Jeremy Peña Diagnosed With Finger Fracture
The Astros announced that shortstop Jeremy Peña has a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger. He will be reevaluated in two weeks. Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle was among those to relay the update.
More to come.
Rangers, Andrew McCutchen Agree To Minor League Deal
1:40pm: McCutchen’s base salary would be $1.25MM if he makes the team, per Grant.
11:37am: McCutchen’s deal can max out around $2.5MM if he makes the roster and hits his full slate of incentives, per Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. Obviously, that suggests the base salary on his deal is shy of $2.5MM.
9:03am: The Rangers are bringing veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen aboard on a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Aegis Sports client’s deal is still pending a physical.
McCutchen, 39, is years removed from peak form but still turned in a .239/.333/.367 slash (95 wRC+) last year in what now looks like his final season with the Pirates. His .267/.353/.389 output against left-handed pitching was a bit above average, and he knocked lefties around at a heftier .261/.383/.410 clip as recently as 2023.
For the past three years, McCutchen has suited back up for his original club in Pittsburgh, where he was a first-round pick who broke out as a star and eventually won National League MVP honors. The hope for both McCutchen and the Pirates was that he’d return to play out his final seasons where it all began, leading a more competitive Bucs club back to the playoffs in the twilight of his career.
That storybook ending never came to be. Pittsburgh struggled in each of the past three seasons, finishing under .500 each year along the way. The Bucs fired manager Derek Shelton last May and took a more urgent and aggressive approach to building up their offense this winter. Pittsburgh acquired Brandon Lowe via trade and signed free agents Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna. They had even bigger targets throughout the winter (e.g. Kyle Schwarber, Josh Naylor, Kazuma Okamoto, Eugenio Suárez). All those pursuits cast doubt on whether there was room for one more go-around with McCutchen on what’d have been a more nostalgic/sentimental reunion. Last month’s signing of Ozuna all but confirmed that the book on the three-year reunion with McCutchen had been closed.
McCutchen now heads to the Rangers in hopes of grabbing a bench spot. His right-handed bat makes for a natural platoon complement alongside designated hitter Joc Pederson. Cutch could also see some time in the outfield corners when Texas faces off against left-handed starters, with Wyatt Langford shifting over to center field in place of lefty-swinging Evan Carter, who has just five hits in 68 career plate appearances against southpaws.
There’s little sense citing McCutchen’s career .289/.387/.514 slash against lefties, since so much of that is influenced by otherworldly production during his MVP peak. However, even over the three seasons in his late-career return to PNC Park, McCutchen hit .244/.353/.392 in 435 plate appearances. That sort of production is more solid than eye-catching, but it’d still mark an upgrade over the awful .225/.290/.363 batting line the Rangers turned in versus left-handed pitching in 2025.
Dodgers Outright Jack Suwinski
The Dodgers sent Jack Suwinski outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. The team had not previously designated Suwinski for assignment, so this drops their 40-man roster tally to 39.
Los Angeles claimed the lefty-hitting outfielder off waivers from Pittsburgh last month. They assumed his $1.25MM salary and an accompanying $1.375MM luxury tax commitment in the process. It always seemed like a depth move. Suwinski is out of minor league options and didn’t have a great chance to break camp with the two-time defending champions.
The Dodgers pay a few million dollars to get him into the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Suwinski showed promise a few seasons ago but hasn’t performed well over the past two years. He hit 26 homers with a .224/.339/.454 slash line for the Pirates in 2023. He has been well below the Mendoza line with an on-base percentage under .300 in the two years since then.
Since the start of ’24, Suwinski carries a .169/.271/.297 mark across 455 plate appearances. He has gone down on strikes at a 30% clip and only combined for 12 home runs. Suwinski had a much more impressive .283/.389/.565 showing in Triple-A last year. That also came with a concerning number of strikeouts, though, and he needed to go through waivers before a team could assign him back to the minors.
Suwinski will remain in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. The Dodgers have Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker left to right in the outfield. Alex Call has a decent shot to win a bench job as a righty platoon bat, while Ryan Ward and Michael Siani occupy spots at the back of the 40-man roster.
