Rays Sign Michael Grove, Transfer Ryan Pepiot To 60-Day IL
The Rays announced that they have signed right-hander Michael Grove to a big league deal and placed him on the 15-day injured list. He is still recovering from last year’s shoulder surgery. To open a 40-man spot for him, right-hander Ryan Pepiot was transferred to the 60-day IL. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported the moves prior to the official announcement.
It’s unclear what’s going on with Pepiot but this appears to represent at least a minor setback. He started the season on the 15-day IL due to inflammation in his right hip. As of April 4th, he was throwing bullpen sessions and reinstatement was expected right around now. This move to the 60-day injured list means he can’t be came off the IL until late May.
With Pepiot out, the Tampa rotation has consisted of Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Steven Matz, Nick Martinez and Joe Boyle. They lost Boyle to the injured list a few days ago due to a right elbow strain. Jesse Scholtens was recalled and will take the ball tomorrow. Whether he sticks around or that’s just a spot start remains to be seen. The Rays also have Joe Rock on optional assignment while Yoendrys Gómez is pitching multiple innings out of the big league bullpen. Prospect Brody Hopkins is in Triple-A but has walked 20.3% of batters faced this year.
Getting Pepiot back into that mix would have helped but it doesn’t appear that’s happening anytime soon. More information will likely be revealed about his status shortly but the Rays will have to proceed without him for at least another six weeks or so.
More to come.
Astros To Sign Brandon Bielak To Minor League Deal
The Astros are going to sign right-hander Brandon Bielak to a minor league deal, reports Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. Alexander adds that the Gaeta Sports Management client will report to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Bielak, now 30, pitched in the majors from 2020 to 2024. Most of that was with the Astros, though he also pitched for the Athletics. He was mostly a starter in the minors but worked both out of the rotation and the bullpen in the big leagues. He made 76 appearances, 21 of those being starts. He logged 204 innings over that five-year span, allowing 4.63 earned runs per nine. His 17.5% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate were below average but his 44.6% ground ball rate was a few ticks better than par.
Per Statcast, he mixed in seven different pitches in that time, throwing a four-seamer, sinker, changeup, sweeper, curveball, slider and cutter. The fastballs averaged in the mid-90s earlier in his career but dropped a few ticks over time. His four-seamer averaged 94 miles per hour in 2021 but crept down to 91.9 mph by 2024.
Late in 2024, he was outrighted off the Athletics’ roster. He became a free agent and signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks for 2025, though it turned into a lost season for him. He only made two minor league appearances before he landed on the minor league injured list. He underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in May.
Back in November, Alexander relayed that Bielak was recovered from that surgery and was hoping for a role as a starter. He signed with Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican League in March but that league’s season doesn’t begin until Thursday. For guys with big league experience signing in Mexico, it’s common for the deals to have clauses that allow them to leave if they get an offer in affiliated ball.
The Houston pitching staff has been beset by a number of injuries recently. Both Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier have been sidelined by shoulder strains. Tatsuya Imai hit the injured list due to arm fatigue. Cody Bolton hasn’t hit the injured list but departed his most recent start due to back tightness. Those injuries are on top of them being without Ronel Blanco, Brandon Walter and Hayden Wesneski, who all underwent surgery last year.
For now, the Astros have Mike Burrows and Lance McCullers Jr. in two rotation spots. Colton Gordon is starting today, though it’s unclear if that’s a spot start or if he’ll stick around. Bolton could make another start if his back is okay. Spencer Arrighetti is with the big league club on the taxi squad, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Manger Joe Espada says he’ll start tomorrow or Thursday, per Rome. Ryan Weiss, J.P. France and Christian Roa have been working long relief and could chip in here and there. Miguel Ullola and Jason Alexander are on optional assignment.
