elbow surgery, made a Triple-A rehab start a couple weeks ago but encountered some general soreness. The Rangers aren’t especially concerned but have halted his rehab work for an indeterminate period so as not to push him too quickly.
Bryce Miller To Make Rehab Start
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller will head out on a rehab assignment this weekend. The 27-year-old is working his way back from an oblique injury. He’ll start for Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday, general manager Justin Hollander told reporters, including Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.
Miller fell behind the other starters during the spring after experiencing tightness in his side. The issue ultimately landed him on the injured list to open the season. The righty is coming off an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. He went down with elbow inflammation midway through May. Miller initially returned from the injury at the end of May. He was hammered for eight earned runs over nine innings and went back on the IL with the same injury.
The elbow injury didn’t stop Miller from contributing in the postseason. Despite an ineffective eight starts to close the regular season, he delivered three strong outings in the playoffs. Miller held the Tigers to two earned runs in his lone ALDS appearance, then notched a pair of one-run outings against the Blue Jays in the ALCS. He earned the win in Game 1 of the series with a quality start against Toronto.
Miller is expected to need the full 30 days allotted for the rehab assignment, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The plan is for him to throw two innings or 30 pitches with the Rainiers tomorrow. Now that Miller has a definitive timeline, questions will arise about who he’ll replace in the starting rotation. Right-hander Emerson Hancock slotted into Miller’s spot to open the season. He’s been phenomenal, posting a 2.28 ERA with a 25:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
“If we get a month from now, and that’s what happens, we’ll figure it out,” Hollander said when asked about potentially having six pitchers for five rotation spots. “We haven’t made any decisions on that whatsoever.”
Hancock has had shots in the past, as the Mariners have dealt with injuries to Miller, George Kirby, and Logan Gilbert. It’s never gone nearly this well. The 26-year-old had an ERA in the mid to high-4.00s in each of his first three big-league seasons. His “best” strikeout rate heading into this year was his 16.6% mark in 2025. That number sits at 29.4% through four starts this season. Hancock has made significant arsenal changes, prioritizing his four-seamer over his sinker and throwing his sweeper 27.4% of the time, up from 3.2% in 2025. His Stuff+ is up to 107. He’d topped out at a 91 Stuff+ in his three previous seasons.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Nearing A Return
The Diamondbacks could get Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back just in time for a matchup against his former team. “Don’t be surprised if you see him in our lineup this weekend,” manager Torey Lovullo told the Burns & Gambo Show. The outfielder is less than eight months removed from tearing his ACL near the end of the 2025 season. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reports Gurriel is with the team in Arizona. The Diamondbacks kicked off a three-game set against the Blue Jays on Friday.
Gurriel’s 2025 campaign ended in the sixth inning of a matchup against the Rangers on the first day of September. While converging with Blaze Alexander on a fly ball in the left-center gap, Gurriel swerved to avoid the diving center fielder. He immediately went down with a knee injury and had to be carted off the field. ACL tears typically sideline players for 9-10 months, but Gurriel is on track to smash that timeline.
While he didn’t make it back in time for Opening Day, like he had mentioned to Lovullo in the offseason, Gurriel was back on the field Wednesday. He walked and doubled in four plate appearances with Double-A Amarillo. The 32-year-old followed it up with a three-run home run in last night’s game.
The original plan was for Gurriel to return to the Diamondbacks as the DH in an effort to ease him back into action. That might not be necessary anymore, based on his rapid recovery. “We’re going to just judge it on his volume and what he’s giving us,” Lovullo told reporters, including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports. “So if he were to come back sooner than later, we will put him in the outfield, see what that volume looks like, see how he feels the next day and then just guide through it with him.”
The Diamondbacks have struggled to get production from their left fielders, especially since Jordan Lawlar went down. The club has the sixth-lowest OPS at the position at .553. Most of that production came from Lawlar, who went 6-for-18 with a home run before breaking his wrist a week into the season. Tim Tawa and Jorge Barrosa have handled the majority of the reps in left.
