Mariners Place Brendan Donovan On IL, Select Will Wilson
8:33pm: Emerson is battling wrist soreness in Triple-A, manager Dan Wilson told reporters (including Adam Jude of The Seattle Times). There’s no indication the team is concerned about the issue, but that played a role in their decision not to promote him yet. The M’s also don’t anticipate Donovan missing much time, so it made more sense to tab Will Wilson if they’re only looking for a short-term utility stopgap.
4:25pm: The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Will Wilson. He will take the active roster spot of infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left groin muscle strain, retroactive to April 18th. To open a 40-man spot, infielder/outfielder Miles Mastrobuoni has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Donovan was removed from Friday’s game due to a left hip issue. He didn’t play on Saturday or Sunday. He had previously dealt with a right groin issue earlier in the season. Per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Donovan believed it was possible that his earlier groin discomfort may have been related to the sports hernia surgery he underwent back in October.
That surgery didn’t prevent Donovan from being one of the hottest trade chips of the winter. Several clubs were interested and Seattle eventually landed him in a three-team trade that saw them send out infielder Ben Williamson, prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tai Peete, as well as a competitive balance round B pick.
Donovan was a particularly good fit for the Mariners roster because of his defensive versatility. Coming into this year, it wasn’t clear what would happen at second or third base, with Cole Young and Colt Emerson possible solutions at those positions. Young has taken over at second and has been playing well so far. Emerson, despite signing a long contract extension, has been in the minors. That has left Donovan to cover third and he has a strong .304/.437/.518 line when he has been able to take the field.
It’s not clear how long the Mariners expect Donovan to be out but they’ll have to proceed without him for more than a week, at least. They could have called up Emerson but have decided not to, at least for now. He is playing well for Tacoma but is still only 20 years old and only has 24 games at Triple-A under his belt, so it seems they have decided to keep him there.
Leo Rivas has picked up the past two starts at third base with Donovan out. He has a rough .143/.295/.184 line on the year but a better .217/.348/.278 slash for his career. A switch-hitter, he has been far better against righties, with a .221/.372/.305 line in that split compared to a .210/.304/.235 line versus lefties.
Wilson, 27, is a right-handed bat but hasn’t had strong splits throughout his career. In much of his minor league career, he’s actually been better against righties, so he’s not an ideal platoon bat for Rivas. He might just be more of a general depth infielder off the bench. He has plenty of minor league experience at the three infield positions to the left of first base, and some limited outfield experience as well.
His major league track record is still fairly small. He got into 31 games with the Guardians last year and slashed .192/.267/.244. His upper level minor league work hasn’t been much better, though his Triple-A line of .250/.333/.430 since the start of 2025 isn’t bad. He has options and could be sent back down to Tacoma once Donovan and/or Patrick Wisdom come off the IL.
As for Mastrobuoni, he started the season on the 10-day IL with a right calf strain. He began a minor league rehab assignment on April 8th and played as recently as the 18th. His current status is unclear but he must have suffered some sort of setback, since he’s now ineligible for reinstatement until late May.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Red Sox To Place Sonny Gray On Injured List
The Red Sox will place Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list tomorrow, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The veteran righty left this morning’s start with right hamstring tightness and is slated for an MRI on Tuesday. Rookie southpaw Tyler Samaniego will be recalled as the corresponding move to give Boston an extra reliever for the next few games.
Although the Sox won’t know the severity of Gray’s injury until tomorrow, they’ve expressed optimism. The pitcher and skipper Alex Cora each said they don’t believe it’s a serious injury. Gray missed time with strains of the same hamstring in 2022 and ’24. That history adds some confidence to his feel that this isn’t a major issue but also incentivizes the Sox to be cautious. He’ll be eligible to return on May 6.
Gray’s first season in Boston has been a mixed bag. He owns a 4.30 earned run average with a much diminished 13% strikeout rate over 23 innings. Gray struggled in his team debut against Cincinnati, rebounded with consecutive quality starts against San Diego and Milwaukee, then was knocked around for five runs over four innings in Minnesota last week. He had allowed one run over 2 2/3 innings in today’s start.
The early exit forced the Sox to lean heavily on their bullpen. They used seven relievers to hang onto an eventual 8-6 win over Detroit. Long man Jack Anderson, who threw three innings and 41 pitches yesterday, was the only reliever who didn’t get into today’s game. Boston has divisional series against the Yankees, Orioles and Blue Jays before their next off day on April 30. Samaniego hasn’t pitched since Friday, so he should be available for a couple innings tomorrow. He was just optioned back to Triple-A last week but can be recalled to replace an injured pitcher.
