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Brandon Woodruff To Begin Rehab Stint; Aaron Civale Suffers Setback

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The Brewers provided mixed injury news on their rotation. Brandon Woodruff will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville tomorrow, according to an announcement from the Sounds. In less encouraging news, the team informed reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that Aaron Civale is headed for further evaluation after a setback in his recovery from a left hamstring strain.

It’ll be Woodruff’s first regular season game action since September 2023. The two-time All-Star underwent surgery to fix a capsule tear in his shoulder during the ’23 postseason. Milwaukee declined to tender him an arbitration contract before bringing him back on a backloaded two-year deal. Woodruff made $2.5MM while rehabbing last season and is playing on a $5MM salary this year. He’ll collect a $10MM buyout on a $20MM mutual option and return to the open market next offseason.

The Brewers knew at the time that Woodruff would not be able to pitch in 2024. They took things slowly this spring, announcing before camp opened that he’d begin the season on the injured list. Woodruff only tossed one MLB inning during exhibition play. He has continued throwing and will take on a decent workload in his first appearance. Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel relays that Woodruff will work around 65 pitches and/or four innings tomorrow. He’ll presumably need a few turns through the Triple-A rotation before the Brewers are comfortable reinstalling him into the MLB staff.

Milwaukee has needed to stitch the rotation together behind Freddy Peralta. They acquired Quinn Priester from the Red Sox and recalled Spring Training signee Jose Quintana for his team debut tonight. Rookie Chad Patrick has been pressed into rotation work. He has managed 11 innings of three-run ball across his first three big league appearances, albeit with an unexciting 10:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. It’s a similar story for swingman Tyler Alexander, who has surrendered four runs with 12 punchouts and seven walks over 12 2/3 frames.

Woodruff brings far greater upside than anyone else in the rotation aside from perhaps Peralta. He owns a 3.10 ERA with a near-29% strikeout rate across 680 1/3 career innings. It remains to be seen whether he can regain that effectiveness after a major shoulder procedure and 18-month layoff.

Civale opened the season in the rotation, but he landed on the IL after his first start. Nestor Cortes subsequently suffered a flexor strain that sent him to the injured list. Woodruff, Tobias Myers (who is on a rehab stint), DL Hall, Aaron Ashby and Robert Gasser had all begun the season on the shelf. While details on the setback are sparse, it doesn’t seem Civale is on the verge of a return. He is playing on an $8MM salary and will reach free agency next offseason.

Cubs Sending Justin Steele For Second Opinion On Elbow Tendinitis

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The Cubs are sending Justin Steele for a second opinion on his elbow, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Alden González of ESPN and Maddie Lee of The Chicago Sun-Times). The southpaw landed on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with elbow tendinitis, a surprising move that came two days after Steele fired seven shutout innings against Texas.

Steele told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Wednesday that he expected it to be a minimal 15-day stint. The Cubs sent him for an MRI on Thursday. Counsell did not specify the results of that imaging. To this point, there’s no indication it’s any more serious than the initial tendinitis diagnosis. It’s nevertheless of some concern any time a pitcher goes for multiple evaluations on an elbow problem.

Elbow tendinitis also sent Steele to the injured list for a couple weeks last September. Counsell indicated the recurring nature of the injury contributed to the decision to go for multiple opinions. “We want to make sure we know why it has happened again so Justin’s got all the information and then we can go from there,” the manager said.

Monday’s start was easily Steele’s best of the season. He’d allowed at least three runs in each of his first three appearances. Steele punched out eight against three hits and two walks against the Rangers. However, his fastball averaged a season-low 90.2 MPH in that start after sitting in the 91-92 range during his first three appearances. It clearly didn’t sap his effectiveness, but it was seemingly a sign that he wasn’t operating at full strength.

Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Ben Brown are operating as Chicago’s rotation. They haven’t named a probable starter for what would have been Steele’s spot agains the Dodgers on Sunday. A scheduled off day yesterday could allow them to turn back to Brown on standard rest and delay the need for a fifth starter into next week’s series in San Diego.

Poll: Which Top Prospect Will Arrive In Boston Next?

