Mets Claim Eric Wagaman
The Mets announced that they have claimed infielder Eric Wagaman off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Minnesota had designated him for assignment last week. The Mets had a 40-man vacancy and don’t need to make a corresponding move. The Mets also announced that they have signed outfielder Austin Slater and designated outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment, moves that were reported yesterday.
Wagaman, to his credit, didn’t have a whole lot left to prove in the upper levels of the minors at one time. Drafted by the Yankees in 2017 out of Orange Coast CC, Wagaman had a slow and steady climb up the affiliate ranks, but he started to show some big league promise between 2022-2024. His worst “full season” line was a 123 wRC+ (100 is average and is adjusted for park/league) in 266 PAs with Double-A Somerset in 2022. His work was even better the following year with Somerset: a 146 wRC+ in 136 PAs. Perhaps due to his then-age (25), defensive limitations, or limited offensive upside, the Yankees passed on adding Wagaman to their 40-man roster to protect him during the Rule 5 Draft.
The Angels, however, saw enough to warrant a 40-man roster spot, setting up a return to Orange County for the Mission Viejo native. While his numbers at Triple-A Salt Lake were less promising, the Angels granted him a cup of coffee in September 2024. His big league results, in 74 PAs, were uninspiring: an 87 wRC+ (100 is average) with little defensive or baserunning upside. Wagaman’s strong plate discipline also backslid, and without average power at a bat-first position, the Angels found little incentive to keep rostering him and elected to non-tender Wagaman, sending him to free agency.
The Marlins pounced with a major-league contract for 2025. In 514 PAs, Wagaman was able to rediscover his plate discipline calling-card at the major league level, but the power and contact quality further waned. Ultimately, his 85 wRC+ didn’t look much different than his 2024 sample, but a below-average bat at an offense-first position was untenable. Miami cut bait with Wagaman following the 2025 campaign. The Twins were next in line for Wagaman’s services after an offseason swap, but after a poor showing (48 wRC+ with a 33.8 strikeout rate) in 74 PAs at Triple-A St. Paul, he was designated for assignment.
For now, Wagaman will look to regain his footing at Triple-A Syracuse while he awaits his next chance at the bigs. There’s upside here for the Mets if the bat can come around: he’s controllable until 2031 and, more perhaps importantly, has all three option-years remaining. For a major league club that is currently starving for offense (30th in runs and wRC+), Wagaman represents a low-risk move that could potentially pay dividends.
Cardinals Claim Luis Peralta
The Cardinals have claimed left-hander Luis Peralta off waivers from the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. Colorado designated him for assignment last week. The Cards had an open 40-man spot and have optioned Peralta to Triple-A Memphis, so no corresponding moves are necessary.
Peralta, 25, is the younger brother of Freddy Peralta. The younger sibling was a starter earlier in his career but got moved to a relief role when he was a minor leaguer with the Pirates. He showed tremendous promise in that role in 2024, the year he was traded to the Rockies in a one-for-one swap for Jalen Beeks.
Between the two clubs, he tossed 47 2/3 minor league innings that year, allowing only 0.94 earned runs per nine. He did give out walks at a high rate of 11.2% but his 40.1% strikeout rate was massive and his 48.8% ground ball rate above average as well. He also got to make his big league debut and put up a 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings.
Things have been going downhill since then, however. He had a 9.47 ERA in the majors last year and a 9.09 ERA at the Triple-A level. For Albuquerque, his 28% strikeout rate was still pretty good but his 15.4% walk rate way too high. In the majors, things were even worse, as his ghastly 17.8% walk rate was higher than his 15.8% strikeout rate. He began 2026 back at Triple-A but but allowed 14 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings while walking 13 opponents.
His velocity is down a bit as well. His four-seamer averaged 95 miles per hour in 2024 but dropped about half a tick last year and is now down to 93.5 miles per hour so far in 2026. His curveball and changeup have had similar drops.
The Rockies eventually gave up. Perhaps that’s because the new front office is less enamored of Peralta but it’s hard to fault them when looking at Peralta’s recent numbers. For the Cards, despite a 14-13 record at the moment, they have long planned for 2026 to be an evaluation year. They are less focused on immediate contention and more worried about long-term development.
