Rockies Place Ryan Feltner On 15-Day Injured List
The Rockies placed right-hander Ryan Feltner on the 15-day injured list on Friday, and called up left-hander Sammy Peralta from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Feltner is dealing with right ulnar nerve inflammation, which forced him out of his start on Thursday (a 10-8 Rockies loss to the Padres) after two innings of work.
Manager Warren Schaeffer described the issue as “just a little elbow inflammation” when speaking with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson and other reporters. Since Feltner’s “MRI looked pretty good,” the Rox are hopeful that the righty will be back after just a minimal 15-day absence.
Feltner allowed two runs in his abbreviated outing against San Diego, boosting his ERA to 6.30 over five starts and 20 innings this season. His 4.46 SIERA is almost two runs lower than his ERA and Thursday’s start could be considered a wash due to his injury, yet Feltner’s Statcast metrics are uniformly below average at this early point in the season. In particular, opposing batters have been laying into Feltner’s pitches to the tune of a 49.2% hard-hit ball rate and a 15.9% barrel rate.
As Ladson observed, injuries have been a persistent issue for Feltner during his career, including a 2025 season that saw the righty limited to 30 1/3 innings due to back spasms and a shoulder problem. The most frightening of Feltner’s injuries was a skull fracture and a concussion sustained after he was hit in the head by a Nick Castellanos line drive in May 2023, which resulted in another shortened season of only 43 1/3 frames.
The Rockies’ scheduled game with the Mets today has been rained out, and the two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday. With the pitching schedule already a little scrambled, the Rox will likely get through the doubleheader and then Monday’s offday before addressing Feltner’s rotation spot. Kyle Freeland has been on the 15-day IL since April 13 due to some minor shoulder inflammation and could be back when first eligible, as Freeland tossed 41 pitches over a two-inning simulated outing on Wednesday.
Orioles Notes: Akin, Kittredge, O’Neill, Kremer, Holliday
Injuries have (again) been a major storyline of the Orioles’ season, but the team announced today that left-hander Keegan Akin has been activated from the 15-day injured list. Akin’s return comes a day after Andrew Kittredge and Tyler O’Neill were both activated Friday from the 15-day IL and seven-day concussion IL, respectively. Right-hander Cameron Foster was optioned to Triple-A for Akin, while outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez and right-hander Jose Espada were optioned to Triple-A yesterday for Kittredge and O’Neill.
Both Akin (groin strain) and Kittredge (shoulder inflammation) had spent the entire season on the IL, and Kittredge made his season debut yesterday, tossing a 1-2-3 inning out of the bullpen in the Orioles’ 10-3 win over the Red Sox. Initially signed to a one-year, $9MM contract in the 2024-25 offseason, Kittredge was dealt to the Cubs at last summer’s trade deadline, but Chicago then swapped Kittredge back to Baltimore in early November, and the O’s exercised a $9MM club option on the reliever’s services for 2026.
Kittredge and Akin are expected to be high-leverage arms in Baltimore’s pen, and Akin is the team’s top left-handed relief option. With both Akin and Dietrich Enns out of action, Grant Wolfram had been the Orioles’ only southpaw reliever for the last several days.
O’Neill was sidelined after hitting .241/.353/.345 over his first 34 plate appearances, and since he didn’t play yesterday, April 8 remains the outfielder’s last game. The always-uncertain nature of concussion symptoms led to an absence of over two weeks, yet hopefully O’Neill has now put the issue entirely behind him.
Even with three players now back in action, Baltimore’s injured list remains 10 players deep. Dean Kremer was the latest player sidelined, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL on Thursday (retroactive to April 20) due to a right quad strain. Right-hander Brandon Young was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Young started Friday’s game in Kremer’s place, getting the win while allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings of work.
Young will probably get an extended run as Baltimore’s fifth starter since Kremer will miss “several weeks,” as O’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters. Elias said Kremer’s injury surfaced during his between-starts prep work, and that “our plan is to try to keep his arm in as good of shape as possible because it’s not bothering him too much to throw right now, but we’ve got to let that thing heal and get his lower body condition back.”
