Braves Release Maverick Handley
The Braves announced they’ve released catcher Maverick Handley, who’d been on optional assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. That opens a 40-man roster spot for Hurston Waldrep, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A. Atlanta also outrighted Carlos Carrasco yet again after designating him for assignment on Wednesday.
Waldrep has been out all season after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow at the beginning of Spring Training. The 2023 first-round pick had entered camp as a lock for the rotation after turning in a 2.88 earned run average through 56 1/3 innings. Waldrep’s injury was one of a number of Spring Training hits for the Atlanta pitching staff. Spencer Schwellenbach has yet to return from his own elbow procedure. Spencer Strider began the year on the injured list, while Joey Wentz tore his ACL.
The Braves have more than weathered those injuries. Chris Sale, as expected, has been fantastic. Bryce Elder has had an excellent season to stabilize the middle of the rotation. Strider returned in early May. Grant Holmes and Martín Pérez have gotten decent results despite middling strikeout and walk marks.
Atlanta has a reasonably stable five-man group for the time being. They’ve already bumped Reynaldo López to the bullpen. Rookie righties JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes are also in relief for the time being, the former after being recalled on Wednesday.
Waldrep figures to crack that group within the next few weeks. He just began a rehab assignment at the Florida complex before moving to Double-A Columbus yesterday. He went 3 2/3 innings and tossed 53 pitches. Waldrep was only two weeks into what could have been a 30-day rehab assignment. It’s not clear why the Braves elected instead to activate him to the 40-man roster just to have him continuing building up with Gwinnett.
The righty was being paid an MLB salary and accruing service time while on the 60-day injured list, even on the rehab stint. That’ll no longer be the case while he’s in Gwinnett. The salary savings for the team are marginal, however, and there’s no particular reason for service time to be a factor. Waldrep had 103 days of MLB service entering the season. He has already topped the 69 days he needed to surpass the one-year threshold.
Whatever the rationale, Waldrep will probably be back up before long. He clearly has a higher upside than Holmes or Pérez if he’s at full strength. Waldrep will burn his third minor league option year if he spends at least 20 days in Gwinnett, but the Braves would likely be granted a fourth option next offseason because of his limited professional experience.
The procedural move pushed Handley off the roster. Atlanta claimed him off waivers a few weeks back after losing Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin to injury. They immediately optioned him to Triple-A as a third catcher behind Sandy León and Chadwick Tromp. The Braves subsequently swapped in Austin Wynns for Tromp.
They’re still light on catching depth for the next few days, but Baldwin is set to begin a rehab assignment tomorrow. Handley wasn’t providing any short-term insurance regardless, as he landed on the Triple-A injured list last week. If he clears release waivers, he’ll be a free agent. The 28-year-old has otherwise spent his entire career in the Baltimore organization, appearing in 17 MLB games over the past two seasons.
Rockies Promote Sean Sullivan For MLB Debut, Move Chase Dollander To 60-Day IL
5:03pm: The Rockies announced Sullivan’s promotion. To make room, they shifted right-hander Chase Dollander to the 60-day IL and optioned lefty Sammy Peralta to Triple-A. Dollander has been down with an elbow sprain since May 15. He will now stay on the shelf until at least July 15.
12:57pm: The Rockies are set to promote pitching prospect Sean Sullivan, according to Kevin Henry of the Denver Gazette. Sullivan will start tonight against the Athletics and make his major league debut in the process. The lefty is not on Colorado’s 40-man roster, which is currently full. Thus, a corresponding move will be needed in order to select Sullivan’s contract.
Sullivan, 23, was the Rockies’ second-round draft pick in the 2023 draft. He currently ranks as the organization’s No. 11 prospect, according to MLB.com. Sullivan fared well in 20 starts between Single-A and Double-A last year, posting a 2.94 ERA in 104 innings with a 24.9% strikeout rate. He’s been less fortunate in 2026, with a 5.60 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A.