It’s quite a jumbled mess and the Astros will try their best to keep it together before their season slips away from them. Bielak will give them a bit more non-roster depth, alongside Peter Lambert in that department.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images
Phillies Trade Griff McGarry To Dodgers
4:15pm: The Phillies will receive $500K in pool space, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. That’s the same amount the Dodgers got from the Twins in the Anthony Banda trade, so they have effectively traded Banda for McGarry.
2:52pm: The Dodgers have acquired minor league right-hander Griff McGarry from the Phillies in exchange for international bonus pool space, the teams announced Tuesday. (The Phillies’ announcement adds that they’ll also receive a player to be named later or cash.) He wasn’t on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and thus won’t require Los Angeles to make a corresponding 40-man roster move.
McGarry once ranked as one of the more promising prospects in Philadelphia’s system, sitting third among Baseball America’s rankings ahead of the 2023 season. His standing slipped after a a pair of down showings in 2023-24, but the Nats scooped him up in December’s Rule 5 Draft following a rebound campaign in 2025. Washington wound up returning McGarry to the Phillies at the end of spring training, and he’ll now head to the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City.
Back in 2022, McGarry’s age-23 season, he pitched 87 1/3 innings across three levels and notched a 3.71 ERA with a huge 35.7% strikeout rate but a concerning 14.6% walk rate. He was rocked for a 6.00 ERA in 17 minor league starts the following season, then turned in a 4.55 ERA in 30 minor league relief appearances in 2024. McGarry had fallen almost entirely off the Phillies’ prospect map, but he bounced back with 83 2/3 innings of 3.44 ERA ball in a return to a rotation role in Triple-A last year.
McGarry walked more than 18% of his opponents in 2023 and saw that number spike all the way to 24% in 2024. Last year’s 13.9% walk rate is still far too high, but it’s a big step in the right direction relative to 2023-24, and he paired it with a huge 35.1% strikeout rate. The 6’2″ righty isn’t an especially hard thrower, sitting 93.9 mph with his four-seamer in ’25 and a hair better in this year’s small sample (94.3 mph). McGarry is a two-pitch right-hander, coupling that four-seamer with a slider that rests at 82-83 mph each year. He’s worked out of the bullpen again in 2026, allowing four runs in four Triple-A frames and walking more batters (seven) than he’s struck out (four).
Suffice it to say, McGarry is a pure change of scenery candidate and development project for the Dodgers. He’s long intrigued scouts with a fastball and slider that both grade as plus pitches and generate whiffs in droves, but McGarry’s command is nowhere close to average. The most recent scouting reports on him at FanGraphs, Baseball America, MLB.com and other outlets peg him with 30-grade command (on the 20-80 scale). There’s potential for a big relief arm in the plausible range of outcomes, even if it’s on the low-probability end of the spectrum, and it didn’t cost the Dodgers much to roll the dice on the soon-to-be 27-year-old righty.
It’s not yet clear how much international pool space is going back to the Phillies, but bonus pool allotments have to be traded in increments of $250K (unless it’s the remainder of a pool that’s currently at less than $250K total). In all likelihood, the Phils are adding one or two slots, giving them a bit of extra spending capacity to bring in some teenage talent on the international amateur market.
To be clear, no actual money is changing hands in the swap. The league places a hard cap on the amount each club can spend on international amateurs, but any team can acquire up to 60% of its original pool space in trades with other teams.
The Dodgers and Phillies both opened the 2026 international free agent period (which began in January) with a $6.679MM pool. Los Angeles spent about $3.265MM of that sum on day one of the period, per MLB.com. The Phillies spent about $4.85MM, with a hefty $4MM of that sum going to Venezuelan outfielder Francisco Renteria.
D-backs Announce Several Roster Moves
The Diamondbacks announced a slate of roster moves Tuesday. Catcher Gabriel Moreno was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 11) due to an oblique strain. Fellow catcher Aramis Garcia has had his contract selected from Triple-A and will take Moreno’s spot on the roster, serving as a complement to veteran James McCann and 26-year-old Adrian Del Castillo. Arizona moved first baseman/designated hitter Pavin Smith from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot for Garcia. The Snakes also reinstated right-hander Merrill Kelly from the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Taylor Rashi to Triple-A Reno.