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After an offseason that saw the Red Sox get aggressive in improving the big league club by adding Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, and Alex Bregman, the club showed a different kind of aggressiveness when they included top infield prospect Kristian Campbell on their Opening Day roster. That move has certainly paid off for them so far; not only has Campbell signed on with the club long-term, but he’s hitting an excellent .318/.426/.545 across his first 13 games in the major leagues while serving as the club’s regular second baseman and occasionally making appearances in the outfield.

Campbell wasn’t the only top prospect the Red Sox had knocking on the door to the majors this spring, however. Outfielder Roman Anthony and infielder Marcelo Mayer are rated just as highly as Campbell, with all three being consensus top-15 prospects across the entire sport. While a vacancy at second base and Campbell’s impressive work flying through the minor leagues last year were enough to get him called up to the majors first among the trio, it should surprise no one if all three are in the majors in relatively short order. With that being said, it remains unclear which of Anthony and Mayer are most likely to make it to the majors next.

Anthony, 21 next month, has a strong case to come up and contribute soon. As a consensus top-two prospect in the sport who has been ranked number one overall by multiple major publications, Anthony’s ceiling is immense. Last year, he slashed .291/.396/.498 between the Double- and Triple-A levels, including a phenomenal .344/.463/.519 slash line when looking just at his 35 games (164 plate appearances) at the highest level of the minor leagues. That hot finish at Triple-A created plenty of buzz about the possibility of Anthony breaking camp with the Red Sox over the offseason, but Anthony’s .206/.391/.324 slash line in Spring Training this year wasn’t enough to convince Boston brass that their top prospect was ready for the next step.

His early season performance at Triple-A hasn’t exactly demanded consideration for a promotion, either. Through ten games, Anthony is hitting .177/.364/.412 in his return to the club’s Worcester affiliate. While that’s a sample of just 44 plate appearances, Anthony’s 31.8% strikeout rate so far this year at the very least suggests he’s running a bit cold right now, though that he’s been able to walk at a 22.7% clip and bash a pair of homers while doing so is certainly impressive. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo recently suggested that the Red Sox are currently hoping to see more production from Anthony against left-handed pitchers before he makes it to the big leagues. That’s on top of a need for Anthony to work on his defense, which will be challenged as he appears likely to move from center field to left upon being called up to the majors.

That to-do list and Anthony’s middling play early in the season could open the door for Mayer to beat him to the majors. The 22-year-old provided a strong challenge to Campbell for the second base job during Spring Training as he hit .333/.455/.528 during camp, though Mayer’s lack of experience above the Double-A level always made him a less likely option to get the job. Mayer’s first taste of Triple-A has seen him cool off significant relative to his spring performance, as he’s hit just .243/.282/.405 with a 28.2% strikeout rate through nine games at the level. He’ll surely need to start hitting better than that with Worcester before he gets called up to the majors, although the club hasn’t laid out any more specific issues that Mayer needs to address before he can be called up like they have with Anthony.

The fact that the club has specific areas they’d like to see Anthony grow before he reaches the majors, in conjunction with Mayer finishing as arguably the runner up behind Campbell for the club’s starting second base job, would seem to suggest that Mayer is closer to being promoted than Anthony is. However, Anthony has one major leg up in this conversation relative to Mayer: the construction of Boston’s lineup. With Campbell serving as the club’s regular second baseman, there is no longer an obvious spot on the infield which Mayer can take up. Campbell, Triston Casas, Alex Bregman, and Trevor Story are all slated for regular at-bats this year, and even the DH role is filled by Rafael Devers on a daily basis.

Either an injury somewhere on the infield, a move to the outfield for Campbell, or a shocking move to bench Story would likely be necessary for Mayer to muscle his way into the lineup at this point. The same cannot be said of Anthony, who has a fairly straightforward path to playing time in the club’s outfield mix. Ceddanne Rafaela has served as the club’s usual center fielder entering the 2025 campaign, but he’s hit just .243/.275/.378 in the majors to this point in his career, including a paltry .205/.279/.205 line so far this year. While he’s a brilliant defender in center field, that’s not the type of production that should keep a team from promoting the sport’s top prospect to the majors once he’s ready. Rafaela, who has the ability to play both the infield and the outfield, could move to a utility role on the bench similar to the one Enrique Hernandez once filled once Anthony is ready to go. Anthony could either plug in directly for Rafaela in center field, or he could be tasked with manning left field while Jarren Duran slides over to center.