The 6’4″ Sullivan is a bit of an oddity in terms of his raw stuff. He throws a four-seamer 41.0% of the time, but the pitch only averages 89.0 MPH. Sullivan mixes in an upper-70s slider 29.9% of the time, plus a changeup and cutter at 14-15% each. The changeup is Sullivan’s best pitch, while scouting reports rate his fastball and slider as slightly below-average. Despite the low velocity, Sullivan generally thrives by leveraging pinpoint control and a deceptive, low three-quarters arm slot (video courtesy of MLB.com). He walked just 6.0% of hitters in the minors last year and has walked 7.7% of hitters at Triple-A in 2026.
Sullivan will now have a chance to prove himself in the big leagues as a control and deception guy. Tonight’s game is at Las Vegas Ballpark, the hitter-friendly home of the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate. If he sticks around for multiple starts, Sullivan could then try his luck at high altitude, with the Rockies hosting the Red Sox at Coors Field from June 22-24.
Rockies starters have performed poorly in 2026, as is seemingly the case every year. The rotation’s 5.94 ERA is dead last in the Majors and 26% worse than average even accounting for the games at Coors. No Rockies starter has thrown enough innings to qualify, with Tomoyuki Sugano just barely missing the cut at 68 1/3 innings. Sugano’s 4.08 ERA is palatable but well shy of his 7.39 xERA, which shows he’s been extremely lucky. Michael Lorenzen and Kyle Freeland are the only others to throw at least 50 innings. Both have ERAs over 7.50.
Given those underwhelming performances and injuries to other starts, there’s little harm in calling up Sullivan. Chase Dollander, one of the team’s more promising arms, has been out with a right elbow sprain for over a month and is not expected to return soon. Tanner Gordon made two starts at the end of May before landing on the 15-day injured list with a right hip impingement retroactive to June 2nd. He’s expected to throw a bullpen soon. FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool currently has the club at a four-man rotation of Lorenzen, Ryan Feltner, Freeland, and Sugano, so Sullivan can serve as the fifth starter until Gordon returns.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Athletics Place Brent Rooker On IL, Reinstate Jacob Wilson
The Athletics have placed designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 9) with a bone bruise in his left knee, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The team reinstated shortstop Jacob Wilson from the IL to take Rooker’s roster spot.
The injury continues a rough start for Rooker, who is already up to two IL placements after playing all 162 of the A’s games in 2025. Rooker missed about three weeks with an oblique strain in April. When healthy, the 31-year-old has slashed a disappointing .200/.281/.389 (82 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 203 plate appearances. Rooker’s 32 percent strikeout rate is up nearly 10 points from last year’s mark, while his .312 xwOBA is not significantly better than an underwhelming .295 wOBA.
Rooker’s struggles have come as a surprise, as the former waiver claim entered 2026 off three straight 30-homer campaigns. The Athletics gave the former waiver pickup from the Royals a five-year, $60MM extension in January 2025, at which point he was coming off a career season. Rooker walked to the plate 614 times in 2024 and slashed .293/.365/.562 with 39 homers and the majors’ sixth-best wRC+ (164). While his numbers took sizable steps backward last year, he still batted .262/.335/.479 (122 wRC+) with 30 homers in 699 trips to the plate.
More to come…
Orioles Release Tommy Pham
JUNE 12: The Orioles have granted Pham his release, per Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun.
JUNE 11: Veteran outfielder Tommy Pham will exercise an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Orioles tomorrow, reports Josh Tolentino of The Baltimore Sun. He’ll return to free agency if the Orioles don’t add him to the MLB roster.
Pham signed with the O’s midway through May. He took a few days to build up before reporting to Triple-A Norfolk. Pham struggled in 14 games for the Tides, batting .196/.281/.375 with 20 strikeouts in 64 plate appearances. He picked things up from a power perspective recently, connecting on three homers in his final eight games.
The 38-year-old Pham had a brief big league stint with the Mets earlier in the year. He went 0-13 with a walk and seven strikeouts while starting four of nine appearances. Pham spent the entire ’25 season in the Majors with the Pirates. He took 449 trips to the dish and had a slightly below-average .245/.330/.370 slash line. He connected on 10 homers, 17 doubles and one triple with a solid strikeout and walk profile.