Moreno missed the past three games after what was originally termed as a back issue. The Diamondbacks haven’t provided a timetable, but historically speaking, it’s common for even low-grade oblique strains to sideline a player for close to a month. The former top prospect is one of baseball’s more complete catchers, combining elite defense with above-average offense in each season of his still-young big league career. He was out to a fine start in 2026, hitting .275/.333/.400 in 45 turns at the plate.
With Moreno sidelined, the D-backs can use the lefty-hitting Del Castillo against right-handed pitching and the righty-swinging McCann versus southpaws. Garcia provides a viable third catching option on the roster and also has some experience at first base. He’s probably relegated to third catcher status in this setup, with Del Castillo the most obvious beneficiary on paper. He hasn’t gotten a consistent look in the majors, thanks largely to Moreno’s presence, but Del Castillo is a .276/.322/.439 hitter in 239 big league plate appearances and touts a .292/.381/.535 line in parts of four seasons (712 plate appearances) in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Garcia, 33, has played sparingly in parts of six major league seasons — including a two-game cup of coffee in Arizona last year. He’s a lifetime .208/.245/.321 hitter in 331 plate appearances. He’s never logged more than 115 plate appearances in a given major league season but is a career .240/.316/.436 hitter in just under 1400 Triple-A plate appearances.
Kelly’s return from the injured list was expected. The team moved righty Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen yesterday to clear a spot in the rotation, where Kelly will join Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson and offseason signee Michael Soroka. The 37-year-old Kelly also signed with Arizona this winter, returning to the D-backs on a two-year, $40MM deal after closing out the 2025 season in Texas following a deadline trade that netted three pitching prospects from the Rangers (Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt, David Hagaman).
Kelly will make his first start of the season for the Snakes tonight against the Orioles. He was slowed by back discomfort early in spring training and was thus limited to only two starts during exhibition play in the Cactus League. Kelly tossed five shutout frames for Triple-A Reno in what wound up being his only rehab outing. He might be on something of a pitch/workload limit in his season debut as he continues to build up, but it shouldn’t be long before he’s back to his workhorse ways atop manager Torey Lovullo’s rotation.
Cubs, Padres Interested In Lucas Giolito
Right-hander Lucas Giolito remains a free agent a few weeks into the 2026 season. A report from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic today says the Cubs and Padres are showing interest in the the righty.
Giolito, 31, has been the most notable unsigned free agent for a while now. Max Scherzer and Zack Littell signed in mid-March, leaving Giolito as the last standing member of the MLBTR’s list of the Top 50 Free Agents from the beginning of the offseason.
He recently spoke about his experience with Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. He said he had some talks with a few teams but ultimately didn’t make much progress, seemingly due to disagreements about his salary. “I just want to play for close to what my value is,” Giolito told Bradford. “Everything is based on these models now. Everyone uses projection and models. My agency (CAA) does the same thing. When you look at models and projections (for value), it’s like ‘alright cool, give me something that’s relatively close to that.’ Let’s go and get it. I’m ready to go.”
Giolito is coming off a good season in terms of surface-level numbers. He tossed 145 innings for the Red Sox with a 3.41 earned run average. If teams have skepticism about that, it could be because his .273 batting average on balls in play and 76.7% strand rate were both to the lucky side. His 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate were actually subpar. ERA estimators like his 4.17 FIP and 4.65 SIERA felt his ERA was lucky by about a full run.
That continued a bit of a downward trend for him. He was a borderline ace from 2019 to 2021 but saw diminished results after that. His ERA was just under 5.00 in 2022 and 2023. He then missed 2024 while recovering from surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. It’s not known what type of salary Giolito would consider fair but it seems he hasn’t received an offer he would consider to be appropriate. He signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal with the Red Sox ahead of 2024, prior to that surgery.