The injury is another setback in what has already been an unusual season for Kremer, who began the season in Triple-A simply because the Orioles had five preferred options in their starting rotation. Zach Eflin‘s Tommy John surgery created an avenue for Kremer’s return, and the righty posted a 4.09 ERA over two starts and 11 innings before his quad strain surfaced.
With Kremer out and Eflin gone for the entire season, Cade Povich is now the Orioles’ top depth arm if another injury should strike the rotation. Albert Suarez and Tyler Wells are both ex-starters turned into multi-inning relievers, and conceivably either pitcher could be stretched out again for at least a piggyback type of role if even more starting help was needed beyond Povich.
Elias provided some updates to Kubatko and company on several other O’s players, including the news that Enns (foot infection) also seems to be nearing a return from the 15-day IL. Heston Kjerstad (hamstring strain) has yet to play this season, but is participating in full baseball activities and could be close to a minor league rehab assignment.
Concerns were raised earlier this week when Jackson Holliday underwent a fresh set of tests on his injured right hand, but Elias said the MRI, CT scan, and x-rays all came back clean. Holliday underwent hamate bone surgery on February 12 and was expected to start playing within the usual four to eight weeks, but his rehab work has now been paused twice due to continued soreness in the right hand.
Holliday discussed his latest setback with reporters yesterday, saying that a foul tip in Tuesday’s rehab game left him feeling “like I broke my hand again. Obviously, kind of concerning taking a swing and having that kind of pain, but I guess it’s not normal, but obviously nothing structurally wrong, and I guess whenever a tendon rolls over a nerve it can kind of cause that.”
The plan is to keep Holliday shut down for another week before restarting the rehab process. The clean tests at least provided some evidence that Holliday’s continued hand problems aren’t anything overtly serious, and Elias described the situation as “all within the possible normal spectrum of outcomes with the hamate injury….We’ve seen these come really quick for some players, and others take a long time to feel like themselves. So we want to let him get through this on an individual basis, and we’re giving him as much time as he needs, but we’re eager to have him back and welcome back with open arms once he’s ready.”
The White Sox Have Decisions To Make With Munetaka Murakami
Slugger Munetaka Murakami had to settle for a two-year “prove-it” deal with the White Sox this past offseason. It’s still early in the major league career but he is quickly proving it, which means the Sox have to decide on the path forward.
Murakami’s power was never in doubt. His time in Japan had yielded dozens of massive moonshots. The strikeouts were more concerning. He struck out almost 30% of the time in his final NPB seasons. Coming over to North America to face a greater caliber of pitching would probably lead to even more strikeouts. There were particular concerns around his lack of success against high velocity, which he would certainly see more of in MLB.
It’s hard to be a valuable hitter with that many punchouts, though it can be done. In 2025, Mike Trout and James Wood were good hitters despite striking out at least 32% of the time. Ryan McMahon and Oneil Cruz were also in that range and produced below-average results.
Many evaluators thought some team would bite the bullet and invest in Murakami regardless. It’s very rare to have a chance to sign this level of hitter for his age-26 season. There’s risk he could be like Joey Gallo but the upside play is that he resembles Kyle Schwarber. MLBTR predicted he would secure an eight-year deal worth $180MM. Other outlets were not far behind. FanGraphs predicted $154MM over seven years. The Athletic was at $158.5MM over eight years.
Murakami did not get anything close to that. Whether it was due to the strikeouts or his lack of defensive value, teams didn’t want to make a long-term commitment. He signed a two-year, $34MM deal with the White Sox.
We don’t know what other offers Murakami got. Maybe some teams floated three- or four-year arrangements. But from his perspective, if he didn’t get the real long-term offer, going short makes sense. As mentioned, he is still quite young. This deal gives him a chance to spend two years proving himself against big league pitching. He’ll be 26 and 27 in those seasons and will have another chance to seek a long-term deal ahead of his age-28 campaign.