They’ve had an open roster spot since Jared Shuster was designated for assignment two weeks ago. They are using that today to grab Peralta. Obviously, Peralta’s stock is down at the moment, but the Cards will see if there’s a path to getting him back to that 2024 form. Peralta can be optioned for the remainder of this year and one additional season as well. If things click, he has less than a year of service time, meaning he could be affordably controlled for years into the future.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon! We'll get going at 2:30 CT, but feel free to begin sending in questions ahead of time!
- Greetings! Let's get going
MartiansArrival?
- Waiting to outmaneuver others in my league. When will the transaction to bring The Martian up happen?
Steve Adams
- A bit late now! The Yankees made it official 45 minutes ago, or thereabouts. As I noted this morning though, it could be a quick turnaround. He's a candidate to be optioned later this week when Volpe comes off the IL, especially since the Yankees haven't announced an IL placement for Stanton, which at least suggests they might ride it out in hopes of avoiding an IL stint for him entirely
Beano
- closer question - is A Santazela a potential closer in Denver? E Miller in SF? G Varland in DC? All of these guys are on our waiver wire and I wonder if they might be sneaky good grabs.
Steve Adams
- I did not have "Antonio Senzatela bullpen breakout" on my 2026 bingo card, and yet 18 innings into the season, I'm cautiously buying it. The Colorado bullpen is a mess, and he's probably the best guy they have right now, so yeah I can see him taking over the ninth. He already has two saves.I'm bigger on Keaton Winn in San Francisco than I am Miller, whose command is still pretty wobbly.Varland's durability has been nonexistent in recent years, so while I'm intrigued by the showing thus far, I don't have faith that he'll hold up.
Bradke Hrbek
- Time for Sim W-R to move to the bullpen? He's pretty decent the first time through the lineup, but it's awfully shaky after that...
Steve Adams
- He hasn't even been that great the first trip through the order this year, but yeah, I think that move has to be made eventually. He had a nice finish last season -- 3.00 ERA over his final 14 starts -- but needed a .203 BABIP to get there.His velocity has kind of oscillated throughout his career as a starter. I'd be a little curious to just see him letting loose for an inning or two at a time.Twins haven't had the rotation health to make that move, but if Abel comes back in short order, I could see them going Ryan-Bradley-Ober-Abel-Prielipp, with Rojas the next guy up (or maybe piggybacking with Prielipp).
They've given SWR plenty of chances in the rotation over the years, and it still seems hard to count on him as more than a pretty mercurial fifth starter.
Snoozy
- Tatis. Tell me it's April and this too shall pass.
Steve Adams
- It's April, and this too shall pass. :)I do genuinely think he's fine. Contact rate in the zone is actually up. Bat speed's good. He's hitting too many grounders, so maybe there's something off in his swing mechanics; maybe he's chasing below the zone too much (his case rate is up a bit, although not egregiously so)I'd be more concerned if there were some giant drop in bat speed or if he were chasing at a crazy high level or seeing major contact losses (especially in the strike zone). None of that's happening.
Red Sox
- True or False - Last year in Milwaukee will be the best year of Durbin's career. Follow up. true or false - we got WORKED in that deal.
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Blue Jays Place Max Scherzer On Injured List
The Blue Jays announced Monday that right-hander Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right forearm and inflammation in his left ankle. A timetable for his return to the roster has not yet been provided. Right-hander Chase Lee is up from Triple-A Buffalo to take Scherzer’s spot on the roster.
Scherzer signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the Jays during spring training. At the time the deal was reported, early indications were that Toronto would build the 41-year-old up slowly after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. Injuries elsewhere on the staff perhaps accelerated that trajectory. José Berríos was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his elbow. Trey Yesavage opened the season on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement. Cody Ponce tore his ACL. Shane Bieber has yet to pitch due to elbow inflammation. He’s on the 60-day IL.
Things went well in Scherzer’s season debut. He tossed six innings, held the Rockies to a run on four hits and a walk, and sat 93.4 mph with his four-seamer — right in line with last year’s 93.6 mph average. It’s been mostly downhill from there. Scherzer does have one other quality start among his five appearances this year — two runs in six innings against the D-backs on April 18 — but he fanned only one batter in that outing. Overall, since that encouraging start to the season, he’s pitched a total of 12 innings and been rocked for 19 runs in 12 2/3 innings. His average fastball has clocked in under 93 mph in three of those four appearances (sitting 92.8 mph overall in that span).