In his recent comments, the righty added that he has been throwing about 75 pitches on his own in order to stay close to game ready. That’s a similar situation to Patrick Corbin. The Jays signed Corbin in response to some injuries. Corbin had been getting himself stretched out and only needed one minor league start before joining the big league club, even though he missed spring training.
For the Cubs and Padres, it’s understandable that they would look to what’s available, given their recent injuries. The Chicago rotation suffered one big blow recently, as Cade Horton‘s season has been ended by UCL surgery. They also placed Matthew Boyd on the injured list with a much more minor issue, a strained biceps. They are still waiting for Justin Steele, who is recovering from last year’s UCL surgery.
They currently have a rotation group consisting of Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea. Assad has options and started the season in the minors while Rea started in the bullpen. Both got moved up the depth chart when Horton and Boyd got hurt. If Giolito were added into the mix, Assad could again be optioned and/or Rea could get nudged back to a relief role. Boyd getting healthy fairly quickly could also impact the decision making.
On the financial side of things, both RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts have the Cubs narrowly above the competitive balance tax. The report from The Athletic says the Cubs are planning to pay the tax this year, so they shouldn’t have to worry about nudging their number up a bit.
For the Padres, their rotation depth has been an ongoing issue for years and 2026 is no exception. Over the weekend, Nick Pivetta exited a start due to elbow tightness. Joe Musgrove is still not back from his 2024 Tommy John surgery. Griffin Canning is still working his way back from last year’s Achilles injury. Matt Waldron required a minor procedure during spring training and began the season on the injured list.
Unless Pivetta’s issue proves to be minor, the Friars have a rotation mix of Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez. Both Waldron and Canning have begun rehab assignments and could be activated soon but that won’t necessarily solve everything since Buehler and Márquez have each posted lackluster results so far. JP Sears is on the 40-man roster but it would be nice to keep him in Triple-A as depth. Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are in the system on minor league deals but Gonzales has a 7.90 ERA through three Triple-A starts while McKenzie has a 13.50 ERA at that level so far this year.
Adding Giolito could make sense from a baseball perspective but the report from The Athletic notes that the ongoing sale process might be a snag. The Seidler family is actively trying to sell the franchise. Even if they get an agreement fairly soon, it would still have to be approved by the league. The current owners may be hesitant to add more money to the books while that process is ongoing.
It’s also possible that other clubs could jump into the mix. The Astros have lost three rotation members to the IL in recent days and could feel compelled to add another arm. The Orioles just lost Zach Eflin to UCL surgery. The Reds have Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo on the IL at the moment. Other injuries are sure to pop up as well.
Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images
Red Sox Select Jack Anderson
3:24pm: These moves have now all been officially announced by the team.
1:05pm: Samaniego will be optioned to open an active roster spot, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. To open 40-man space, right-hander Johan Oviedo will be transferred to the 60-day injured list, also per Cotillo. Oviedo was recently diagnosed with a flexor strain and will be shut down for six weeks. If he’s healthy at that point, he’ll have to ramp back up. That whole process will be longer than 60 days, so it’s not a surprise that he is bound for the 60-day IL.
7:11am: The Red Sox are promoting right-hander Jack Anderson, according to Ari Alexander of 7News. Anderson is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the Red Sox will need to clear a spot for him before the move can be made official. The righty is now in line to make his MLB debut when he gets into a game with Boston.
Anderson, 26, was a 16th-round pick by the Tigers back in 2021. He was plucked from that organization by the Red Sox during the minor league phase of the 2024 Rule 5 draft and has been in his new organization for two years now. Anderson was utilized as a pure reliever during his time with the Tigers, but since joining the Red Sox he’s gotten some looks out of the rotation. After posting a 3.58 ERA in 75 1/3 innings at Double-A last year while being primarily used as a multi-inning reliever, Anderson finished the year with two start at Triple-A where he posted a lackluster 5.59 ERA but struck out an impressive 29.7% of his opponents.