Baltimore has a starting outfield of Taylor Ward, Colton Cowser and Leody Taveras. The latter was signed as a fourth or fifth outfielder but has put together a decent season, batting .258/.345/.365 in 209 plate appearances. He has handily outplayed Tyler O’Neill, who has hit .155 with one home run since returning from a concussion in mid-April. O’Neill has started to lose playing time as a result, dropping into a part-time corner outfield/designated hitter role.
The O’s have been without Dylan Beavers for the past month due to a low-grade right oblique strain. He’d likely push Taveras back into a fourth outfield role once he’s healthy. The O’s could make room on the bench for Pham by optioning Jeremiah Jackson, but they could see that as a redundant fit with O’Neill already on the roster. If they grant him his release, he’ll search for another team looking for right-handed outfield depth.
Tigers Select Jacob Waguespack, Designate Zack Short
The Tigers have selected righty reliever Jacob Waguespack onto the MLB roster and designated infielder Zack Short for assignment, the team announced. They have also activated reliever Kenley Jansen from the 10-day injured list, added the just-claimed James Outman to their active roster and optioned righty Brenan Hanifee to Triple-A Toledo.
Waguespack is also a new acquisition. Detroit landed him from the Brewers on Wednesday in a cash deal. He’d spent the season with the Milwaukee organization on a pair of minor league contracts. The second of those presumably contained an upward mobility clause that explains why the Brewers traded him once Detroit was willing to give him an MLB opportunity.
The 32-year-old righty returns to the Majors for the first time since 2024. He’d only made four appearances with the Rays that year. The rest of his MLB experience came with Toronto from 2019-20. Waguespack has a 5.11 ERA over 105 2/3 career innings. He spent a couple years in Japan and has bounced around the Triple-A level over the past few seasons. Waguespack had a 2.45 ERA over 33 minor league innings last year and carried a 1.66 mark in 21 2/3 frames for Milwaukee’s Nashville affiliate this season.
Waguespack doesn’t have huge velocity, sitting in the 92 mph range with his fastball. He has a cutter and changeup while occasionally mixing in a curveball. Waguespack generated a lot of swing-and-miss against Triple-A opposition this year, striking out 36% of batters faced. That came with an alarming 16.5% walk rate. It’s an odd combination for a pitcher who has generally been around the strike zone with middling whiff rates over his career.
Short is a depth infielder who has spent the last month on A.J. Hinch’s bench. He has taken 46 plate appearances over 23 games, hitting .167/.304/.222 without a home run. Short draws walks but neither hits for average nor much power, so it’s a limited offensive ceiling. His primary value lies in his versatility around the infield. Detroit swaps him out for a glove-only center fielder in Outman with their final bench spot.
The Tigers have five days to trade Short or place him on waivers. The latter is likelier, and there’s a good chance he’ll go unclaimed. He’d have the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency if no team carries him on the MLB roster.
Cardinals Option Nolan Gorman, Select Blaze Jordan
The Cardinals have optioned slumping third baseman Nolan Gorman to Triple-A Memphis and selected the contract of corner infielder Blaze Jordan, as first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jordan’s first game for St. Louis will be his MLB debut. Injured infielder Ramón Urías has moved to the 60-day IL to make room for Jordan on the 40-man roster. In other moves, right-hander Hunter Dobbins is heading to Memphis, while the Cardinals have recalled righty Chris Roycroft.
Gorman, 26, made his MLB debut in May 2022 and has spent most of the past five seasons with St. Louis. The former top prospect showed promise in his first full season, hitting 27 home runs and finishing with an .805 OPS and a 118 wRC+ in 464 PA. His 31.9% strikeout rate was high, but that wasn’t hard to ignore when he was walking at an 11.4% clip with a hard-hit rate near 50% and one of the highest barrel rates in the league. He also held his own with the glove at second and third base, finishing with 2.3 FanGraphs WAR.