It was thought that maybe there would be an adjustment period for Murakami, but so far he’s doing just fine. The strikeouts are certainly high, as he’s at 32.1% through 109 plate appearances. But he also has ten home runs and a massive 19.3% walk rate. He has a .253/.394/.598 line and a 170 wRC+.
The production is not exactly Schwarber-esque but is pretty close. Schwarber has a 28.5% strikeout rate in his career and hasn’t finished a full season above 31%. He has drawn walks at a 14.2% clip and has been in that range for most of his career. He used to be good for 30ish homers annually but it’s been more like 50ish in recent years. It’s still really early, but Murakami is striking out more often while showing even more power and greater on-base abilities.
Time will tell how it plays out over a larger sample. It’s possible that pitchers find a way to attack him and reduce his effectiveness. Despite the concerns about velocity, he’s doing most of his damage against fastballs. Statcast gives him a .286 batting average and .786 slugging percentage on fastballs, compared to .200 and .400 against breaking pitches and .267 and .467 against offspeed stuff. It’s also possible he continues to get more acclimated to MLB pitching and shaves off some punchouts.
If he continues to be an effective hitter for another few months, it will put the White Sox in an interesting position. It doesn’t feel like Murakami is going to be part of their long-term plans. They are currently rebuilding and aren’t expected to contend this year. The Sox are getting better relative to recent years but are 10-15 and should be on the outside of the playoff race this summer. 2027 could be more viable, but contending next year is no guarantee.
The White Sox could try to sign Murakami to an extension, giving him the nine-figure deal he didn’t get in free agency, but it would be out of character for them to do so. The Sox are one of just two teams, along with the Athletics, who have never given out a nine-figure contract. The largest contract in White Sox franchise history is the five-year, $75MM deal they gave to Andrew Benintendi. If he continues performing anywhere close to this level, he could reasonably ask for twice that much (if not more) on a new long-term deal.
If the Sox are going to break precedent, it should probably be for someone safer, an elite shortstop or center fielder perhaps. A strikeout-prone first baseman is a risky bet, even if it’s someone as exciting as Murakami. If the deal turned into an albatross, it would handcuff the team just as they are looking to put this latest rebuild in the rearview mirror.
This situation would lead to an obvious solution in most cases. If you’re a rebuilding club and you have an attractive player with a short window of club control, you trade him for prospects or other younger players who can contribute to the next competitive window. Trading Murakami this summer would yield a greater trade return than next year. The acquiring club would get Murakami for two playoff races instead of one, which adds to the appeal and the price they would be willing to pay.
But Murakami’s situation is a bit more complex than that. For a team signing a star Japanese player, part of the appeal is on the business side. In addition to whatever Murakami is providing on the field, he is presumably adding to the club’s ratings and merchandise sales in Japan. Given his strong start, he might be adding to those revenue streams on this side of the Pacific Ocean as well.
That could make the calculus more complicated. Trading Murakami this summer would be the best time to maximize his value in terms of a trade return, but it would also surely lead to a reduction in those revenue streams and frustrate the fan base. It’s also possible it could complicate discussions with Japanese free agents in the future, who may not love the prospect of a likely sign-and-trade scenario.
If the Sox decide to hold Murakami, they can keep those revenues flowing for longer. They could then see if contention in 2027 looks more viable. If not, they could still trade him that summer for a notable return, even if it’s less than trading him now. Should they contend and hold him all the way through 2027, they could give him a qualifying offer, which would net them a draft pick if he ends up signing elsewhere. That pick would be nice, but the Sox should be able to get something more attractive via trade. There’s also the risk of Murakami tanking his value by next summer, either due to injury or a decline in production.
It’s an interesting position for the Sox, who are in a transitional phase. In addition to rebuilding, they are on an unusual road to an ownership change. Jerry Reinsdorf has agreed to a succession plan with minority owner Justin Ishbia. For now, Ishbia is investing in the club and has a somewhat open-ended path to majority ownership. From 2029 to 2033, Reinsdorf can decide to finalize the sale of a majority stake to Ishbia. If not within that window, Ishbia gains the right to purchase the majority stake beginning in 2034.