This spring, Anderson appeared in the World Baseball Classic as a member of Team Great Britain. He struck out three and walked none in three innings of one-run ball in his lone start for them. That came against Team Mexico and a stacked lineup that featured the likes of Jarren Duran, Randy Arozarena, Jonathan Aranda and Alejandro Kirk. Anderson’s impressive showing wasn’t enough to win Great Britain the game or help them advance out of the pool stage, but he’s continued to look good since returning to Triple-A.
In his first two starts of the year at the level, he’s posted a 3.72 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work while punching out 22.5% of his opponents. Taken together, Anderson’s last five starts (between Triple-A and the WBC) have looked rather solid. He’s pitched to a 4.43 ERA while striking out 26.1% of his opponents. He’s topped out at 77 pitches in those outings (76 this year), so he seems better suited for a multi-inning relief role in the majors, but his ability to rack up strikeouts at a solid clip should make him an interesting addition to the big league pitching staff in Boston.
Anderson’s call-up comes on the heels of a disastrous start from ace Garrett Crochet where he lasted just 1 2/3 innings before departing the game. That left Jovani Moran, Tyler Samaniego, and Ryan Watson to each handle two-plus innings of work, depleting the bullpen of long relief talent. Barring a surprise injury for Crochet, it seems reasonable to expect that Anderson will be joining the roster in place of one of those long relief arms. Samaniego is the only one of that trio who can be optioned to the minors. Zack Kelly and Greg Weissert are the only other Red Sox relievers with options remaining, and while neither pitched yesterday both have struggled in the early going this year.
Brewers Place Christian Yelich On Injured List, Select Greg Jones
2:15pm: The Brewers estimate Yelich to be out until mid-to-late May, so about four to six weeks, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
11:49am: The Brewers on Tuesday placed outfielder/designated hitter Christian Yelich on the 10-day injured list due to a left groin strain, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Milwaukee selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Greg Jones from Triple-A Nashville to take Yelich’s spot on the 40-man roster. Left-handed reliever Rob Zastryzny has been moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot for Jones.
Yelich was out to a strong start, having slashed .314/.375/.451 with a homer, a triple, two doubles and three steals through his first 56 plate appearances. The 34-year-old left Sunday’s game with what the team first described as a possible hamstring injury, however, before eventually being diagnosed with the groin strain. There’s no immediate timetable for his potential return, though to this point there’s no indication that Yelich is expected to be faced with a particularly long absence.
Today’s IL placement marks the third time in the past couple weeks that Milwaukee has lost a core lineup piece due to injury. Yelich joins outfielder Jackson Chourio and first baseman Andrew Vaughn on the injured list. Both have hand fractures — Chourio a hairline fracture after being hit by a pitch and Vaughn a hamate fracture that required surgery. On the pitching side of things, the Brewers are most notably without starter Quinn Priester (thoracic outlet symptoms) and reliever Jared Koenig (elbow sprain).
Yelich’s move to the injured list should open some playing time for a series of bench options and platoon bats to rotate through the designated hitter slot in the lineup. Backup catcher Gary Sánchez could see some looks there, as could switch-hitting infielder Luis Rengifo (at least on days where David Hamilton plays third base). Outfielders Brandon Lockridge, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins are options for both outfield and DH work.
Jones, 28, was a first-round pick by the Rays in 2018 and briefly ranked on the back end of MLB.com’s ranking of the sport’s top-100 prospects back in 2022. He’s never pieced things together at the Triple-A level, however, and is 1-for-7 in a tiny sample of eight major league plate appearances. The fleet-footed Jones offers top-of-the-scale speed. He went 46-for-49 in stolen base attempts in just 89 minor league games as recently as 2024.
However, Jones has also battled various injuries and struggled to produce at an average level even in Triple-A. His .262/.344/.438 batting line in parts of four Triple-A seasons looks solid relative to the average major league batting line but is sub-par in Triple-A — particularly in the Pacific Coast League, where he spent that ’24 season. He’s shown an especially concerning lack of contact skills and pitch recognition, punching out in 36.3% of his Triple-A plate appearances against a solid but unspectacular 8.6% walk rate. That said, Jones is currently hitting .317/.462/.390 in 52 plate appearances with Nashville. He’s stolen seven bags in nine tries.