Gurriel came back to Arizona this offseason on a $13MM player option. He had the opportunity to opt out of the three-year, $42MM deal he signed heading into the 2024 season. The ACL injury made it an easy decision to stay with the Diamondbacks. Gurriel had a career-low 95 wRC+ in 2025, but did hit 19 home runs and chip in 10 steals.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher of The Republic, via Imagn Images
AL East Injury Notes: Yesavage, Springer, Holliday, Uceta
Injuries come frequently in April, but the AL East seems particularly snake-bitten to begin the season. The Blue Jays have had several key players go down since the start of Spring Training. The Orioles are missing most of their young offensive core. The Rays and Red Sox haven’t had any debilitating absences, but both squads have been without important pieces.
Here’s a rundown of injury updates from around the division, starting with the reigning AL champs…
Toronto
- Trey Yesavage (shoulder) will make another rehab start on Tuesday at Triple-A. The goal will be 75 pitches, to “let him feel that one more time,” manager John Schneider told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Yesavage got up to 71 pitches in his outing with Buffalo on Wednesday.
- Jose Berrios (elbow) will make his next rehab start on Wednesday. He threw 38 pitches in his first outing on Thursday. The righty was knocked around for five earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Fellow veteran Shane Bieber (forearm) threw a bullpen on Friday. He was recently moved to the 60-day IL. To round out the rotation injuries, Cody Ponce underwent ACL repair surgery and hopes to return for Spring Training in 2027. (h/t to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic for listing the injuries in one post)
- On the hitting side, George Springer (toe) is still hitting but has yet to progress to running. The same goes for Addison Barger (ankles), though he’s expected to start running next week. Springer is on track to make it back before Barger and might not need a rehab assignment, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.
Baltimore
- Jackson Holliday is set to be in the lineup for High-A Frederick this weekend, the team announced. The infielder is recovering from a hamate fracture. He was recently pulled off the rehab assignment after experiencing wrist soreness at Triple-A Norfolk. Holliday had scuffled to a .167/.239/.214 line in 11 games with the Tides. The second baseman’s absence has led to the emergence of Jeremiah Jackson. The 26-year-old utilityman had a 151 wRC+ heading into Friday’s action. That’s likely to go up after a go-ahead three-run homer against the Guardians.
- Adley Rutschman ran, hit, and caught a bullpen session on Friday, relays Jake Rill of MLB.com. The catcher is nursing an ankle injury. Rutschman is eligible to return on Tuesday, but he might need rehab games first.
- Also from Rill, outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not ready to return from the 7-day concussion IL. He’s been out since April 8. “Still has some boxes to check and go from there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Obviously, with a concussion, it’s very touch and go.”
Tampa Bay
- Right-hander Edwin Uceta is still experiencing issues with his shoulder, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be shut down for the next few days. After a pair of scoreless frames to begin his rehab assignment, Uceta has allowed three earned runs on six hits over his last two appearances.
- Gavin Lux was trending toward a Triple-A return on Friday, Topkin noted yesterday. However, the former Dodger was not in the Durham lineup tonight. Lux is working his way back from a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played since Saturday after injuring his ankle.
Boston
- Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com ran through several health updates for the Red Sox. Right-hander Kutter Crawford hasn’t resumed throwing and might require an MRI following elbow soreness. He missed all of 2025 with knee and wrist injuries. Crawford gave up five earned runs over three innings of work in his first rehab outing on Saturday. He reported the elbow issue shortly after.
- Reliever Justin Slaten will not return from his oblique strain when first eligible on Monday. He’s just now resuming throwing, relayed manager Alex Cora. It’s unclear when Slaten will progress to a rehab assignment.
- Left-hander Patrick Sandoval is slated for another rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A. He’s coming back from UCL surgery. Sandoval has thrown 63 and 59 pitches in his first two rehab outings.
- Sandoval’s teammate with Worcester, Tyler Uberstine, was placed on the IL with shoulder soreness. The righty was promoted earlier this season when Johan Oviedo went down with an elbow strain. Uberstine allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings in his big-league debut, taking the loss against the Padres.
- Romy Gonzalez, the lone update on the hitting side, has yet to resume baseball activities. He underwent shoulder surgery in March. Gonzalez is on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until the end of May at the earliest.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
Astros To Sign Miguel Yajure To Minor League Deal
The Astros are adding right-hander Miguel Yajure on a minor league agreement, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. The 27-year-old has spent the past two seasons pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Pirates in 2022.
Yajure’s stateside return comes after he posted a 3.72 ERA across two years in NPB. He had an underwhelming campaign this past season with the Rakuten Eagles, but was productive in 2024 with the Yakult Swallows, delivering a 3.34 ERA across 23 appearances. Yajure tossed 129 1/3 innings with the Swallows, his highest mark as a professional since 2019.