Unfortunately for Gorman, the swing-and-miss has become an even bigger problem, while his power has trickled away. In just over 1,000 plate appearances from 2024 to ’26, he owns a 34.9% strikeout rate, a .653 OPS, and an 83 wRC+. The Cardinals surely hoped that trading Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan this past offseason would give Gorman the consistent playing time he needed to figure things out. Yet, while he has appeared in 62 of his team’s 66 games this season, his .598 OPS and 69 wRC+ are the worst marks of his career. His ninth-percentile xwOBA (.279) doesn’t suggest things are about to get any better, nor does his 3-for-43 (.070) stretch over the last three weeks.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Cardinals are right in the thick of the National League playoff picture in 2026; with a .561 winning percentage, they’d be the NL’s top Wild Card team if the season ended today. So, they seem to have decided they can’t afford to give Gorman any more rope to work on his issues at the major league level. Instead, they’ll see if Jordan can offer the thump that Gorman wasn’t giving them. Third base is the rookie’s primary position, so he should be able to slot right into Gorman’s old role.
Jordan isn’t a top-ranked prospect. The Cardinals acquired him from the Red Sox last summer in exchange for rental arm Steven Matz. However, the 23-year-old has put up strong numbers at Triple-A this year, with 11 home runs and 31 extra-base hits in 57 games. Thanks to an excellent 11.5% strikeout rate, he is hitting .313, while his power has propelled him to a .921 OPS and a 137 wRC+. Some of that success might reflect good fortune in a small sample, but the Statcast numbers show he really has been hitting the ball significantly harder this year.
Dobbins, 26, pitched 13 innings over three appearances in his latest stint in the majors, striking out 15 and walking only two. He gave up four earned runs, three of which came in his outing yesterday. His demotion says less about his performance and more about his team’s roster needs. He was acting as a pseudo sixth starter, and evidently, the Cardinals decided they’d prefer a fresh, more traditional arm for the bullpen in Roycroft, rather than a bulk arm like Dobbins.
Urías has been out since May 5 with elbow issues. The veteran infielder will now be out until at least early July.
Nationals Claim Jhancarlos Lara, Designate Julian Fernandez
The Nationals announced that they have claimed right-hander Jhancarlos Lara from the Braves and optioned him to Double-A Harrisburg. In a corresponding move, the Nats designated righty Julian Fernandez for assignment.
When the Braves selected Lara’s contract last September, Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs each ranked him among the team’s 25 best prospects. There were questions about his command then, however, and he hasn’t done anything to ease those concerns at the Double-A level this year. The 23-year-old posted an 8.22 ERA with a whopping 29 walks (against 21 strikeouts) in 15 1/3 innings before the Braves cut the cord. Lara endured similar struggles in 2025, during which he combined for a 7.73 ERA with 13.6 K/9 and 8.5 BB/9 in 68 2/3 innings divided between Double-A and Triple-A. Nevertheless, the Nationals will take a flier on a hard thrower who has three minor league options remaining.
The Nationals are less than a year removed from claiming Fernandez from the Dodgers last August. Now 30 years old, Fernandez joined the Rockies in 2012 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic. He later had stints with the Giants and Marlins, but he didn’t make it to the majors with either team. Fernandez finally debuted in the bigs during a return to Colorado in 2021, but he struggled to a 10.80 ERA over 6 2/3 innings that year. He didn’t pitch in the majors from 2022-24, which included a stint in the Mexican League, but combined for four appearances with the Dodgers and Nationals last season. He made three more appearances with the Nats this year before they designated him. In all, Fernandez carries a 6.98 ERA with 12 walks and eight strikeouts in 15 2/3 frames at the game’s highest level. He owns a 5.14 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 145 1/3 Triple-A frames.
Fernandez will have an answer on his future within a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, giving Washington up to five days to find a trade partner. As someone who has been outrighted in the past, Fernandez has the ability to reject an assignment and opt for free agency.