Though he was drafted as a shortstop, Jones has played far more outfield in recent seasons. Scouting reports were always a bit skeptical of his ability to stick at short, and his blazing speed lends itself well to center field range. Jones has experience in all three outfield spots and has picked up 16 games at second base over the course of his pro career as well. He’s a left-handed bat who can bounce around the diamond and provide a some speed off the bench while backing up at several spots.
Zastryzny was rehabbing from a shoulder issue during spring training when he suffered a separate intercostal strain. At the time of that setback, the Brewers indicated he’d be out until at least late April. Today’s move to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset his IL clock but does mean he’ll be sidelined for at least the majority of May now as well.
The journeyman Zastryzny has pitched 29 1/3 innings with the Brewers over the past two seasons and logged a sparkling 2.12 earned run average despite more pedestrian strikeout and walk rates of 20.5% and 9%, respectively. Even with Zastryzny and the aforementioned Koenig sidelined, Milwaukee has three lefties in the bullpen: Angel Zerpa, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall.
Mariners Select Patrick Wisdom
The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Patrick Wisdom. He will take the active roster spot of infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder, who has been placed on the paternity list. To open a 40-man spot for Wisdom, right-hander Blas Castaño has been designated for assignment.
Wisdom, 34, gets back to the majors for the first time since 2024. He spent a few years with the Cubs as an extreme offensive contributor. He would strike out a ton but also hit home runs. From 2021 to 2023, he hit at least 23 homers in each season but also struck out at least 34% of the time in each of those campaigns. His numbers declined in 2024 and he ended up in South Korea in 2025.
He had a strong showing overseas. He hit 35 home runs for the Kia Tigers, with a slightly improved strikeout rate of 29.2%. He parlayed that into a return to North America, signing a minor league deal with the Mariners. He has been crushing the ball in Triple-A so far, with nine home runs in just 15 games. His 22.6% strikeout rate is far better than his previous stints in the majors, though he has naturally been facing a lower level of competition. Even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his .264/.371/.774 line is far better than average.
During his time with the Cubs, Wisdom mostly played third base but he has only been used as a first baseman and designated hitter so far this year. The Mariners have Josh Naylor at first base. The DH spot has primarily been used for a platoon of the righty-swinging Refsnyder and the lefty Dominic Canzone. Wisdom swings from the right side and could perhaps replace Refsnyder in that platoon role. His splits aren’t huge but Wisdom has been better against lefties. He has a career .223/.298/.480 line and 112 wRC+ when facing southpaws, compared to a .201/.287/.448 line and 101 wRC+ against righties.
Stints on the paternity list generally only last a few days. A player is allowed to be away for one to three days. Every once in a while, special circumstances will keep a guy away from the club longer. In those instances, he has to be moved to the restricted list.
Assuming Refsnyder is back in the next days and everyone else is healthy, the Mariners could send Wisdom back to Triple-A without putting him on waivers. Despite his previous years in the majors, Wisdom has less than five years of service time and is still optionable. Players coming from overseas can sometimes have special language in their contracts about not being sent to the minors without their consent. Unless Wisdom has such a clause in his deal, it’s possible he could stick around as depth even after Refsnyder returns. Connor Joe is also on the club as a bench bat and isn’t playing much. He’s optionable as well, so that’s another possibility to consider.
Castaño, 27, has been on Seattle’s 40-man roster since November of 2024. Since then, he has only made one big league appearance. In May of last year, he pitched three innings of relief, allowing three earned runs via four hits and two walks while striking out one.