At one point during spring training, there were ongoing questions about how the Jays would find innings for their growing stock of starting pitchers. Toronto had eight starter-caliber arms — Yesavage, Bieber, Ponce, Scherzer, Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease and Eric Lauer — but that supply has thinned to the point where GM Ross Atkins signed Patrick Corbin to bring another arm into the fold. Yesavage and Berríos appear set to return soon, but the days of a rotation “surplus” in Toronto feel like a distant memory.
Scherzer’s trip to the IL comes as he’s just one strikeout shy of 3500 in his career. He’s also only 18 1/3 innings from reaching 3000 innings in his career. He’d be just the 139th pitcher to ever reach 3000 innings, and he currently sits 11th all-time in strikeouts. If he can get back to the mound and pitch any meaningful number of innings with reasonable efficacy, he could climb as high as ninth all time before long. Scherzer currently trails Walter Johnson by 10 strikeouts for tenth on the all-time list, and he’s only 45 behind Gaylord Perry for No. 9 all-time.
Toronto is expected to reinstate Yesavage from the injured list tomorrow, and Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reported yesterday that Berríos is slated to throw around 75 pitches in a rehab start that same day.
Red Sox Add Three Interim Coaches To Staff
The Red Sox announced that they have added three new coaches to their staff today. José David Flores is now the interim bench coach. Pablo Cabrera is the interim first base coach/outfield instructor. Jack Simonetty has been hired as an interim hitting assistant. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported the news on Flores and Simonetty while Alex Speier of The Boston Globe was first on Cabrera.
The moves are in response to the stunning Red Wedding-style massacre that occurred in Baltimore this weekend. The Sox fired manager Alex Cora as well as his hitting coach Peter Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third base/outfield coach Kyle Hudson, and major league hitting strategist Joe Cronin. Also, run prevention coach Jason Varitek is being reassigned to a different role within the organization.
Some of those positions were quickly filled, at least on an interim basis. Chad Tracy was called up from the minors to take over as interim manager. Chad Epperson became interim third base coach. Collin Hetzler was added to the hitting staff. That still left the overall coaching group far lighter than before, but today’s additions effectively get the staff back to previous levels.
Flores, 55, has a decent amount of previous MLB coaching experience. He was infield coordinator for the Cubs from 2012 to 2017. He was the first base coach for the Phillies in 2018, then served as third base coach in Baltimore for the next two seasons. The Sox hired him to work as bench coach for Triple-A Worcester, a job he held from 2022 to 2024. He was promoted to the big league staff as first base coach going into last season.
The other two hirees are far less experienced and are joining a big league staff for the first time. Cabrera, 28, was hired by the Red Sox in 2023 to work as a coach for Double-A Portland. He then worked as defensive coach in the club’s Fort Myers complex, before getting promoted to infield/outfield defensive coordinator for this season.
Simonetty, 26, was hired as a video and technology associate for Worcester in 2023. His title was player development associate in 2024. Last year, he served as assistant hitting coach for Single-A Salem. He began this year as hitting coach for the Florida Complex League Red Sox.
The Sox will now play the majority of the 2026 season with a big chunk of the staff being hired mid-season for interim roles. Whether any of them can stick around depends on what happens in the coming months and who is in charge in 2027.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Yankees Notes: Stanton, Volpe, DeJong
Giancarlo Stanton has been absent from the Yankees’ lineup since an early exit due to discomfort in his right calf Friday night. The team hasn’t announced a formal move regarding the slugging designated hitter but is expected to make a call on a potential IL stint one way or another prior to tonight’s game, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. With outfielder Jasson Dominguez reportedly on his way to join the big league club, it seems likely that Stanton will require at least a brief trip to the injured list.
Stanton, 36, is out to a .256/.302/.442 start with three homers through his first 96 trips to the plate. It’s not his typical level of production, but Stanton’s 30.2% strikeout rate — while still way higher than the 22.2% league average — is down from last year’s 34.2% mark. His batted-ball numbers remain excellent; he’s averaging 94.1 mph off the bat with a strong 44.3% hard-hit rate and a huge 18% barrel rate, per Statcast.
If Stanton heads to the injured list, the Yankees can use the vacant DH spot to get Dominguez some at-bats and perhaps get partial days off for the outfield trio of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham. That quartet can rotate through the three outfield spots and the designated hitter slot.