Roberts: “Hard To Imagine” Espinal Not Making Dodgers’ Roster
Veteran infielder Santiago Espinal is in Dodgers camp as a non-roster invitee, but it seems he’s already positioned himself as a favorite to break camp with the club. Manager Dave Roberts said this morning that it’s “hard to imagine [Espinal] not being on the team” (via Jack Harris of the California Post). Plenty can change over the final few weeks of camp, but it’s still notable that Espinal already has caught the attention of his new skipper. Roberts spoke highly of Espinal when players reported to camp, and the veteran infielder has since gone 8-for-14 with a pair of doubles and a stolen base in his first handful of Cactus League plate appearances.
Espinal is a versatile, righty-swinging infielder with considerable experience at both third base (1794 MLB innings) and second base (1621 innings). He’s also logged 343 major league frames at shortstop (most coming back in 2020), chipped in 114 innings in the outfield corners and logged another 16 at first base. It’s the sort of defensive flexibility that the Dodgers tend to prioritize with their bench players.
The 31-year-old Espinal has spent the past two seasons in Cincinnati, struggling at the plate both years. He hit a combined .245/.294/.322 in 719 plate appearances as a Red but provided some solid defensive chops at the hot corner in particular. He’d be more of a second base option with the Dodgers — a potential right-handed complement to lefty-hitting Hyeseong Kim, who’s entering the second season of a three-year contract.
Kim played superlative second base defense last season but was largely shielded from left-handed pitching. He hit well in the 21 left-on-left plate appearances the Dodgers allowed him to take (8-for-21 with a double and a homer), but Kim also fanned at a near-31% clip in 170 plate appearances overall and posted poor batted-ball metrics. Espinal is a career .291/.344/.409 hitter versus left-handed pitching. Back in 2021-22, he slashed a combined .282/.340/.382 in 737 plate appearances for the Blue Jays.
Second base is eventually earmarked for the versatile Tommy Edman, but he’s expected to begin the season on the injured list as he continues recovering from November ankle surgery. Kim’s stellar defense gives him a strong chance to secure regular work at second base in the interim, though veteran Miguel Rojas is on hand as an alternative, as is well-regarded prospect Alex Freeland.
Breaking camp with Espinal on the roster would allow the Dodgers to more easily get Freeland everyday at-bats back in Triple-A. The switch-hitting 24-year-old was L.A.’s third-round pick in 2022 and is a year removed from ranking among baseball’s top-100 prospects at Baseball America and MLB.com. He turned in a nice .263/.384/.451 batting line in Triple-A last season (115 wRC+) but hit .190/.292/.310 with 35 strikeouts in 97 MLB plate appearances.
How Could The Braves Pivot Following Another Profar Suspension?
The Braves opened camp in 2026 hoping for a full season from outfielder/designated hitter Jurickson Profar. He'd missed 80 games in 2025 following a PED suspension but was productive upon returning. With designated hitter Marcell Ozuna out the door, Profar and newly signed outfielder Mike Yastrzemski had plenty of runway to frequent playing time.
Of course, we now know that Profar isn't likely to play a single game in 2026. He's staring down yet another PED-related suspension, and the punishment for second-time offenders jumps from 80 games to 162 games. Profar and the MLBPA appear intent on appealing the ban, but there's no precedent for a suspension being completely overturned.
At best, Profar can probably hope for a slight reduction, and even instances like that are rare. Right-hander Michael Pineda saw a 2019 suspension reduced from 80 to 60 games, but only after providing sufficient evidence that the banned diuretic he took was not used as a masking agent for PEDs. Profar didn't test positive for a masking agent but rather exogenous testosterone.
Assuming Profar's season-long ban is upheld, Atlanta will have some decisions to make. The Braves are already down their shortstop and two rotation arms this spring. Ha-Seong Kim required surgery to repair a tendon in his hand after slipping on some ice in the offseason. Righties Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep both underwent elbow surgery to remove loose bodies and/or bone spurs.