He mostly served as rotation depth in recent years but hasn’t been needed apart from that one outing. He tossed 126 2/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 5.19 earned run average. His 17.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate were subpar but he did get grounders on 46% of balls in play. So far this year, he’s been used out of the Triple-A bullpen. He has thrown 6 1/3 innings with a 1.42 ERA but has benefitted from a .125 batting average on balls in play, as his 19% strikeout rate is only a modest improvement from his work as a starter last year.
He’ll now head into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Mariners could explore trade talks for as long as five days. Castaño is still optionable, which could be appealing for clubs dealing with pitching injuries. If he clears waivers, he could stick with the Mariners as non-roster depth.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
White Sox Promote Noah Schultz
April 14th: The White Sox officially selected Schultz today, per a team announcement. Yesterday’s Lenyn Sosa trade opened a roster spot. The Sox also reinstated outfielder Everson Pereira from the injured list and placed Cannon on the 15-day IL with right hip inflammation.
April 11th: White Sox top pitching prospect Noah Schultz is heading to the big leagues. The left-hander is expected to make his big-league debut on Tuesday against the Rays. Elijah Evans of Just Baseball first reported Schultz’s promotion.
Chicago has a gap in the rotation with Opening Day starter Shane Smith sent down on Wednesday. Jonathan Cannon is expected to join the club on Sunday. The righty will be an option to work behind opener Grant Taylor against the Royals, but it appears he might not be taking over the No. 5 starter gig.
Schultz is off to a strong start at Triple-A. He fired four hitless innings in his first outing of the campaign. He followed that up by allowing one earned run over five frames in consecutive starts. Schultz has a massive 40.4% strikeout rate through 14 minor league innings. He’s permitted just six base runners.
MLB Pipeline ranks Schultz behind only outfielder Braden Montgomery in Chicago’s farm system. FanGraphs’ James Fegan also had the lefty in the No. 2 spot over the winter, but with third baseman Caleb Bonemer in the top spot. The White Sox spent a first-round pick on Schultz in 2022. He’s moved quickly through the minors, reaching Triple-A before his 21st birthday.
Schultz breezed through the lower levels of the minors. He posted a 1.33 ERA with a 36.5% in 27 innings at Single-A in 2023. The massive 6’10”, 240-pound lefty pushed his workload to 88 1/3 frames the following year. He maintained a 2.24 ERA and punched out hitters at a 32.1% clip between High-A and Double-A.
The 2025 campaign was a bit of a roadblock for multiple reasons. Schultz still prevented runs at a decent rate at Double-A, but his strikeout rate fell to 23.2%, and his walk rate ballooned to 14.4%. He was blasted for 17 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings after getting moved up to Triple-A. Schultz issued free passes at a concerning 11.7% rate with Charlotte. Knee issues also limited him in the second half, though he was cleared of any concern heading into 2026.
Outside of Smith’s disastrous three starts, Chicago’s rotation has pitched reasonably well to begin the year. The unit has combined for a 3.99 ERA, which ranks 14th in the league. Davis Martin, Erick Fedde, Anthony Kay, and Sean Burke all have sub-4.00 ERAs so far. Taylor as an opener has worked swimmingly, with the righty tossing three scoreless frames with just one hit allowed across a trio of “starts.” The White Sox skewed righty-heavy last season, outside of a Martin Perez cameo, but Schultz will give them two southpaws in the mix (along with Kay).
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, but feel free to begin submitting questions ahead of time, as always.
- Good afternoon! Let’s get underway.
Ross Atkins
- injuries have plagued us. With the several different timelines on players coming back, do you think we will still be a playoff team?
Steve Adams
- The Blue Jays are one of the teams hit hardest by injuries this season, but the division has been pretty even as a whole thus far. It also doesn’t seem like Yesavage — their most impactful absence on the pitching side — is looking at something super long term. I still like the Jays to reach the postseason, but the early slog of health troubles has obviously lessened their odds.
Jordan Walker
- Tell me you were wrong!!
Steve Adams
- Do this for another few months and I sure will.
Free Agency
- Do you believe players heading into free agency play a lot harder to collect all the counting stats to oversell themselves to prospective teams?