As mentioned, the possibility of a Murakami extension doesn’t seem likely, based on the club’s past spending patterns. While the club is in flux, does that make them even less likely to sign a big deal? It’s also possible the next collective bargaining agreement features some sort of salary floor beginning in 2027, so the Sox may need to spend more money regardless. Perhaps they would want some clarity on that before committing to Murakami or anyone else.
Put it all together and Murakami could be one of the more intriguing players to watch in the coming months. The Sox can make various different choices about how to proceed. They could try to lock him down with a long-term deal but would likely have to shatter their franchise record to do so. A trade this summer would net a big return but would hurt them on the business side. Holding him for a trade in the winter or at next year’s deadline, or even all the way through 2027, could be a better short-term business decision but perhaps worse long-term baseball decision.
Photos courtesy of Ed Szczepanski, Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Reds To Place Eugenio Suárez On Injured List
The Reds will place Eugenio Suárez on the 10-day injured list with a low-grade oblique strain, manager Terry Francona told reporters (including Charlie Goldsmith). He was scratched from tonight’s game with what the team initially called mid-back discomfort.
Although oblique strains can linger for hitters, this one doesn’t appear to be particularly serious. Goldsmith writes that the team is hopeful Suárez can resume baseball activities after a brief shutdown and reevaluation. The Reds can backdate the placement to April 23, meaning the earliest he could return is May 3.
Outfielder JJ Bleday was removed from tonight’s Triple-A game after two plate appearances. That seemingly points to him being recalled tomorrow as the corresponding move. It would be Bleday’s first look at the MLB level with Cincinnati. He has been on optional assignment all year but is on a tear in the minors, batting .345 with six homers through his first 23 games.
Bleday isn’t a direct positional replacement for Suárez, but the Reds have used the latter mostly as a designated hitter. He has only made six starts at the hot corner compared to 18 appearances as the DH. They’re a much better defensive team with Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base, but the two-time Gold Glove winner is out to a terrible start at the plate.
Hayes is hitting .081 with one home run in his first 68 trips to the dish. Cincinnati has managed to keep winning despite getting nothing offensively from Hayes, catcher Tyler Stephenson, or any of their outfielders. Suárez hasn’t been particularly productive either, batting .231/.300/.363 with just three home runs through his first 100 plate appearances.
The Reds nevertheless pulled out another improbable win on Friday. Nathaniel Lowe, who drew into the lineup at DH with Suárez out, hit a walk-off two-run homer off Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth. That was Lowe’s second of the night, his first two longballs in a Cincinnati uniform. They’re up to 17-9 despite entering the night ranked 24th in MLB in scoring.
Lowe figures to pick up most of the extra at-bats while Suárez is sidelined. The bench skews left-handed and will lean even more in that direction if Bleday is the corresponding move. Lowe has a decent career track record against pitchers of either handedness and got the DH assignment tonight against Detroit southpaw Framber Valdez. Hayes seems assured of continued run at third base for the time being.
Blue Jays Remove Hoffman From Closer Role
The defending 2025 AL Champions, mired in a 10-15 start, are shaking up their bullpen. After three blown saves and an early yank against the Angels on April 21st, the Blue Jays (as covered by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) announced that Jeff Hoffman is out as closer while the team transitions to a closer-by-committee approach. Righties Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, and Braydon Fisher should be in play for save opportunities. However, Matheson mentions that Varland’s fireman role in the bullpen may preclude him from the ninth in some games.
It’s perhaps an unsurprising development given his early-season performance: an unsightly 7.59 ERA in 10 2/3 innings is hard to stomach from a high-leverage reliever, even for a small sample size. His 6 unintentional walks, 2 HBPs, and a wild pitch underscore his challenge to command the zone and prevent baserunners. However, Hoffman’s stuff remains filthy. His 41.2% strikeout rate is elite. Due to the nature of small sample sizes, relievers’ performances can be extremely volatile, and ERA models like xFIP (1.68) and SIERA (1.93) both think he’s been downright snakebit. Regardless of misfortune, Hoffman’s results have been lacking.