Yajure was once a prospect of note in the Yankees’ system. New York signed him out of Venezuela as a 17-year-old. He worked his way up the minor league ladder, reaching the majors as a 22-year-old in the shortened 2020 season. Yajure was solid out of the bullpen for the Yankees, allowing a run over seven innings with a 27.6% strikeout rate.
The Pirates acquired Yajure in the Jameson Taillon trade, along with right-hander Roansy Contreras, shortstop Maikol Escotto, and outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba. Contreras would become a semi-regular member of Pittsburgh’s pitching staff in the seasons following the deal. Yajure and Smith-Njigba had brief stints with the club but failed to stick around long-term. Escotto topped out at Double-A.
Yajure was blasted for 14 earned runs in 15 innings with Pittsburgh in 2021. He was even worse the following year, notching an 8.88 ERA across 12 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen. Yajure had as many walks as strikeouts in 2022. He was scooped up off waivers by the Giants at the end of that season. After posting an ERA above 6.00 between three minor league levels in San Francisco’s system, he departed for Japan.
Houston continues to deal with a slew of injuries in the rotation. Cody Bolton recently joined Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Tatsuya Imai on the injured list. Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter were already there to start the year. Peter Lambert was recalled to start tonight against the Cardinals. Like Yajure, he was in NPB last year and came to the Astros on a minor league deal. Lambert will be the 10th starting pitcher for the Astros in their 21st game of the season.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Brewers Acquire Junior Fernández
The Diamondbacks have traded right-hander Junior Fernández to the Brewers, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville. It’s unclear what Arizona gets in return, but since they signed Fernández to a minor league deal in the offseason, it was probably just a nominal amount of cash.
Fernández, 29, has long had intriguing stuff. He tossed 54 big league innings from 2019 to 2022. His 5.17 earned run average in that time wasn’t especially impressive but both his four-seamer and sinker averaged over 98 miles per hour in his most recent season. He also featured a slider and changeup in the upper 90s. Like a lot of power arms, control has been an issue. Fernández has walked 13.9% of the batters he has faced in the majors so far.
For the past few years, he’s been stuck in the minors and also spent 2024 in Japan. He’s still flashing the big velo but also the lack of control. He signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks this winter and was in camp with them last month. He faced 22 batters and walked three of them without striking anyone out. At the end of camp, the Triple-A Reno Aces put him on the development list, so he hasn’t pitched in any official minor league games yet this year.
The Brewers have a good reputation when it comes to getting good results out of pitchers, so perhaps they see some way to make it all work for Fernández. The skills are there but he hasn’t been able to fully utilize them yet. If he eventually gets up to the majors, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images
Richard Fitts Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery
Cardinals right-hander Richard Fitts has undergone season-ending surgery to address the lat strain that recently landed him on the minor league injured list. President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom gave the news to Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
It’s an unfortunate development for Fitts for a few reasons. Fitts made 15 big league appearances with the Red Sox over the previous two seasons. He was traded to the Cardinals as part of the Sonny Gray trade. Going from a contender to a rebuilding club isn’t necessarily great news, depending on one’s perspective, but it gave Fitts a decent path to carve out some big league playing time this year. Now that won’t happen.
It’s also unfortunate because Fitts was in the minors when he got injured. He had a chance to earn a rotation spot at the start of the season but was optioned in mid-March. The Cards instead went with a rotation of Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante. Fitts made three Triple-A starts before suffering his injury.
Since he was injured in the minors, he isn’t currently collecting big league pay or service time. The Cardinals could recall him and put him on the 60-day injured list at some point. That would allow them to open up a 40-man spot, but they would have to be willing to give Fitts major league pay and restart his service clock. He came into 2026 with 164 days of service time, just eight days below the one-year mark.
For the Cardinals, they will have a bit less rotation depth going forward. As mentioned, they are rebuilding, so that’s not as concerning as it would be for some other clubs. Still, part of the appeal of a rebuilding year is giving unproven guys a chance to flourish. Fitts was one of a handful of potential rotation building blocks but the Cards are losing out on the chance to throw him out there against major league hitters.