The Yankees optioned righty Luis Gil over the weekend, so there’s no need to make a corresponding 26-man roster move to get Dominguez up to the majors. However, swapping Dominguez out for Gil would leave the Yankees with 14 position players to 12 pitchers. A second move to subtract a position player from the roster in favor of a pitcher (e.g. placing Stanton on the IL and recalling Gil or another arm from Triple-A) would make sense.
There could be other roster machinations in the works, too. Shortstop Anthony Volpe, who’s spent the first month of the season on the injured list while finishing off rehab from shoulder surgery, is expected to return this week, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. Romero suggests that Volpe will play a couple more games with the Yankees’ Double-A team this week and be activated Wednesday or Thursday.
Volpe, who’ll be 25 tomorrow, struggled through the worst season of his career in 2025. The former top prospect slashed just .212/.272/.391 in 153 games and 596 plate appearances. He connected on 19 home runs and swiped 18 bags, but Volpe saw diminished contact levels within the strike zone and had his worst career performance against fastballs. The dip in production was a mystery for much of the season, but manager Aaron Boone revealed in September that Volpe had a “small” tear of the labrum in his left shoulder and had been battling shoulder pain since May. He underwent surgery to repair the tear in October.
Through his first eight rehab games, Volpe has turned in a .308/.333/.423 batting line. It’s only 23 plate appearances, but it’s an encouraging small-sample stretch for the young shortstop. His return will push the Yankees to make some decisions on the roster.
Jose Caballero has filled in plenty capably at shortstop in Volpe’s absence. He’s batting .271/.314/.417 with three homers and a hefty 11 steals through his first 27 games. Caballero isn’t going anywhere, both due to that production and the fact that he’s controllable through the 2029 season. Volpe could push him to a utility role, but he’s not going to lose his roster spot. Bench infielder Amed Rosario has had a nice start and is hitting both righties and lefties well; he’s safe, too.
The simplest path would be to send Dominguez back to Scranton when Volpe returns. If the Yankees want to give Dominguez a bigger look after he hit .326/.415/.478 with a 12.3% walk rate and just a 15.1% strikeout rate in 106 Triple-A plate appearances, there are alternatives to consider. Paul Goldschmidt was brought back to platoon with Ben Rice at first base but hasn’t hit lefties in a small sample this year. Outfielder Randal Grichuk has had similar struggles. Both players have tallied only 33 plate appearances and have track records of note, however.
If the Yankees don’t want to go with an early boot for either veteran, they could option catcher J.C. Escarra to Triple-A and use Rice and and Austin Wells as their two catchers. Rice hasn’t gotten behind the plate at all this season but caught 229 innings last year and has plenty of minor league experience. It’s always possible that another injury will pop up between now and Volpe’s planned activation window and make the answer more straightforward.
One other infielder to keep in mind is veteran Paul DeJong. He’s currently in Triple-A on a minor league contract but can opt out of his deal at the end of the month. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that DeJong has already informed the Yankees that he’ll be taking the opt-out opportunity if he’s not added to the roster.
DeJong, still only 32 years old, has belted six homers in his first 78 plate appearances with the Yankees’ Scranton affiliate in 2026. The longtime Cardinals shortstop is batting .213/.359/.541 with a huge 17.9% walk rate against a manageable 21.8% strikeout rate in that time. Like Volpe, Caballero and Rosario, DeJong is a right-handed hitting infielder. He’s a more capable option at shortstop than Rosario but typically a lighter hitter.
The presence of three other righty-swinging infielders on the roster doesn’t bode well for DeJong’s chances, but it’s possible there’ll be some shuffling to accommodate him. If not, DeJong can take a longstanding track record of strong defense and a hot minor league start to the open market and see if an infield-needy team has a spot for him — or at least a less-crowded path to breaking through than the one he currently faces in the Bronx.
Lucas Sims Elects Free Agency
April 27: Sims cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He can now sign with any club.
April 23: The White Sox shuffled up their bullpen Thursday, announcing that veteran righty Lucas Sims has been designated for assignment. Right-hander Tyler Davis has had his contract selected from Triple-A Charlotte and will join the big league relief corps.
Sims, 32 next month, pitched 10 innings for the South Siders prior to this morning’s DFA. He was tagged for seven runs (five earned) on nine hits, seven walks and a hit batter. He fanned 10 of his 46 opponents (21.7%), but his perennially spotty command also led to 17.4% of his opponents reaching base without even needing to put a ball in play.