Hoffman put up an excellent run with the Phillies between 2023-2024. Among qualified relievers in that time frame, his 2.28 ERA in 118 2/3 innings was sixth-best in the league. This performance wasn’t a mirage: his 26.0 K-BB% (implying high strikeouts and low walks) and 2.65 SIERA were the fourth and third best marks during that period, respectively. Impressed with the recent body of work, the Blue Jays staked Hoffman to a three-year, $33M deal during the 2024-2025 offseason.
His 2025 was less successful. Hoffman coughed up the most homers he’s ever allowed while pitching exclusively out of the bullpen. His postseason run looked like a return to form, and was quite good on the whole, but Hoffman’s Fall Classic run will likely be most (in)famously remembered for the game-tying home run given up to Miguel Rojas with 1 out in the ninth of Game Seven.
The Blue Jays have some other fantastic options to finish games while their erstwhile closer attempts to figure it out in a lower-leverage setting. Varland has been excellent thus far, boosting his strikeout rate in 2026 by nearly 50% of his career percentage. He seldom walks batters and has yet to have a ball leave the yard this season. He looks very much like last year’s version turned to 11, and should be first-in-line for saves (when available). Varland, in a small sample, has gone 1 for 3 in save opportunities.
Submariner righty Rogers should also be in the mix. While his strikeout numbers are pedestrian, he typically commands the zone well (career 4.5 BB% rate) and is a groundball specialist with a career 57.1 GB% rate. Rogers has had mixed success in the closer role thus far, going 19 for 42 in opportunities. Lesser heralded but still highly effective Fisher could also climb the bullpen pecking order, though he has less experience in higher-leverage situations than Varland and Rogers.
Ellie Rodríguez Passes Away
Ellie Rodríguez, a two-time All-Star catcher who played throughout the 1970s, passed away this week. The news was reported by multiple outlets, including ESPN Deportes. He was 79.
Rodríguez was born in Puerto Rico but moved to the Bronx as a child. He began his playing career on a minor league contract with the then-Kansas City Athletics out of high school. His hometown Yankees plucked him away after the 1964 season. Rodríguez spent a few seasons in the Yanks’ system and made a nine-game debut during the ’68 campaign.
Then 23, Rodríguez would change organizations again over the 1968-69 offseason. He’d return to a K.C. club but not the one for which he’d played a few seasons earlier. The new Royals franchise selected Rodríguez in the expansion draft. He was behind the plate on Opening Day as the first starting catcher in team history.
A defensive catcher, he did an excellent job controlling the running game. He threw out 45% of basestealers as a rookie and was selected to the All-Star Game. Rodríguez spent one more season with Kansas City before being traded to the Brewers.
The righty-hitting backstop had his best seasons in Milwaukee. He played three years and 325 games in a Brewers uniform, working as their primary catcher between 1971-73. Rodríguez was selected to his second All-Star Game in ’72 amidst a career-best .285/.382/.352 showing.
Milwaukee traded Rodríguez to the Angels over the 1973-74 offseason. He played two seasons in Anaheim, hitting a career-high seven homers in the first of those years. He was also behind the plate for the fourth no-hitter of Nolan Ryan’s career during the 1975 campaign. Rodríguez closed his MLB career with a 30-game stint for the Dodgers in ’76. He’d play in the Mexican League into the 1980s and coached youth baseball in Puerto Rico as recently as 2018.
Rodríguez finished his MLB career with a .245/.356/.308 slash line over 775 games. He only hit 16 home runs but tallied 533 hits and walked more often than he struck out. He caught nearly 6000 innings and twice led the American League in throwing out baserunners. Rodríguez cut down an MLB-high 56 stolen base attempts (a 48% clip) with the Halos in 1974. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, loved ones, friends and former teammates.