Boston’s schedule will require them to turn to a fifth starter this weekend unless they want to run a bullpen game. Top prospect Payton Tolle seems the logical candidate after making a late-season debut in 2025. The big lefty has recorded 19 strikeouts while allowing eight runs (five earned) through 15 Triple-A frames this year.
Tolle hasn’t pitched since April 12. Cotillo notes that the Sox scratched Tolle from his Triple-A start over the weekend in case he was needed at the MLB level with uncertainty about potential weather postponements and doubleheaders. Connelly Early, Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello are lined up for the series against the Yankees. Boston hasn’t announced a probable starter for Friday’s opener with Baltimore, but Garrett Crochet would be on regular rest for that outing. Gray’s next turn would have come on Saturday.
Royals Place Jonathan India On IL With Shoulder Subluxation
The Royals announced that infielder Jonathan India has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 19th, due to a left shoulder subluxation. Infielder/outfielder Nick Loftin has been recalled as the corresponding move.
Per Anne Rogers of MLB.com, this is the same shoulder injury that India has battled in the past. On June 13th of 2025, he dove for a ground ball and clearly hurt himself, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. He suffered a subluxation at that time. He didn’t go on the IL for that shoulder but did occasionally miss time for the rest of the year.
India had a subpar season, though it doesn’t seem as though the shoulder injury explains the whole thing. He had a .249/.332/.336 line and 89 wRC+ through that June 13th game, followed by a .219/.315/.355 line and 89 wRC+ after it. He did have an IL stint in that latter section, but it was due to a left wrist sprain. He is out to a rough .167/.310/.313 start so far in 2026.
Whether it’s due to the injuries or not, the Royals surely hoped for more when they acquired India from the Reds ahead of the 2025 season. He slashed .253/.352/.412 with Cincinnati from 2021 to 2024, production which translated to a wRC+ of 108. After his rough 2025, he became a speculative non-tender candidate, but the Royals brought him back by signing him to an $8MM deal for this year.
So far, that investment hasn’t paid off. Ideally, India can get healthy and get back on track, though the next steps are unclear at this point. Per Rogers, India received an injection and will be seeing another doctor this week.
With India out of commission, the Royals will likely use some combination of Michael Massey and Loftin to cover second base. Massey started the season on the IL due to a calf strain and has hit .174/.208/.261 since coming back. That’s in a tiny sample of 24 plate appearances but he also hit .244/.268/.313 for a 57 wRC+ last year, so he hasn’t been in good form for quite a while. Loftin has 438 career plate appearances with a .220/.296/.323 line and 73 wRC+.
The Royals are out to a 7-15 start, tied with the Mets for the worst record in baseball. The team has a combined .218/.296/.339 batting line and 79 wRC+, which places them ahead of only the Reds among big league clubs. Though India has been struggling, it doesn’t appear that subtracting him from the lineup is likely to help matters.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Edwin Díaz To Undergo Surgery For Loose Bodies In Elbow
The Dodgers announced that right-hander Edwin Díaz has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow loose bodies. A subsequent announcement said that he will have surgery to address the issue and is expected to return in the second half of the season. Reportedly, he’ll miss about three months, which will put him in line for a return sometime around the All-Star break. Left-hander Jake Eder has been recalled to take Díaz’s spot on the active roster.
The status of Díaz has been a bit of a mystery for a while now, as he has struggled for the Dodgers while pitching with diminished velocity. His fastball has averaged 95.7 miles per hour so far this year, a notable drop from his 97.2 mph average last year. His results were fine through five outings but his sixth, on April 10th, was rough. He entered a 7-4 game in the ninth and surrendered three runs, allowing the Rangers to tie it up.
The Dodgers were able to walk that game off in the bottom of the ninth but Díaz became a question mark. He didn’t pitch in official game action for over a week after that, even though the Dodgers had some save situations. He was finally back on the mound last night but the results were again poor. He entered in the bottom of the eighth at Coors Field, with the Dodgers down 6-4. He faced four batters, allowing three hits and a walk, then was removed without recording an out.