The White Sox added Sims on a minor league deal over the winter. He had a nice spring, firing six shutout innings with three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts, but didn’t make the Opening Day roster. He began the season in Charlotte and tossed a scoreless frame before being selected to the majors when the Sox parted ways with Rule 5 pick Jedixson Páez.
A veteran of 10 partial major league seasons, Sims has more than six years of service time. He was a useful middle relief and eventual setup arm at his peak in Cincinnati, pitching to a combined 3.93 ERA in 183 1/3 innings from 2019-23. Sims punched out a hearty 31.9% of opponents in that time but was far too prone to free passes, issuing walks at a 12.2% clip.
Sims collected 39 holds and four saves in 2023-24, but a 2025 stint with the Nationals saw his shaky command erode to untenable levels. Sims walked more than 19% of his opponents (14 of 72) and plunked another seven batters before being cut loose in Washington. This year’s command was better than that low point, but Sims has walked or plunked more than 15% of the 1429 batters he’s face in the majors. It’s unlikely he’ll ever end up with even average command over a sample of any note.
The White Sox will have five days to trade Sims or place him on outright waivers. If they go the waiver route, that’d be an additional 48-hour process, meaning his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.
As for Davis, he’ll be making his major league debut the first time he takes the mound. The 27-year-old was never drafted, instead signing with the Sox out of the independent Pioneer League in 2024, when he played for the Oakland Ballers. He’s a Sam Houston State product who’s pitched 103 innings in pro ball since signing. In that time, Davis has logged a 3.41 earned run average with a 27.1% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate.
Davis has some experience as a first baseman as well, having worked as a two-way player in college. However, he’s focused solely on pitching in affiliated ball and will come to the ChiSox with a four-seamer that’s been sitting 96.4 mph in Triple-A, a splitter that’s averaged 86.2 mph and a slider at nearly the same velocity as that split.
The Opener: Torkelson, Tracy, Miller
What a finish to the Mexico City series. The Padres went into the seventh inning up 7-2 on Sunday. The Diamondbacks took the lead with a six-run rally, fueled by a Tim Tawa grand slam, then tacked on four more in the eighth inning. The Diamondbacks are off Monday as they head back to the U.S. but the Padres host the Cubs in San Diego tonight.
1. Torkelson ties Detroit record
First baseman Spencer Torkelson extended the Tigers’ lead in the seventh inning on Sunday with a solo shot off righty Pierce Johnson. The blast bumped his home run streak to five games, tying him with Hank Greenberg, Rudy York, Vic Wertz, Willie Horton, and Marcus Thames for the franchise record. The most surprising part of the run might be Torkelson’s slow start coming into it. He had a .566 OPS with zero home runs before going deep on Wednesday against Chad Patrick and the Brewers. Torkelson now has an .836 OPS, a good reminder of how quickly numbers can flip this early in the year.
2. Tracy earns first MLB win
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy is on the board as a big league manager. Boston beat the Orioles 5-3 behind a strong outing from young left-hander Connelly Early. It’s the 500th managerial win of Tracy’s career, with the first 499 coming at various stops in the minor leagues. Tracy took over for former skipper Alex Cora, who was unexpectedly fired on Saturday, along with several other coaches. The Red Sox were off to a 10-17 start under Cora. Boston now heads to Toronto for a three-game set.
3. Miller extends scoreless streak
Closer Mason Miller retired the side in order against the Diamondbacks on Saturday. The uneventful save gave him 10 on the year, three more than any other reliever. It also pushed his scoreless streak to a franchise-record 34 2/3 innings. “Big load off, for sure — I think we can stop talking about it now,” Miller told reporters, including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “Just keep pitching, see how long we can go.” The righty is up to eighth on the all-time list for scoreless inning streaks by relievers since 1961.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Doster, Imagn Images
Braves Temporarily Moving Reynaldo Lopez To Relief Role
After having their rotation depth tested by injuries in Spring Training, the Braves now find themselves in the position of having enough arms to allow themselves to tinker with the starting five. With Spencer Strider close to a return to the rotation, Reynaldo Lopez is being moved to the bullpen, as manager Walt Weiss told reporters (including Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) on Sunday.