Diamondbacks Designate Aramis Garcia For Assignment
As expected, infielder/outfielder Jordan Lawlar has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. In a corresponding move, the Diamondbacks have designated catcher Aramis Garcia for assignment. Over the next week, the D-backs must either trade Garcia or place him on waivers. If he clears waivers, Arizona could send him outright to Triple-A Reno, although he’d have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.
This is the second DFA of the season for Garcia. Arizona first selected his contract in mid-April, after Gabriel Moreno suffered an oblique strain. When Moreno returned, Garcia got the boot. He then cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Reno. A couple of weeks later, the D-backs called on him again, this time to replace an injured James McCann. It’s a pattern Garcia has gotten used to over the years. The 33-year-old has appeared in seven MLB seasons dating back to 2018, suiting up for the Giants, Athletics, Reds, Phillies, and Diamondbacks. In all that time, he has played a total of 129 games.
Garcia was the third catcher on Arizona’s active roster, along with Moreno and Adrian Del Castillo. The D-backs could return to a three-catcher setup once McCann returns from the IL, which might be in the next week or two, barring a setback. However, they probably don’t need three catchers. In the six weeks Garcia has spent with the big league team this year, he has only appeared in eight games, catching 50 innings and stepping to the plate 19 times.
Unless he really struggles, Lawlar will be a lot more valuable than a third backstop. Formerly Arizona’s consensus top prospect, he graduated from rookie status in 2025, although he has still only amassed 128 major league plate appearances in his career. In other words, he has huge potential, but he also has a ton to prove. Not only is he trying to live up to his top-prospect pedigree, but he’s coming back from a broken wrist, and he’s adjusting to a new position. Lawlar came up as a shortstop, but Geraldo Perdomo is blocking him there, and the presence of Ketel Marte and Nolan Arenado means he can’t make the easier transition to second or third base. So, Lawlar will be learning to play the outfield for the Diamondbacks this year. Prior to his injury, he started five games in left field and one in center. He also moved between left and center field during his minor league rehab assignment.
Arizona had one of the best offenses in the National League in 2024 and ’25, but so far in 2026, that hasn’t been the case. Things have been particularly bad as of late. Over the past two weeks, no team has scored less often than the D-backs. What this club really needs is another lefty bat, but until they can find one, they’ll have to hope that the return of a former star prospect injects some energy into their lineup.
Phillies Place Adolis García On 60-Day IL
The Phillies announced that they have placed outfielder Adolis García on the 60-day injured list with a torn right lat. They recalled outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take his active roster spot. Outfielder Derek Hill, whom the Phillies acquired from the White Sox on Thursday, has reported to the club. Steward Berroa will go on the paternity list in a corresponding move. They now have an opening on the 40-man roster.
García will miss at least the next two months. The former Gold Glove right fielder blew out his shoulder during Wednesday’s game in Toronto. García caught a fly ball with runners at the corners and one out. He came up throwing to try to cut down George Springer at home plate. García made an excellent one-hop throw that almost nabbed Springer, but he immediately favored his shoulder and had to come out of the game.
Philadelphia signed García to a one-year, $10MM free agent contract last offseason. He’d been non-tendered by the Rangers after a second straight below-average year at the dish. The Phillies needed a right fielder after determining at the beginning of the offseason they were moving on from Nick Castellanos. García has provided a significant defensive upgrade but has fallen even further offensively.
The 33-year-old has hit .195/.270/.329 across 259 plate appearances, career worst marks in all three slash categories. Things seemed as if they might be clicking just before the injury, as he’d hit three home runs in his last seven games. García is still capable of putting a charge into one, but his approach has undercut any kind of offensive consistency over the past few seasons. He’s a .220/.277/.385 hitter in more than 1400 plate appearances since the start of 2024.
Even with García playing strong defense, Philly seemed likely to prioritize right field at the trade deadline. They’ve played well since the managerial change to pull back into Wild Card position. They clearly need outfield help, as they’ve gotten very little out of center or right field this season.