The Braves are now also without Profar, who'd been in line for regular at-bats and was hoping to build off the sound .248/.358/.446 batting line (126 wRC+) he logged in 355 plate appearances upon returning from last year's suspension. The veteran switch-hitter walked at a huge 13.2% clip and only struck out in 15.8% of his plate appearances. He connected on 14 home runs, 16 doubles and a triple while contributing nine steals (in 11 tries) on the bases.
Losing Schwellenbach, Profar, Kim and Waldrep before the halfway point in spring training is a rough way to begin the season for an Atlanta club hoping for better health than in an injury-decimated 2025 campaign. If there's a silver lining for Braves fans, however, it's that Profar's suspension sends him to the restricted list and mandates that he will not be paid his $15MM salary. The Braves are not only off the hook for that $15MM -- they're also spared $3MM of associated luxury taxes they'd have paid to the league.
There's obviously no guarantee that Atlanta reinvests the full freight of the money they're now spared. The Braves could opt to lean on in-house solutions to plug their newfound roster gaps, then readdress when the trade deadline rolls around. That's a defensible strategy, though the counterpoint would be that spending some of those funds on immediate additions would bolster the team's chances of making it to late July as a contender.
Much of free agency and the trade market has been picked over, but there are some options for president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos to explore with his unexpected $15MM of payroll flexibility late in the winter. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes more briefly touched on this topic in yesterday's mailbag, but let's take a look at some more possibilities.
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The Opener: WBC, Peña, Spring Debuts
Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on around the baseball world today…
1. WBC play continues:
The 2026 World Baseball Classic is officially underway! The first two games of the tournament saw South Korea topple Czechia by an 11-4 margin and Australia blank Chinese Taipei in a 3-0 victory. Highlights from those games include Guardians top prospect and 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana clobbering a deep home run to right field as part of a multi-hit day for Team Australia (video link) and Astros utilityman Shay Whitcomb belting a pair of homers (video) for Team Korea.
Tonight, it’ll be Australia taking on Czechia at 10pm ET here in North America. Former Phillies farmhand Josh Hendrickson takes the mound for Australia against Czechia’s Tomas Ondra. That’s the only official game still to come today, though Japan and Chinese Taipei will square off in Tokyo at 5am ET tomorrow morning in North America for those who want to watch some early-morning ball. Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball for Japan and faces against Taiwanese right-hander Hao-Chun Cheng, who actually pitched briefly in the Dodgers’ system in 2021 but has spent the past few seasons with the CTBC Brothers in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Injuries limited Cheng to 11 starts last year, but he posted a pristine 1.49 ERA in 54 1/3 frames when healthy.
2. Astros dealing with Peña injury scare:
Star Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña was lifted from yesterday’s WBC exhibition after a taking a hard grounder off his finger. Peña’s Dominican club has pushed back on early speculation of a fracture, stating that he is undergoing X-rays and meeting with a hand specialist, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The Astros provided a few more details this morning, explaining that Peña took a hard shot off his right ring finger and cracked his fingernail (via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). He wanted to remain in the game despite his bloodied hand but was sent for testing. They’ll have a further update this afternoon.
Peña’s injury scare is a reminder that Houston’s infield “logjam” could be cleared up with just one injury, whether it occurs in WBC play or back in Grapefruit League play. If Peña were to require any sort of absence, Carlos Correa would slide over to shortstop, freeing up third base for Isaac Paredes. Jose Altuve and Christian Walker would then handle second and first base, with Yordan Alvarez manning the DH spot on a regular basis.
3. Spring debuts for several players:
Thursday will also see a handful of notable pitchers make their 2026 spring debuts. Cardinals fans can get their first official look at righty Dustin May when they host the Pirates and Mitch Keller in a game slated for a 1:05pm ET first pitch. May became a free agent for the first time this winter and signed a one-year, $12MM deal with St. Louis in hopes of putting together a healthy season in a new environment after an injury-marred run in Los Angeles and (briefly) Boston.