Lopez’s last start saw him fail to get out of the second inning, as he allowed four earned runs over an inning plus two batters in the Braves’ 11-4 loss to the Nationals last Tuesday. In the aftermath of that tough outing, the decision was made to give Lopez some time to “iron some things out” as a reliever, as Weiss put it.
Lopez is “working through some things, delivery-wise, that type of thing, and he’s getting there,” Weiss said. “And when he’s right, he’s one of our best starters. He was our No. 2 coming out of camp, even with some of the issues he had at the end of Spring Training. We see him as a starter long term, but right now…he’s going to help us out of the pen in the short term.”
The situation is fluid, as Weiss admitted that “it’s series to series with the rotation right now.” Martin Perez, JR Ritchie, and Bryce Elder are lined up to start during the three-game series with the Tigers that begins on Tuesday. Grant Holmes will likely go on Friday against the Rockies and Chris Sale will start Saturday or Sunday, depending on Strider’s readiness.
Strider has been on the 15-day injured list all season recovering from an oblique strain, but he threw 82 pitches in his third rehab start today. Assuming no setbacks, Strider should be able to pitch during one of those two games next weekend in Denver.
Pretty much everything has been clicking for an Atlanta team that has a league-best 20-9 record. The offense, bullpen, and starting rotation have all been rolling, even if the rotation’s collective 3.12 ERA is undermined by some shakier secondary metrics. While it remains to be seen how long the starters can keep it going or how long a leash the Braves may give a rookie like Ritchie or a veteran like Perez (who has already been released and then re-signed to a new minor league deal, and re-selected to the active roster).
This leaves Lopez as an excess arm, even though Lopez’s 3.74 ERA is respectable and he is doing a good job of limiting hard contact. The righty’s 21.1% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate are both below average, however, and his four-seamer’s average velocity is 93.9mph — well below the 95.5mph that Lopez averaged in 2024.
That dominant 2024 campaign saw Lopez post a 1.99 ERA over 135 2/3 innings, as Atlanta’s decision to move Lopez back into a starting role paid big dividends. The end of that breakout year saw Lopez hampered by forearm and shoulder problems, which proved to be a harbinger for a 2025 season that saw Lopez make just a single start. The right-hander underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder following that lone outing, and his rehab was shut down late in the year since Lopez didn’t have enough time to build his arm back up to a starter’s workload.
It isn’t surprising that Lopez needs to shake off some rust after his long layoff, even if he looked pretty good over his first three starts of the year. Having Lopez available out of the pen to throw multiple innings gives the Braves some cover if any of their starters are chased early, and lower-leverage work will hopefully allow Lopez to solve his mechanical issues.
Cardinals To Promote Hunter Dobbins On Thursday
The Cardinals are three games into a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, and this busy schedule has presented an opening for Hunter Dobbins to make his Cards debut. Manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that Dobbins will be called up from Triple-A to make a spot start on Thursday when the Cardinals wrap up their four-game series with the Pirates.
Thursday’s game will mark Dobbins’ first appearance in a St. Louis uniform, and his first MLB outing since he tore his right ACL during a fielding play last July 11 when Dobbins was still pitching with the Red Sox. Between that season-ending injury and an elbow strain that kept him on the injured list for three weeks, Dobbins’ first Major League season was limited to 61 innings.
The right-hander had a respectable 4.13 ERA and a solid 6.6% walk rate, though his strikeout and whiff rates were well below average. Between the ACL tear and the fact that the Sox had several other young pitchers ahead of Dobbins on the depth chart, Dobbins was one of three pitchers dealt to St. Louis in December in exchange for Willson Contreras. Prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita were more long-term projects, but in Dobbins, the Cardinals landed a big league-ready starter who was ready to contribute in 2026 once his ACL rehab was complete.
Over five Triple-A starts this season, Dobbins has a 4.37 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate, and 9.4% walk rate in 22 2/3 innings. The end of his 30-day rehab period lines up well with this extended stretch of games for the Cardinals, so Dobbins can fit right into the rotation for at least one turn.
As expected for a rebuilding team’s pitching staff, the Cardinals haven’t gotten much out of their rotation to date. Michael McGreevy‘s elite walk rate has carried him to strong results despite one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball, but Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Andre Pallante, and Kyle Leahy have all struggled to varying degrees. Dobbins may not be viewed as a front-of-the-rotation type, but a good showing on Thursday would both achieve some peace of mind for the righty after his long rehab, and likely earn him more starts down the road.