On the one hand, it’s nice to have a diagnosis that explains his struggles, but any elbow issue for a pitcher is going to be worrisome. Losing him for three months is going to be a blow. He has been one of the best closers in recent history and was just signed to a huge contract in the offseason. The Dodgers gave him a three-year, $69MM deal to scoop him away from the Mets.
The Dodgers have won the past two World Series but their 2025 title came despite a shaky bullpen. Manager Dave Roberts relied more and more on his starters as the postseason went along and the Dodgers just barely held on, as they almost lost to the Jays on a few occasions, going into extra innings in Game Seven.
The Díaz signing was supposed to patch over one of the club’s few weak spots as they look for a three-peat. Though Díaz isn’t quite as ridiculously dominant as he was a few years ago, he still had a great 2025 season, tossing 66 1/3 innings with a 1.63 earned run average 38% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.
The Dodgers generally approach injuries with a long view. Their team is strong enough that they can feel quite good about their chances of making the postseason. They can have their players, particularly the pitchers, take their time to ensure they are healthy for the postseason. Given the three-month timeline, they can take that approach with Díaz. Ideally, he will be back in time to shake off some rust down the stretch and be in peak form for October.
Time will tell how that goes. If Díaz experiences any kind of setback or struggles to get in form once he is healthy, it could potentially impact how the Dodgers approach the trade deadline, which is on August 3rd this year.
For now, they will have to proceed without their big offseason bullpen investment. Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen could be candidates for picking up some save opportunities now. Scott is back in good form so far this year after a rough 2025. Vesia has picked up a few scattered saves over the years and has started 2026 with ten scoreless appearances. Treinen has past closing experience but isn’t out to a great start this year, with a 4.05 ERA thus far.
Alden González of ESPN reported that he would undergo surgery and be out about three months. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic first reported that some kind of procedure would take place. Jack Harris of the California Post first reported that the Dodgers would expect him to be back from that procedure during this season. Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Tyler Wade Granted Release By Rangers
Veteran infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade has been granted his release by the Rangers, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. He’d signed a minor league pact with Texas over the winter and opened the season with their Triple-A club in Round Rock. Wade is now free to sign with any team.
The 31-year-old Wade is a versatile but light-hitting utility player who posted a .212/.296/.245 batting line in 283 plate appearances with the Padres over the past two seasons and carries a career .216/.294/.284 batting line (65 wRC+) in 992 turns at the plate in the majors. He’s gotten out to a slow start this year with Round Rock, slashing just .226/.315/.242 in 16 games/73 plate appearances. He’s suited up at five different positions: shortstop, second base, third base, left field and center field.
Wade has drawn solid marks for his big league glovework at second base and third base but has garnered shakier ratings at shortstop and across the outfield. He’s an above-average runner but doesn’t get on base frequently enough to make great use of that speed. In parts of seven Triple-A seasons, Wade is a .279/.359/.399 hitter.
Rays Select Trevor Martin
The Rays announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Trevor Martin. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow righty Mason Englert, who has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right forearm tightness. To open a 40-man spot, righty Michael Grove has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Martin, 25, was a third-round pick of the Rays in 2022. Tampa used him as a starter in his first professional seasons but converted him to a reliever last year. From the start of 2025 to the present, he has thrown 62 2/3 innings, split between Double-A and Triple-A, having allowed 2.73 earned runs per nine. His 9.5% walk rate is a bit high but his 25.2% strikeout rate is a few ticks above average. He averages about 95 miles per hour on his fastball, per Statcast, while also featuring a cutter, splitter, slider and changeup.
That stat line includes 9 1/3 scoreless innings to start this year. He has worked around a 14.6% walk rate in the early going but putting up zeroes has seemingly attracted the attention of the front office. Martin gets the call for the first time and will make his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Though Martin has done his part, the injury situation has played a role as well. Tampa lost Edwin Uceta and Steven Wilson to injuries in spring training. Since then, Garrett Cleavinger and now Englert have hit the IL as well. Manuel Rodríguez is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times relays that Englert and manager Kevin Cash don’t consider his injury to be serious, so perhaps he will be back relatively quickly. Martin has a full slate of options and could be shuffled between Triple-A and the majors as those guys get healthy or when fresh arms are needed.
As for Grove, he underwent shoulder surgery while with the Dodgers last year and missed the entire campaign. He was bumped off the roster at the end of the season and became a free agent. The Rays signed him last week and immediately placed him on the 15-day IL. His exact timeline isn’t clear but this transfer suggests the Rays don’t expect him to be back in the majors soon. He won’t be eligible for reinstatement until June.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Astros Select Braden Shewmake
The Astros announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Braden Shewmake. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder Nick Allen, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms, retroactive to April 19th. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Cristian Javier has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Shewmake, 28, was just acquired from the Yankees yesterday. The Yanks had outrighted him off their 40-man roster in February, so he wasn’t immediately added to Houston’s roster at the time of the trade. It seemed possible at the time of the deal that Shewmake was acquired to replace Allen as the club’s bench infielder and that has indeed come to pass.
The players have similar profiles as glove-first guys with light bats. Shewmake has a .118/.127/.191 batting line in 71 big league plate appearances. His .241/.305/.384 line at Triple-A is better but still not good, translating to a 78 wRC+, indicating he has been 22% below average at that level. But he has other attributes. Over his 303 Triple-A games, he has stolen 52 bases, while getting caught only four times. He has extensive shortstop experience, with plenty of time at second and third base as well.
The Astros came into the season with an infield logjam but shortstop Jeremy Peña is now on the IL, which has alleviated that. Carlos Correa has moved from third base to shortstop, which has allowed Isaac Paredes to take over at the hot corner. The Astros can use Shewmake as a late-game defensive replacement or bounce him around when they want to give guys days off, which is how Allen was being used. When Peña and/or Allen get healthy, Shewmake is out of options and may not be able to hang onto his roster spot.
Javier was initially placed on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder strain a little over a week ago. This transfer means he is ineligible for reinstatement until early June. Just yesterday, general manager Dana Brown said he expected Javier and Hunter Brown to return from their respective shoulder strains in late May to early June.
Today’s transaction closes off the possibility of Javier being back in the majors in late May, but if he is healthy by then, he could go out on a minor league rehab assignment. Such assignments come with a 30-day maximum for pitchers.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon! We'll get going at 2pm CT today, but feel free to submit questions ahead of time, as always.
- Greetings! Let's get underway
Still an A
- Is Cam Schlittler the real deal or does he regress? Hard to believe he's this dominant all season
Steve Adams
- I don't consider these two things mutually exclusive. Yes, I would say he's a genuine high-end starting pitcher. I'd also say he's still going to regress. I don't think it's realistic to expect any pitcher to post a sub-3% walk rate for a full season, nor will he go the entire season without one of his fly-balls clearing the outfield fence. He's going to regress; there's no question about it.But even regression for him might mean something like a low-3.00s ERA for the remainder of the season -- or upper 2.00s. The velo is great. He's missing bats and inducing chases off the plate at elite levels.
Even if his walk rate doubles the rest of the way and he allows homers at a league-average rate from here on out, he'd still be an easy playoff-caliber starter. Schlittler looks awesome.
Bradley Jax
- Which side won the trade?
Steve Adams
- I don't think there's any real point in trying to assess that right now, since it's going to change frequently. You'd probably take the Taj Bradley end right now, but he's one injury or rough patch away from things swinging the other direction.It takes so long to see these things with any sort of clarity, and even when you think you have a real grasp, you never really know until years down the road.
The Cristopher Sanchez-for-Curtis Mead swap was labeled a heist for the Rays for several years because Mead was a top-100 prospect and Sanchez looked wholly unremarkable.
I think it's safe to say the Phillies won that one, but back in 2022 -- three full years after the trade -- people would've looked at you like were nuts if you opined as much.
Mets Man
- Mets are cooked right? Everyone besides Nolan McLean is bad at baseball. Do you think there is a way for the mets to turn it around or should start hoping for 27?
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Cubs Re-Sign Dylan Carlson To Minor League Deal
The Cubs re-signed outfielder Dylan Carlson to a minor league contract after he was designated for assignment and elected free agency last week. The team never formally announced it, but Carlson’s deal is reflected on the MLB.com transaction log and he suited up for the team’s Triple-A Iowa club yesterday. Carlson is represented by ALIGND Sports.
Carlson, 27, went hitless in four plate appearances with the Cubs before being cut from the big league roster. He’d signed a minor league contract in free agency over the winter and made the club this spring (albeit at least in part due to an injury to right fielder Seiya Suzuki).
A former first-round pick who was once one of the sport’s top-10 overall prospects, the switch-hitting Carlson had a promising beginning to his career with the division-rival Cardinals. His MLB debut as a 21-year-old during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season wasn’t especially eye-catching, but Carlson played 149 games for St. Louis in 2021 and slashed .266/.343/.437 with 18 homers, 31 doubles, four triples, a pair of steals and a 9.2% walk rate. His 24.6% strikeout rate was a bit high, but it was a strong full-season debut for a player who was still just 22.
That form has never resurfaced. Carlson hit .236/.316/.380 the following season and has seen his bat decline further in subsequent years. Since that intriguing 2021 campaign, he’s totaled 1253 MLB plate appearances and posted an anemic .220/.302/.339 batting line — about 17% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+. Along the way, he’s bounced from the Cardinals, to the Rays, to the Orioles and now the Cubs, seeing his role reduced at each stop.
Back with the Cubs now, Carlson will provide some depth in the upper minors. Chicago’s roster has been decimated by injury, but nearly all of the health problems for the Cubs have been on the pitching side of things. With Suzuki back in right field, the Cubs’ outfield includes him, Ian Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Michael Conforto, Scott Kingery and Matt Shaw are all in the mix for occasional outfield reps as well.
Carlson could get another look in the event of an injury, but former top prospect Kevin Alcantara and waiver pickup Justin Dean are both already on the 40-man roster, potentially putting them ahead on the depth chart. Both Alcantara and Dean have fanned in more than 35% of their minor league plate appearances, but Alcantara has also ripped eight homers and is slugging north of .600.
Twins Place Mick Abel On Injured List
The Twins announced this morning that they’ve placed rookie right-hander Mick Abel on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow. A corresponding move wasn’t announced, though it’s already been reported that prospect Kendry Rojas is joining the major league roster tomorrow and that top prospect Connor Prielipp has been added to the major league taxi squad. Abel’s IL placement is surely related to those forthcoming moves (which the team has yet to formally announce). The Twins will take advantage of today’s off-day by moving up right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson, who’d been slated to start Wednesday, to start in place of Abel tomorrow, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Selected by the Phillies with the No. 15 overall draft pick back in 2020, Abel has long been hailed as a quality pitching prospect. He went from Philadelphia to Minnesota alongside top catching prospect Eduardo Tait at last year’s trade deadline in the deal sending star closer Jhoan Duran (also currently on the injured list) back to Philly.
Now 24 years old, Abel has seen his stock rise and fall over the years. He slipped off most top-100 rankings prior to the 2025 season but enjoyed a resurgent year that saw him both make his major league debut in Philadelphia and pitch well enough to be included as a key component in one of the deadline’s most notable trades.
Abel has gotten out to a nice start in 2026. He entered camp without a rotation spot assured to him but won a job with a dominant performance in the Grapefruit League: 22 innings, 2.05 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate, 4.9% walk rate. The right-hander was hit hard in his first two appearances with the Twins this season but bounced back with 13 shutout innings and a 16-to-3 K/BB ratio across his last two starts (against the Tigers and Red Sox, respectively). He’s currently sitting on a 3.98 ERA, a 24.7% strikeout rate and a 10% walk rate in 20 1/3 frames. Metrics like FIP (2.79) and SIERA (3.93) agree, to varying extents, that he’s been a quality arm.
With Abel on the shelf, the Twins will have four starters locked into spots: Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Bailey Ober and Woods Richardson. Candidates to take Abel’s spot on the staff include Rojas, Prielipp and Zebby Matthews — the latter of whom Abel beat for a spot on the Opening Day staff. Matthews, however, has pitched to a 7.71 ERA in his first four turns through the Triple-A rotation. The former top-100 prospect is still only 25, but he’s slid down the depth chart a bit with a rough spring and even rockier start with Triple-A St. Paul. Minnesota also recently recalled 24-year-old starting pitching prospect Andrew Morris and plugged him into the major league bullpen. He’s still stretched out enough to make a start, follow an opener or work in some hybrid/piggyback role if the team sees fit.
It’s not yet clear how long the Twins expect Abel to be sidelined. His IL placement is retroactive to April 17. If it’s indeed just a minor bout of inflammation — and the Twins have yet to indicate the potential that anything more serious is at play — he’d be eligible to return as early as May 2. Presumably, the team will provide more information on Abel’s status in the near future, although with an off-day on the calendar today, a formal update may not happen until tomorrow, when skipper Derek Shelton addresses reporters prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Mets in Queens.