Over in the Cactus League, another former Dodgers mainstay will be taking the mound for a division rival. Walker Buehler‘s Padres debut is set for 3:10pm ET, when he and the Friars will host the Mariners and right-hander Luis Castillo. Buehler hasn’t been the same since missing the 2023 season with his second career UCL reconstruction. His memorable 2024 World Series performance notwithstanding, Buehler has been tagged for a 5.10 ERA with sub-par strikeout and walk rates in 40 starts since returning in 2024. After consecutive poor showings in 2024-25, he settled for a minor league deal with San Diego this winter.
One more outing worth watching with a particularly careful eye will be today’s Orioles-Rays tilt, where Baltimore righty Zach Eflin will be pitching in an official game setting for the first time since undergoing back surgery (a lumber discectomy) last August. Eflin was a free agent at season’s end but re-upped with the O’s on a one-year, $10MM contract in hopes of rebounding from a disastrous 2025 performance (5.93 ERA in 71 1/3 innings). Eflin’s poor results were obviously impacted by his health (or lack thereof). As recently as 2023-24, he rattled off 343 innings of 3.54 ERA ball with a sharp 23.1% strikeout rate and an elite 3.5% walk rate between Tampa Bay and Baltimore.
Pirates, Reds Swap Tyler Callihan For Kyle Nicolas
The Pirates announced they’ve traded relief pitcher Kyle Nicolas to the Reds for left fielder/second baseman Tyler Callihan. Both players were on the 40-man roster, so there’s no corresponding move.
It’s a swap of talented but largely unproven players between the NL Central rivals. Nicolas, 27, has the more significant MLB experience of the two. A second-round pick by the Marlins in 2020, he was traded to Pittsburgh as one of two prospects the following year for Gold Glove catcher Jacob Stallings. Nicolas was a starting pitcher at the time but always projected to a bullpen future because of spotty command.
Nicolas debuted as a September call-up in 2023. The Ball State product has opened each of the following two seasons on optional assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis. Nicolas has posted below-average numbers at the MLB level but remains an intriguing depth piece with big stuff.
In 98 MLB innings, Nicolas carries a 4.68 earned run average. He has struck out a league average 22% of opponents while issuing walks at a lofty 12.2% rate. He split his time evenly between the majors and Triple-A last year. While he allowed nearly five earned runs per nine at the MLB level, he posted a 3.79 ERA with an excellent 31% strikeout rate against minor league opposition. Nicolas walked more than 12% of Triple-A opponents and has posted double digit walk rates at almost every stop of his professional career.
The command will probably keep Nicolas in middle relief. He’d have the raw stuff to pitch at the back of a bullpen if he can find a way to throw more strikes. Nicolas sits in the 97-98 mph range with his heater and has a pair of power breaking balls: a 90-91 mph slider and mid-80s curveball.
He also uses his 6’3″ frame to get down the mound and generate a lot of extension, though the long levers have also seemingly held him back from finding consistency in his delivery. Nicolas commanded the ball better down the stretch last season. He walked only 8.4% of opponents while posting a 3.46 ERA in 26 innings after the All-Star Break. It’s a small sample but perhaps something to build off as he tries to earn a permanent bullpen spot.
Nicolas has a little over one year of service time. He’s at least two years away from arbitration and five years from reaching free agency. He has one minor league option remaining, so the Reds can send him to Triple-A Louisville without exposing him to waivers. Nicolas tossed two scoreless innings this spring before joining Team Italy for the World Baseball Classic. (He’s from Ohio but has a family link to Italy that made him eligible to participate.)
Cincinnati doesn’t have a ton of roster flexibility in the bullpen, where six of their relievers cannot be optioned. Graham Ashcraft has options but is a lock to begin the season in the late innings. Unless the Reds move on from Sam Moll, they’d only have one bullpen spot available between Nicolas, Luis Mey, Connor Phillips and Zach Maxwell. The latter four pitchers all have big arms but come with strike-throwing questions.