Cubs Select Nicky Lopez, Vince Velasquez
7:32 PM: Taylor McGregor further reports some additional moves for the Cubs: right-hander Vince Velasquez has been selected, and Caleb Thielbar was placed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain. Additionally, Scott Kingery was designated for assignment to open an additional spot on the 40-man roster.
6:28 PM: The Chicago Cubs have made a 40-man roster move in advance of tonight’s clash against the Dodgers, adding infielder Nicky Lopez and transferring Porter Hodge to the 60-day IL, per Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network. Per the official player page, Scott Kingery has also been optioned to Triple-A Iowa.
Lopez, acquired yesterday from the Rockies, did not have to wait long for his reunion with the Cubs. Lopez made 14 appearances with the Northsiders last season (interesting enough, his first appearance came almost a year ago to the day). Now entering his seventh MLB season, Lopez has made a name for himself with solid glovework at multiple infield positions. The bulk of his work has come at 2B (2561 1/3 innings) and SS (2351 1/3 innings), though defensive metrics like DRS (-9) and FRV (-1) have soured on his glove at short to varying degrees in his last three seasons of work. Both metrics, however, look favorably on his work at the keystone (3 DRS/6 FRV) and the hot corner (5 DRS/4 FRV) since 2023.
The versatility will help manager Craig Counsell give the starters a day off and a lefty bat to play with in the lineup or off the bench. To be certain, Lopez doesn’t break the mold of a traditional, light-hitting utilityman. His career 73 wRC+ (100 is average) indicates he’s below-average at the plate, but to his credit, Lopez controls the zone relatively well with a low strikeout rate (14.3%). He hits for little power, and the speed he showcased in his Royals heyday (35/39 SB from 2021-2022) now clocks in closer to league average. Still, Lopez clearly made a good enough impression on the clubhouse and management last season to warrant a second bite of the apple.
Lopez will functionally be replacing Kingery on Counsell’s bench. Kingery has bounced around the league since his five-year run with the Phillies ended in 2022. Like Lopez, Kingery doesn’t offer much with the bat: the latter’s 72 wRC+ is nearly identical to that of his successor. But while Lopez offers some defensive upside, Kingery’s versatility is less notable. His glovework at second and third is more pedestrian (Kingery, to his credit, has graded better on the defensive metrics at short in a very small sample size).
Since Kingery has more than three years of service time and has been previously placed on outright waivers, he will have the option to decline the placement and opt for free agency if he goes unclaimed. However, doing so would forfeit his MLB salary ($1.25 MM), and given his recent MLB performance, he’s unlikely to match that by re-signing with another club. For the Cubs, there is a possible risk that another team claims Kingery, but given his salary commitment and performance, this largely amounts to a non-issue. Most likely, he’ll continue to ply his trade at Triple-A while awaiting another opportunity with the big league club.
Velasquez will be making a return to the MLB mound for the first time since a short (yet effective) stint with Pittsburgh in 2023. More recently, he pitched with the KBO Lotte Giants to poor results, with an 8.23 ERA in 35 innings. While there’s an element of misfortune there (ERA predictor xFIP gauged him closer to a 5-ERA performance), it probably wasn’t the results Velasquez was hoping for on his foray into Korea.
Regardless, the Cubs saw enough to sign him to a minor league deal before Spring Training. Most likely, Velasquez’s role will be to soak up some innings as the long reliever in the bullpen when the score goes sideways. It remains to be seen how effective he’ll be in his role, given his MLB layoff, but at the very least, he’s a once-proven MLB arm with ample experience.
Thielbar’s IL placement could strain the Chicago bullpen, given his excellent work last year. At the tender age of 38, Thielbar turned in arguably the best season of his career: a 2.64 ERA in 58 IP with 25 holds. While SIERA found him a little lucky based on his peripherals and batted balls, his 3.24 mark would still be a fine number for a back-end bullpen arm. The Cubs’ bullpen has done relatively well in the early going, with a top-10 ERA (SIERA sees them as more middle-of-the-pack), but losing a quality, high-leverage lefty alongside closer Daniel Palencia will be tough to navigate.