Their season-opening quintet are still healthy, so the Cards can ride with those guys for now. Hunter Dobbins is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment and is essentially ready to go when needed. Like Fitts, Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe are on the 40-man roster but injured in the minors. Both underwent Tommy John surgery last year, Roby in July and Hjerpe in April. Brycen Mautz is on the 40-man and making Triple-A starts. Tink Hence is also on the 40-man and in Triple-A but he’s been pitching in relief so far this year. Prospect Quinn Mathews is making Triple-A starts but doesn’t have a roster spot yet. Bruce Zimmermann is a non-roster starter with some big league experience who is currently in Triple-A as well.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Tigers Recall Hao-Yu Lee For MLB Debut
The Tigers announced that infielder Zach McKinstry has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 16th, with left hip/abdominal inflammation. Infielder Hao-Yu Lee has been recalled and is in the starting lineup. He is playing third base and batting eighth and will make his major league debut in the process.
Lee, now 23, was signed out of Taiwan by the Phillies in 2021 as an international amateur. The Tigers acquired him in the 2023 deadline deal which sent right-hander Michael Lorenzen to Philadelphia.
The book on Lee can be summed up in the old phrase “jack of all trades, master of none.” He spent last year at the Triple-A level and took 579 plate appearances. His 11.2% walk rate and 20.9% strikeout rate were both a bit better than average. He hit 14 home runs and slashed .243/.342/.406 for a wRC+ of 106, indicating he was six percent better than league average offensively. He stole 22 bases. He has experience at second base, third base and shortstop but hasn’t played short since 2023.
The Tigers gave him a 40-man roster spot in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Baseball America ranked him the club’s #6 prospect coming into the season. His 2026 campaign has been off to a slow start. A strained left oblique prevented him from representing his country in the World Baseball Classic. He began the season on the minor league injured list and has since played in nine games on the farm with a .194/.231/.278 line.
Though he appears to be shaking off some rust, it’s possible the Tigers decided to call him up for his right-handed bat. As pointed out by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Detroit is facing a bunch of lefties in the next little bit. That includes Ranger Suárez of the Red Sox tonight and then Garrett Crochet on Sunday. Lee had a big .299/.395/.523 slash line against lefties last year, so he could be an asset in a platoon role, combining with lefty Colt Keith to cover the hot corner.
The Tigers have also been utilizing McKinstry as their second baseman when Framber Valdez starts, since Valdez is a ground ball pitcher. Normal second baseman Gleyber Torres, who isn’t especially adept in the field, usually slides into the designated hitter spot on those days. If the Tigers feel Lee is a better defender than Torres, he could also pick up some time there. That would leave third base to Keith and Kevin McGonigle, with McGonigle and Javier Báez also sharing shortstop duties. Lee has a full slate of options, so he could be sent back down to the minors when McKinstry heals up, or if the Tigers enter a less lefty-heavy portion of the schedule.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon. We'll get going at 3pm CT, but feel free to start asking questions ahead of time!
- Hello! Let's get underway
Jose Feliciano
- what can I expect to pay to keep Ramon Laureanu for my new team?
Steve Adams
- Laureano's resurgence early last year first felt fluky to me, but we're up to 564 plate appearances with a .282/.344/.518 output. That's 40% better than average production, by measure of wRC+. Which is to say ... he just looks like he's pretty good again.
- At the same time, he'll turn 32 this July. He's past the age where this sort of breakout could net him a truly massive contract.
- You can look at MLBTR's Contract Tracker -- included with your subscription! -- and set it to free-agent outfielders signing multi-year deals beginning in their age-32 season. It paints a pretty decent idea of where he might land...
- Comparably aged veterans like Mitch Haniger, Jurickson Profar and Jorge Soler all signed three-year deals at right about $42MM
- Ryan O'Hearn got a similar AAV ($14.5MM) over two years.
- If Laureano can sustain this type of output for the remainder of the season, I think he could realistically command a bit better. He's a superior defender to Profar, Soler and ROH. He doesn't have anywhere close to Haniger's injury history. He'll be coming off two strong seasons as opposed to Profar's one.
- I'm skeptical he'd get a fourth year, but something in the $40-50MM range over three seasons would feel about right to me.
- Link to that report from our Contract database here:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/contracttracker?name=&team=0&position=O...
Brewer Fan
- I am very much hoping that the Brewers sign Jesus Made to an extension next. Do you think the possible lockout will effect that decision?
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