The Pirates subtract from their bullpen depth to take a flier on an intriguing hitter who hasn’t found a position. The 25-year-old Callihan was an overslot third-round signee out of high school in 2019. Scouts have praised the lefty hitter’s offensive aptitude while panning his defense. The Jacksonville native has a career .262/.332/.417 batting line over six minor league seasons.
Callihan’s performance in the low minors was a little inconsistent. He has posted better numbers as he’s climbed the minor league ladder. Callihan hit .271/.345/.413 in Double-A two seasons ago and was out to a .303/.410/.528 start over 24 Triple-A contests last year. The Reds called him up at the end of April.
Unfortunately, Callihan didn’t get a chance to establish himself as a rookie. He suffered a gruesome injury just six days into his big league career.
Callihan was playing left field against the Braves on May 5. Matt Olson hit a line drive that sliced away from him down the left field line. Callihan slid to try to catch the ball and was unable to brace himself before hitting the wall with his outstretched glove hand. The collision broke his arm and forced him to undergo season-ending surgery. (Adding insult to injury, Olson trotted around for an inside-the-park home run because Callihan had touched the ball in fair territory.)
That ended his debut campaign after six at-bats, in which he collected his first career hit and run batted in. Callihan entered Spring Training without any restrictions and has gotten into seven exhibition contests, going 2-9 with a home run.
Baseball America ranked Callihan the #20 prospect in the Cincinnati system over the offseason, while Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted him 29th in the organization. Callihan has improved his plate discipline and has above-average raw power, but his strikeout rate has climbed in the upper minors.
He’s a below-average defender at second base who probably fits better in left field or at first base. There are some similarities to last winter’s Spencer Horwitz pickup in that regard, though Horwitz had a much longer track record of hitting in Triple-A than Callihan does.
Callihan has less than one year of service and has two minor league options remaining. He’ll battle for a bench job in camp but seems likelier to begin the season in Indy. He can factor in as a bat-first utility type throughout the season if he’s hitting well in the minors.
Respective images via Jordan Godfree and Sam Greene, Imagn Images.
MLB Mailbag: Braves, Profar, White Sox, Mariners
This week's mailbag gets into Jurickson Profar's PED suspension and how the Braves might compensate for it, a potential embarrassment of infield riches for the White Sox, the Mariners' rotation depth, and much more.
Jeff asks:
Where do the go after the Profar suspension news? Who is available and what will the trade price be?
Morris asks:
Thank you again for doing a reader mailbag. I wish my question was coming under better circumstances. Let's get the Braves' elephant out of the way: Jurickson Profar.
We don't need to get into the weeds about the suspension. I'm choosing to be an optimist here, so, I'm going to be polite and talk around the situation. I see this development as lineup flexibility. The Yaz signing looks great, and I think Eli White as the primary bench and LHH platoon-bat is not as bad as some might worry.
But it's also payroll flexibility. We just "saved" $18M in commitments and taxes for this season. How should AA allocate that money? Could we get Giolito or Littell for something around 1-year and $10M? Or is that money now dry powder for a possible trade?
Lastly, should we cut Profar this coming offseason? I'm assuming he's probably done in MLB after this, but I know he'd still be owed for the 2027 part of his deal, but, if I'm AA, I'd happily eat that money to have an opening for a dependable guy who won't present this sort of clubhouse issue.
I remember finding the Braves' signing of Mike Yastrzemski a bit superfluous when it occurred in December, but the move is looking wise given Profar's suspension. Yaz's projected platoon partner looks to be Eli White.
White spent all of 2025 in the Majors, winning a utility role with the Braves out of camp. The 31-year-old tallied 271 plate appearances, getting regular duty for about a month until Ronald Acuña Jr. returned from the IL. About 35% of those PA came against lefties, against whom White managed a league average 100 wRC+ even accounting for five homers against lefties Brent Suter, Jeffrey Springs, Shota Imanaga, Colton Gordon, and Jose A. Ferrer in those 96 PA.