In the interim, the Cubs will have a few options at their disposal to close out games. Righty Ben Brown, operating exclusively in relief, has been excellent in 19 innings. He only has one hold and a blown save in high-leverage innings this year, but his performance makes him a clear standout for the later innings. Lefty Hoby Milner could also be an option: while he lacks the velocity of Brown, he has a longer track record of success, helping to bridge to the closer with 18 holds in 2025.
To make room on the 40-man, Hodge was moved to the 60-day IL following UCL surgery. Given that Hodge won’t make any further appearances in 2026, this move is largely a formality.
Blue Jays Acquire Willie MacIver, Designate Tyler Fitzgerald For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have acquired catcher Willie MacIver from the Rangers and optioned him to Triple-A. The Rangers, who designated him for assignment yesterday, get cash considerations in return. To open a 40-man spot for MacIver, the Jays have designated Tyler Fitzgerald for assignment.
MacIver, 29, has a limited major league track record. With the Athletics in 2025, he got into 33 games but put up a meager .186/.252/.324 batting line in those. His minor league production has generally been better. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he put up a huge .323/.399/.534 line at Triple-A. That production came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but was nonetheless good for a 123 wRC+, indicating he was 23% better than the average hitter in that league.
He got squeezed off the Athletics’ roster at the end of last year. The Rangers claimed him off waivers and sent him to Triple-A but he got out to a slow start this year, slashing .170/.333/.255 for Round Rock. The Rangers bumped him off their roster when making some pitching moves yesterday.
For the Jays, they are in need of some extra catching depth. They lost Alejandro Kirk to thumb surgery a couple of weeks ago. They’ve since been using the duo of Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela. The depth beyond those two was thin, with no other backstop on the 40-man. CJ Stubbs was the only other catcher in the system with major league experience. That experience was just one game with the Nationals last year. He’s also on the minor league injured list now, having not played in a couple of weeks.
The Jays will continue with the Heineman-Valenzuela pairing in the big leagues for now. Should an injury arise before Kirk comes back, then they can turn to MacIver. Valenzuela also has options and currently sports a .161/.188/.258 line in 32 big league plate appearances, so it’s possible they could swap in MacIver for Valenzuela at some point.
Fitzgerald, 28, was acquired in a similar DFA cash deal three weeks ago. The Jays had just lost Leo Jiménez since he was out of options and didn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He was flipped to the Marlins and then the Jays acquired Fitzgerald to replace some of that lost infield depth, with Fitzgerald getting optioned to the minors. A few days later, Addison Barger hit the IL and Fitzgerald was called up.
A few days after that, the Jays acquired Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox and bumped Fitzgerald back down to the minors. George Springer also hit the IL and the Jays have been using Sosa both on the infield and in the designated hitter spot.
It appears the Jays felt that catching depth was a greater need than infield depth at this point. Springer and Barger seem likely to return soon, well before Kirk will be back in the mix, so Sosa could be bumped down the depth chart in the coming weeks.
Fitzgerald can be in DFA limbo for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays can take five days to field trade interest. It seems likely that Fitzgerald will garner interest from someone. He still has options and can play anywhere on the diamond except catcher, meaning a lot of teams could use him somewhere.
His offense is more of a question. He burst onto the scene with the Giants in 2024 by putting up a .280/.334/.497 line. There were some yellow flags there, as Fitzgerald struck out at a 31.7% clip and benefited from a .380 batting average on balls in play. The inevitable regression was a bit more extreme than expected, as Fitzgerald had a grisly .217/.278/.327 line in 2025. Around his transactions, he has an awful .094/.147/.125 line at Triple-A this year. Despite the offensive struggles, clubs will probably like the idea of stashing Fitzgerald in the minors and hoping for a bounceback, even if getting to his 2024 level would be a tall ask.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Braves Outright Ian Hamilton
Right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Braves and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, per Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As a player who’s been outrighted previously (and who has three-plus years of MLB service), he’ll have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.