The Phils traded for Hill during yesterday’s off day. He’s a righty-hitting fourth or fifth outfielder who can platoon with lefty-swinging Brandon Marsh or Justin Crawford. García’s injury probably increased the front office’s urgency to make a move, but Hill fits a complementary role the Phillies needed either way. He’s not the answer for an everyday right fielder.
In the short term, Rincones will get his first major league look. The Phillies selected him onto the 40-man roster over the winter to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He began the season on the minor league injured list and has only appeared in 12 Triple-A games since being activated in late May. Rincones has hit .239 without a home run in 55 plate appearances as part of a slow start to the season.
A third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic in 2022, Rincones is coming off a .240/.370/.430 season with Lehigh Valley last year. He walked at an excellent 15.8% clip, hit 18 homers, and stole 21 bags. Rincones takes a lot of pitches and hits the ball hard. The patient approach leads to a lot of walks but also deep counts and a decent number of strikeouts. He’s listed at 6’3″, 225 pounds and isn’t considered a strong corner outfield defender.
Rincones is in the lineup tonight for the series opener in Milwaukee, playing right field and batting seventh. He’ll get a tough welcome to the big leagues in the form of Jacob Misiorowski.
Astros Designate Ryan Weiss For Assignment, Select Raynel Delgado
The Astros have designated right-hander Ryan Weiss for assignment, as first reported by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. His 40-man roster spot will go to infielder Raynel Delgado, whose promotion was first reported yesterday by Francys Romero. Weiss was not on Houston’s active roster, but the Astros already cleared a spot for Delgado on the 26-man by optioning Shay Whitcomb on Thursday.
Weiss, 29, pitched in the minor leagues for the Diamondbacks and Royals from 2018-23. Then, after brief stints in the independent Atlantic League and the Chinese Professional Baseball League, he joined the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles. His first season with the Eagles was solid (16 starts, 3.73 ERA), but his follow-up campaign was spectacular. The righty ranked third in the KBO with 178 2/3 innings, while his 2.87 ERA was nearly a run and a half better than the league average. Former major leaguers Cody Ponce and Drew Anderson had even stronger seasons with their KBO clubs – and thus signed bigger contracts in the offseason – but Weiss caught Houston’s eye. In December, the Astros signed him to a one-year, $2.6MM guarantee, with a club option for 2027.
On March 27, Weiss made his major league debut. In one inning of work, he gave up an earned run on two hits (including a home run) and a walk, though he struck out two. Over his next eight appearances, the pattern continued. Pitching in a bulk relief role, Weiss struck out more than a batter per inning, but long balls and free passes were a serious problem. By the time the Astros optioned him to Triple-A in early May, he had already given up eight home runs and 20 walks. The result was an 0-3 record and a 7.62 ERA. His 4.73 SIERA wasn’t as gruesome, but it was hard to ignore the fact that nearly 20% of the batters he faced came around to score, and almost half of the contact he allowed registered as hard-hit.
Unfortunately for Weiss, his struggles continued in the minors. In five starts for Triple-A Sugar Land, he pitched to an 8.41 ERA and a 6.61 FIP. Considering his poor performance and contract status, it’s not surprising the Astros DFA’d the right-hander. If another team thinks it can get more out of Weiss’s arm and puts in a claim, Houston would be off the hook for the rest of his salary. However, it’s more likely he passes through waivers and accepts an outright assignment to Sugar Land. He has previously been outrighted in his career, giving him the right to reject any future outright assignments, but due to his limited service time, rejecting an outright assignment would mean forfeiting the rest of the guaranteed money remaining on his contract.
Delgado, 26, will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets in a game. The Guardians drafted the versatile infielder in 2018, and he played in their system until he elected minor league free agency at the end of the 2024 campaign. He has since signed minor league contracts with the Brewers and Rays. It was Tampa Bay that traded him to Houston for cash considerations earlier this week. Delgado’s offensive numbers at Triple-A don’t jump off the page – he’s hitting .250 with a 77 wRC+ in 253 PA this season – but he steals bases, and he can play anywhere on the infield, including shortstop.