White logged more time in the minors in 2023 and '24. Baseball-Reference has unfortunately decided to stop providing minor league splits, so I can only tell you how White hit against lefties across all levels combined. He managed a .281/.337/.494 line against southpaws in 98 PA in 2024, and .258/.365/.581 in 74 PA in '23. So there's a little bit of data suggesting White can maybe be a decent short side platoon partner for Yastrzemski. How about outside options?
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Tigers Notes: Montero, Rotation, Lee
The Tigers optioned right-hander Keider Montero to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday afternoon. That takes him out of consideration for the Opening Day roster.
It’s a moderate surprise that Montero was demoted this early in camp. The 25-year-old finished last season on the MLB roster and added 5 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run over three playoff appearances. Detroit’s offseason additions of Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander and Drew Anderson left him without a path to a season-opening rotation job.
Rather than keeping Montero in the mix for a swing role, they’ll have him stay stretched out in Triple-A. Montero is away from the team pitching for his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic) that the plan is for Montero to make one or two bulk appearances in the tournament. He’ll continue to build to a starting workload with Toledo after that.
Detroit has a front five of Tarik Skubal, Valdez, Verlander, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize. Anderson is out of options and needs to be on the MLB roster. He’ll start the season in long relief assuming no injuries for the rest of camp. He’d presumably step into the rotation if anyone gets hurt.
Montero, who turned in a 4.37 ERA across 90 2/3 innings a year ago, is seventh on the rotation depth chart with Troy Melton likely to open the season on the injured list. He has one minor league option year remaining. Assuming he spends at least 20 days in the minors over the course of the regular season, he’d be out of options going into 2027.
While Montero will be playing in the WBC, another Detroit player has pulled out of the tournament due to injury. Chinese Taipei announced that second/third base prospect Hao-Yu Lee strained his left oblique (relayed by Evan Woodbery of MLive). He had been with the Taiwanese team in Tokyo for pool play but is headed back to the Tigers’ spring complex for evaluation.
The 23-year-old Lee spent all of last season in Toledo. He hit 14 homers with a .243/.342/.406 batting line across 579 trips to the plate. Lee, whom Baseball America ranked as the #6 prospect in the organization over the winter, was added to the 40-man roster in November.
Lee wasn’t likely to receive consideration for the Opening Day roster, but the injury is a small hit to Detroit’s infield depth. Even less severe oblique strains typically require multiple weeks, meaning he’s probably headed for the minor league injured list to begin the season. Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei was blanked 3-0 by Australia in the first game of the WBC tonight.
Giants’ Joel Peguero Diagnosed With Grade 2 Hamstring Strain
Giants reliever Joel Peguero has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, the team announced. The team didn’t provide a return timeline, but it seems likely the hard-throwing righty will begin the season on the 15-day injured list.
A Grade 2 strain means there’s some degree of tearing. The injury can have different timelines. Yankees reliever Scott Effross was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain around this time last year. He was on the injured list until May 18. Back in 2023, Nestor Cortes suffered the same injury in the middle of February. He was back in time to avoid a season-opening IL stay.
Those are only illustrative of the different possible timelines. The Giants will surely provide more details on a treatment plan in the coming days and weeks. Effross, for instance, received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat his injury. It’s unclear if Peguero will do the same.
The 28-year-old Peguero had a good chance to break camp for the first time in his career. San Francisco called him up last August. Peguero impressed down the stretch, turning in a 2.42 earned run average through his first 22 1/3 innings. He only struck out 20% of opponents but got ground-balls at a 53.3% clip behind a blistering heater. Peguero averaged 99.9 mph on his sinker, the seventh-highest velocity in MLB.
Peguero’s huge arm could even make him a candidate for saves in a wide open San Francisco bullpen. Ryan Walker is the favorite to close as their only healthy reliever with much experience in that regard. Walker had an uneven 2025 season, though, so his hold on the job wouldn’t be super strong even if he wins it out of camp. First-year manager Tony Vitello will be looking for various unproven arms to step into high-leverage work in what is arguably the weakest area of the roster.