Hamilton made only one appearance with Atlanta. He was tagged for three runs in an inning of work. He fared better during his initial run with Gwinnett, holding opponents to a pair of runs with a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio in 6 1/3 innings of work.
The 30-year-old Hamilton has pitched 151 1/3 innings in the majors. In addition to this very brief appearance with Atlanta, he’s pitched for the White Sox, Yankees and Twins. The 2016 11th-rounder (White Sox) has a 3.75 ERA, though most of his success came in a 2023 season that saw him post a 2.64 ERA in 58 frames with the Yankees. He’s generally posted mid-4.00s ERAs in his other exposure to big league hitters.
Hamilton has little problem missing bats. He’s fanned more than one quarter of his major league opponents and carries a career 14.5% swinging-strike rate. He’s also kept the ball on the ground at a nice 45.9% clip, avoided home runs and avoided hard contact in general. He’s far too prone to walks, however, as evidenced by a career 11.3% mark.
Even if Hamilton elects free agency, the Braves have a habit of passing veterans of this ilk through waivers and quickly re-signing them. They did so with Jesse Chavez for several years and have done so with both Carlos Carrasco and Martín Pérez over the past calendar year.
Can Any Expected Contenders Escape The Early Holes They’ve Dug?
It's commonplace for at least one postseason hopeful to run into unexpected struggles early in the season. In the past, we've seen World Series aspirants and Wild Card hopefuls alike shoot themselves in the foot with sloppy April sequences that jeopardize their visions of October baseball. In some instances -- the 2022 Phillies, the 2024 Mets and, most notably, the 2019 Nationals -- teams are able to rally and make good on those playoff goals. For those 2019 Nats, they went so far as to win the whole thing. Nary a baseball fan in D.C. will ever forget the significance of the 19-31 record they faced roughly one-third of the way through the season.
More commonly, however, a disappointing April can prove to be a backbreaker. Fans need only look as far back as the 2025 Orioles to see a would-be contender whose awful early performance sunk their season before it ever had a chance to get going in earnest. The Orioles wrapped up April with a 12-18 record. By the midway mark of May, they were 15-27 -- buried by nine and a half games in the American League East and with their postseason hopes all but dashed.
There have been plenty of oddities so far in the 2026 season. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery are the first pair of teammates in MLB history with active streaks of homers in four or more consecutive games. (Oh, and Miguel Vargas has gone deep in three straight.) We're about one-sixth of the way through the season and Mason Miller has fanned a superhuman 71% of his opponents through 11 1/3 innings. Tigers phenom Kevin McGonigle, who skipped Triple-A entirely and broke camp as a 21-year-old, ranks fourth in the majors in Baseball-Reference WAR or fifth in FanGraphs WAR, if you prefer.
But the strangest development of the 2026 doesn't focus on any one player's individual efforts. To see the most bizarre facet of the season's first month requires a step back and a more macro look at the league as a whole.
Entering play Thursday, the four worst teams in baseball weren't the Rockies, Nationals, Twins or any other widely expected cellar dweller. Instead, the bottom-four records belong to the Royals, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox -- four clubs that entered the season with clear designs on contending. Fifth-worst are the White Sox -- not terribly surprising -- followed by the sixth-worst Astros. One game up in the standings are the Blue Jays and Mariners, last year's ALCS opponents.
In any given year, seeing one or two of these clubs faceplant out of the gate wouldn't be all that remarkable. Teams fall short of expectations all the time -- often well short. But to see seven clubs who entered 2026 as win-now teams populate bottom-10 spots in the leaguewide standings with more than four weeks of the season in the books is fairly incredible.
Is the season lost for any of these clubs? Not quite yet, but the margin for error has all but eroded. For most of these clubs -- especially the bottom four -- it's going to take something close to .600 ball the rest of the way to end up in contention. Let's take a look at this year's most disappointing clubs at the season's one-month mark to see if there's a chance of a rebound and, if not, who they might have to begrudgingly listen on at this year's Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker