The Angels selected catcher Sebastian Rivero onto the big league roster, notes Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. Logan O’Hoppe heads to the seven-day concussion injured list after being hit on a backswing by A’s infielder Jacob Wilson yesterday.
More to come.
September 8: Palencia has been placed on the 15-day injured list, according to multiple media personnel (including Marquee’s Taylor McGregor). Ethan Roberts has been recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take the open bullpen spot. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score suggests that Keller is likely to step into the ninth inning while Palencia is on the shelf.
September 7: The Cubs may be looking at going into the postseason without their closer. Daniel Palencia entered the ninth inning of Chicago’s game against the Nationals earlier today, but surrendered five runs and was pulled without recording an out. The team termed Palencia’s ailment “shoulder tightness” at the time of his removal, but manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score) following the game that, more specifically, Palencia was suffering from a posterior capsule strain in his right shoulder.
While specifics beyond that diagnosis were few and far between in Counsell’s description of the situation, it seems all but certain that Palencia will require a trip to the injured list and be out for quite a while. Strains can naturally vary in severity substantially, but one relatively recent example of a pitcher dealing with a posterior capsule strain is Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, who was shut down due to a moderate strain in February of 2024. That kicked off what was more or less a lost season for Senga due to multiple injuries, but the initial diagnosis for that strain was expected to shut him down from throwing for three weeks.
A similar timeline would knock Palencia out for, at minimum, the remainder of the regular season and would likely result in him returning this year only if the Cubs make a relatively deep run into the postseason. Of course, it’s possible that Palencia’s capsule strain proves to be a relatively mild one that requires less time off, and it’s not impossible to imagine that he could be back on the big league mound for in time for the tail end of the regular season; a 15-day stint on the injured list, at this point, would allow Palencia to return to action during the club’s final two series of the regular season against the Mets and Cardinals.
However long Palencia ultimately ends up being sidelined, the news is a brutal blow to Chicago. Acquired from the A’s in exchange for Andrew Chafin at the 2021 trade deadline, Palencia made his big league debut in 2023 but has rounded into form as a dominant closer this year. Entering play today, the 25-year-old had posted a 2.12 ERA with a 2.59 FIP and 28.8% strikeout rate in 51 innings of work for the Cubs this year. He’s walked just 7.8% of his opponents faced and picked up 22 saves in 24 opportunities this year to go with six holds. That dominant production convinced the Cubs to back off the from the high leverage relief market. They targeted Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers to bolster their bullpen rather than landing a more surefire closer like David Bednar or Jhoan Duran.
With Palencia seemingly out of commission for the time being, manager Craig Counsell will now have to reconfigure his bullpen for the stretch run. Rogers has struggled since joining the Cubs, but Kittredge figures to be part of the late-inning mix for the Cubs alongside Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, and perhaps Drew Pomeranz. Keller and Thielbar in particular appear likely to be in the conversation for save opportunities given their dominant seasons with the Cubs this year. Keller has a 2.20 ERA and 2.99 FIP in 59 appearances, while Thielbar sports a 2.15 ERA and 2.68 FIP in 58 outings.
Palencia’s injury is the latest frustrating development for a Cubs team that already had both Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker miss todays game due to injuries. Fortunately, Counsell provided a positive update to reporters (including Levine) regarding the status of both hitters. Counsell indicated that Crow-Armstrong, who exited yesterday’s game after fouling a ball off of his shin, could be back in the lineup as soon as tomorrow for the start of the club’s series in Atlanta. As for Tucker, the All-Star hasn’t played since exiting Tuesday’s game against the Braves and Levine notes that he’s unlikely to be back in the lineup tomorrow. Even so, Counsell suggested that his running improved today and that he’s trending in the right direction towards a return to action in the near future.
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The Phillies are placing shortstop Trea Turner and third baseman Alec Bohm on the 10-day injured list, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Otto Kemp and Donovan Walton are up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take their roster spots. The team hasn’t announced the IL placements or a corresponding move to get Walton onto the 40-man roster. Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reports that the Phils are moving reliever Daniel Robert from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Walton. Turner has a Grade 1 hamstring strain, manager Rob Thomson tells the Phillies beat (link via Lochlann March of the Philly Inquirer). The team is hopeful he’ll return by the postseason.
Bohm is battling left shoulder soreness. Gelb reports that the third baseman has been plagued by a bothersome cyst that’ll need to be drained and treated with an injection. There’s nothing structurally amiss, however, and Thomson expressed confidence it’ll be a minimal 10-day IL stint. The Phils have a comfortable enough seven-game lead in the NL East that they can afford that absence. Their margin over the Dodgers for the #2 placement in the National League and the associated first-round bye is smaller, but they’re still four games up in that race.
Turner suffered a hamstring strain during Sunday’s game. An injured list stint was inevitable. The far more significant question was whether it’d threaten his availability for the postseason. Thomson left open the possibility that he’ll be back before the end of the regular season. That’d allow him to take a few at-bats to get up to speed before the playoffs. The Division Series are scheduled to begin on October 4. The Phillies would automatically qualify as long as they hang on to the #2 seed. That’d give Turner a month to get back to action.
Edmundo Sosa will take over shortstop for as long as Turner is out of action. Kemp will go from Lehigh Valley to regular playing time in Philly for at least a week and a half. He’s starting at third base tonight and batting ninth against Mets rookie right-hander Nolan McLean. Walton will replace Sosa as the team’s utility infielder.
It’ll be the first major league action of the season for the 31-year-old Walton. Philly acquired him from the Mets at the beginning of July. Walton was playing on a minor league deal with New York and was assigned to Lehigh Valley. He was batting .222/.315/.377 in 73 games with the Mets’ affiliate. His numbers have picked up since the trade. Walton has hit .339/.413/.424 with almost as many walks as strikeouts across 209 plate appearances for the IronPigs.
A former fifth-round pick of the Mariners, Walton has played parts of five seasons in the majors. The lefty batter has played in 70 games and carries a .174/.227/.305 line against big league pitching. Walton’s value lies primarily in his defensive flexibility. He’ll provide cover throughout the infield and has experience in left field (though the Phils have enough outfield depth that he probably won’t get much time there).
Walton was in the organization before September 1. That means he’s eligible for the postseason even though he was not on the 40-man roster until today. The Phils will hope to have Turner and Bohm back in plenty of time so that doesn’t need to be a consideration. Walton is out of options, so the Phillies would need to designate him for assignment to take him off the roster during the regular season.
Robert just went on the injured list last week with a forearm strain. His season is over. He made 15 appearances in an up-and-down role this season, allowing seven runs across 13 innings. The Phils acquired him in a DFA trade with Texas in May. They’ll need to reinstate him to the 40-man roster or put him on waivers at the start of the offseason.
2:37pm: Murphy will undergo surgery that requires about four months of rehab, David O’Brien of The Athletic reports. He’s expected to be ready for spring training.
2:24pm: The Braves announced Monday that catcher Sean Murphy has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a torn labrum in his right hip. Veteran catcher Sandy Leon’s contract was selected from Triple-A Gwinnett in a corresponding move. Atlanta also recalled righty Dane Dunning from Gwinnett and optioned lefty Hayden Harris. Obviously, the hip injury ends Murphy’s 2025 season.
The injury ends a shortened season of mixed results for the veteran Murphy. He missed significant time with an oblique issue early in the year and returned to hit well for much of the summer — until falling into a deep slump recently. That downturn in production now seems attributable to injury. His season will now draw to a close with a .199/.300/.409 slash and 16 homers in 337 trips to the plate. Murphy has just four hits in his past 66 plate appearances.
Murphy drew plenty of walks, hit for power and played premium defense behind the plate, but it seems obvious that he was physically compromised down the stretch. He’ll take the offseason to mend and presumably return to a catching timeshare with Rookie of the Year candidate Drake Baldwin next year. Atlanta has Murphy signed for three more years at a total of $45MM, and there’s been speculation about a potential trade from that catching tandem, but this injury seems likely to curb interest from potential buyers.
Baldwin and Murphy operated in a catcher/designated hitter tandem down the stretch. If Murphy is healthy next year, it’s easy enough to see the Braves operating with a similar setup, perhaps carrying a third catcher in the mold of Leon on the roster (though not necessarily Leon himself). It’s a dynamic pair of catchers, as Baldwin’s .276/.349/.447 line and Murphy’s pre-injury line both point to a pair of highly productive backstops with solid to plus defensive tools, positioning Atlanta to have a strong core behind the dish for the foreseeable future.
The Padres are expected to reinstate right-hander Michael King from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game versus the Reds, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’s been out since early Aug. 9 due to knee troubles. That August start stands as King’s only appearance since mid-May, as he’d previously missed more than two months with a nerve issue in his right shoulder.
King hasn’t pitched in a minor league rehab game, though skipper Mike Shildt said in a radio appearance late last week that he’d tossed five innings in a scrimmage setting at the team’s Arizona Complex League facility. That put him on turn to take the ball Tuesday, which would’ve been Nestor Cortes’ spot in the rotation had he not gone down with a biceps strain this past Friday.
Those shoulder and knee injuries have limited King to just 11 starts this season, though he’s been every bit as excellent in that slate of appearances as he was with the Padres in 2024 and with the Yankees’ rotation late in 2023. King has pitched 57 2/3 frames on the season and carries a terrific 2.81 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate, an 8.1% walk rate, a 38.3% ground-ball rate and 0.94 homers per nine innings. Since moving into a starting role full-time, the former swingman has started 49 games and pitched to a 2.77 ERA. He’s punched out 28.2% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate.
King will step back into a San Diego rotation that’s been anchored by offseason signee Nick Pivetta, in terms of both workload and quality. Pivetta’s 164 1/3 innings lead the Friars, and his 2.85 ERA is tops among Padres starters (with the exception of King’s 2.81 in about one-third as many innings). The ultra-durable Dylan Cease has been healthy all season but has continued to struggle to strand runners, leaving him with a 4.71 ERA despite a premium 30% strikeout rate and passable (albeit somewhat elevated) 10% walk rate. Veteran righty Yu Darvish has a 5.75 ERA in his 11 starts, though he’s trimmed that considerably over his past seven trips to the bump (4.11 ERA). Randy Vasquez has kept his ERA under 4.00 despite walking a tightrope with nearly as many walks (9.7%) as strikeouts (12.3%). There’s likely some regression in store for him.
All of that makes getting King back into the mix all the more critical. The Padres added lefties Cortes and JP Sears at the deadline but didn’t deepen their staff overall, given that they sent out starters Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek in the trade that brought catcher Freddy Fermin to Petco Park. Getting King back could be pivotal, particularly since it’ll give him three to four starts to ramp up and get back into form ahead of the Padres’ looming postseason berth.
It’ll also give him a bit more time to build up his case ahead of what’ll be his first trip to the free-agent market. A swift return to form would bode well for the talented righty’s earning power on the open market. If healthy, King should be among the more coveted starting pitchers in free agency this offseason.
King’s return is likely an unwelcome development for the Reds and their fans. Cincinnati sits four games behind the Mets in the National League Wild Card race, tied with the Giants in that regard. A series loss or a sweep at the hands of the Padres could be a backbreaker for their season. From the Padres’ vantage point, winning even two of three would further pad their standing in the Wild Card mix. And, with just a one-game deficit standing between the Friars and the division-leading archrival Dodgers, King could be a pivotal part of a late push for the division.
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set to release Thursday this week, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
Under three weeks remain in the 2025 regular season. Do you have a question about the stretch run? A move made at the deadline? The upcoming offseason? If you have a question on those topics or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
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Astros relievers Bennett Sousa and Kaleb Ort aren’t likely to make it back to the big league roster before the end of the regular season, general manager Dana Brown revealed in a radio appearance on SportsTalk 790 AM this weekend (via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). A return during the postseason is possible for both pitchers. Sousa has been out since Aug. 20 due to a mild flexor/pronator strain. Ort landed on the 15-day IL this past Friday due to elbow inflammation.
Sousa, 30, emerged from relative obscurity with a breakout performance in 2025. The ’Stros claimed him off waivers in Sept. 2023 and were already his fifth organization of the calendar year at that point. He pitched 6 1/3 shutout frames down the stretch, showing enough to hold a 40-man roster spot. Sousa didn’t pitch in the majors or minors in 2024, however, as he required surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome in early April.
Returning just over one year later, Sousa’s first appearance in the majors this season came on April 9. He opened the year with eight scoreless innings before finally yielding his first run, and he hasn’t really looked back. In 50 2/3 frames, Sousa has shown virtually no ill effect from the surgery. If anything, he’s better than ever.
Sousa has worked a career-high number of innings and is sitting on a sharp 2.84 ERA that’s supported by metrics like FIP (2.73) and SIERA (2.95). He’s set down a hearty 29.6% of his opponents on strikes, issued walks to just 7.5% of the batters he’s faced, and has allowed only 0.71 homers per nine innings pitched. Left-handers have posted a terrible .145/.191/.242 batting line against him, and while righties have been better than that — it’d be hard to be much worse — they’re still sporting a rather tepid .235/.300/.378 slash against him. Sousa was virtually untouchable through early July (1.83 ERA), but he struggled to a 4.96 mark with vastly worse command in 16 1/3 innings before hitting the IL last month.
Ort hasn’t been as effective, but his 4.89 ERA is arguably a bit misleading. He’s had two complete nightmare outings this season — one in which he was tagged for five runs in one-third of an inning and another one (his last before hitting the IL) where he surrendered four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Any pitcher will look better when you toss out his worst couple outings of the season, but Ort has a 3.20 ERA through 45 innings in his other 47 appearances.
Command has been one of two glaring flaws for Ort, evidenced both by his 13.9% walk rate and his 1.57 HR/9 mark. The other is his susceptibility to left-handed hitters. When facing fellow righties, he’s yielded only a .188/.311/.317 batting line. Left-handers have bludgeoned him at a .254/.342/.524 clip.
Ort hasn’t been a key piece of the Astros’ high-leverage corps. He’s typically worked in middle relief. Sousa has tallied seven holds and four saves, and his role had begun to increase after Josh Hader was lost for the remainder of the regular season in mid-August. Hader, Sousa and Ort all hope to be able to return in October, but their absence complicates Houston’s path to postseason ball.
The Astros are still very, very strong postseason favorites, but they’re hardly locks to win the division. Houston sits 2.5 games up on Seattle at the moment, and the two teams still have a three-game series against each other on the schedule. It’d take a considerable collapse to drop out of the playoff field entirely, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility (even if it’s a long shot).
A full contingent of relievers, obviously, would improve the Astros’ chances of hanging onto the division lead, but they’re instead trying to piece together the bulk of the relief corps. Bryan Abreu, Bryan King and Steven Okert have been strong basically all season, but the rest of the bullpen is filled out by veteran newcomers (Enyel De Los Santos, Craig Kimbrel), rookies (AJ Blubaugh, Jayden Murray, Logan VanWey) and struggling righty Lance McCullers Jr. (6.97 ERA in 50 1/3 innings). Both De Los Santos (0.69 ERA in 13 innings) and Kimbrel (6 2/3 scoreless) have been quite effective, though the latter has walked seven of the 27 batters he’s faced (25.9%).
Houston will keep trying to get by with that patchwork bullpen. Assuming they do make the postseason, it’d be a big boost if even one of those more seasoned arms — Hader or Sousa, in particular — could make it back to Joe Espada’s bullpen, but there’s no guarantee any of the three are back in the fold this year.
The Braves announced Monday morning that they’ve designated right-hander John Brebbia for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to righty Alexis Diaz, whom Atlanta claimed off waivers yesterday. Diaz has formally reported to the club. Atlanta also optioned right-hander Rolddy Munoz to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled right-hander Connor Seabold in his place.
Atlanta only selected Brebbia to the big league roster on Aug. 29. This brief stay marks his second stint with the Braves, as he also joined them for the final month or so of the 2024 season. Brebbia pitched in three games this time around, yielding three runs on six hits (two homers) and a walk with six strikeouts. The resulting 7.71 ERA matched the mark he’d logged in 18 2/3 innings with the Tigers prior to being cut loose in Detroit.
The 2025 season marks a second consecutive season of rough results for Brebbia, but his struggles really only extend a bit more than the past calendar year. The right-hander pitched pretty well for the first three-plus months of the 2024 season with the White Sox before melting down around the time of the All-Star break. Brebbia surrendered 18 runs in his final 18 1/3 innings last year, ballooning his ERA nearly two runs up to 5.86.
Brebbia was reliable bullpen arm in St. Louis and San Francisco from 2017-23. He carried a career 3.53 ERA, 26% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate (336 2/3 innings) into last year’s All-Star break. Even with his struggles late last year and throughout the 2025 season, the 35-year-old Brebbia has a solid 4.04 ERA in 378 1/3 big league innings. He’s collected four saves and 62 holds while striking out 25.6% of his opponents against a solid 7.5% walk rate.
Brebbia will now head to outright waivers or be released. He’ll head into the offseason and likely latch on as a minor league signee with a non-roster invitation to spring training somewhere.
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. O’Hoppe exits:
The Angels were dealt a tough blow during their win over the Athletics last night when catcher Logan O’Hoppe was struck by a warmup backswing off the bat of A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson. Wilson’s warmup swing hit O’Hoppe under the face mask, and he immediately fell to the ground in pain before exiting the game shortly thereafter. After the game, interim manager Ray Montgomery told reporters (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com) that O’Hoppe was “doing OK” but added that the club was putting him through testing and the concussion protocol. It’s certainly possible that O’Hoppe will require a trip to the 7-day injured list for concussion-related symptoms, and if he does Travis d’Arnaud will take over regular duties behind the plate. Sebastian Rivero, Zach Humphreys, and Chad Wallach are all in Triple-A as potential depth options, though none of them are on the 40-man roster.
2. Dodgers roster moves incoming:
Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts said yesterday that the team expects to welcome both third baseman Max Muncy and southpaw Alex Vesia back from the injured list today (via The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya). Both have been on the mend from oblique strains. Their returns come at an opportune time for the Dodgers, as the team has been scuffling in recent weeks and currently sits just one game up on the Padres in the NL West. Muncy has only appeared in 89 games this year but has been quite productive when healthy, evidenced by a .258/.389/.491 slash line. Vesia, meanwhile, has been one of the team’s more reliable bullpen arms with a 2.75 ERA and a 33% strikeout rate across 59 appearances.
3. Series Preview: Reds @ Padres
The Reds kept their faint postseason hopes alive over the weekend when they took the final two games of a three-game set against the Mets. Cincinnati still sits four games behind New York and six games back of a San Diego club currently in possession of the second NL Wild Card spot. The Reds head to Petco Park for a three-game set that’ll prove pivotal. A Reds sweep could thrust them right back into the mix, whereas a sweep in the other direction would be close to the end of the road for Cincinnati.
As already mentioned, the Padres are just one game back of the Dodgers in the NL West, making every game critical for manager Mike Shildt’s squad. The Reds will send lefty Nick Lodolo (3.22 ERA) to the mound opposite 39-year-old Padres vet Yu Darvish, who owns a 5.75 ERA in 11 starts this year (but a 4.11 over his past seven). Tuesday will pit an as-of-yet unannounced Padres starter against Reds righty Zack Littell (3.81 ERA), while the series finale on Wednesday will see Nick Pivetta (2.85 ERA) take on Andrew Abbott (2.88 ERA) in a duel between two of the NL’s more impressive pitchers.
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