How do MLBTR readers think things will play out? Will Anthony make it to the majors first, off the back of his status as the sport’s #1 prospect and a potential opening in the outfield? Or will the club’s desire to see Anthony hit more against southpaws in the minors and Mayer’s strong work in Spring Training be enough to get him to the majors first? Have your say in the poll below:

Brewers Recall Jose Quintana For Team Debut

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The Brewers announced that they’ve recalled Jose Quintana from their complex league affiliate. He’ll get the ball tonight opposite Eduardo Rodriguez in Arizona. Milwaukee optioned Elvis Peguero to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move.

Quintana will be making his season and team debut. The veteran lefty lingered in free agency into Spring Training. He signed a $4.25MM free agent deal in early March. Quintana managed five innings over two appearances before camp came to a close. He allowed two runs with two strikeouts and a walk. He stayed back at the complex for the first couple weeks of the regular season to continue building into game shape.

The 36-year-old southpaw is coming off a strong season with the Mets. Quintana worked to a 3.75 ERA despite a subpar 18.8% strikeout rate across 170 1/3 regular season innings. He fired six scoreless innings against Milwaukee in the decisive Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. Quintana followed up with another five scoreless frames against the Phillies in the Division Series before the Dodgers tagged him for five runs over 3 1/3 frames in his lone NLCS start.

Milwaukee opened the season with Brandon Woodruff, Tobias Myers, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall on the injured list. They’ve lost Aaron Civale and Nestor Cortes to the IL since Opening Day. That contributed to their early-season trade to land Quinn Priester from the Red Sox. The young righty went five innings of one-run ball against Colorado in his team debut yesterday. Priester and Quintana join swingman Tyler Alexander and rookie Chad Patrick as part of a patchwork rotation behind staff ace Freddy Peralta.

Padres Select Tyler Wade, Place Jake Cronenworth On IL

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5:00pm: Cronenworth tells Cassavell that the fracture was discovered from an MRI yesterday, which surprised him. He’s hoping for a quick return but the timeline is “open-ended”.

4:15pm: The Padres announced that infielder Jake Cronenworth has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 9, with a non-displaced right rib fracture. Infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade was selected to take his place on the roster. To make room for Wade on the 40-man, right-hander Matt Waldron was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Cronenworth was hit by a pitch in Sunday’s game, as seen in this video from MLB.com. He stayed in that game and also played on Monday and Tuesday, but was removed from the latter contest and didn’t play on Wednesday. Manager Mike Shildt downplayed the issue as cramping while Cronenworth himself believed he would be ready to play by Friday, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.

It appears that the club has decided to send him to the IL instead. It’s unclear if he experienced some sort of setback or they just wanted to get him more rest. Since the IL stint has been backdated, he could be back in about a week if he’s healthy.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has also been battling some shoulder soreness this week and Jackson Merrill is on the IL with a hamstring strain, which left the Padres a bit short-handed this week. On Wednesday, they had Jose Iglesias at second base with an outfield rotation of Brandon Lockridge, Jason Heyward and Oscar González. That left Yuli Gurriel as the only non-catcher available off the bench for that game.

Wade, 30, will provide a bit more of a safety net. He’s never been much of a hitter, with a .217/.291/.289 line in his career, but he is a strong defender. He has experience playing all three outfield spots and the three infield spots to the left of first base. He didn’t break camp with the club this year but accepted an outright assignment after clearing waivers. Now the injury situation has quickly created a need for his return to the majors.

To open a spot for Wade, the club has made Waldron unavailable until late May. He started the season on the 15-day injured list with an oblique strain. He can return 60 days from that initial IL placement. His current status is unclear but it seems the Friars don’t expect him back in the next six weeks or so.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Astros Acquire Patrick Halligan As PTBNL In Rafael Montero Trade

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The Astros traded right-hander Rafael Montero and $7.7MM to the Braves earlier this week for a player to be named later or cash. The Astros announced today that the PTBNL in that deal is minor league righty Patrick Halligan.

Halligan, 25, was selected by the Royals in the 13th round of the draft back in 2021. He made the occasional start but mostly worked in relief. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 85 2/3 innings in the minors with a 5.36 earned run average and was released prior to the 2023 season.

Atlanta signed him to a minor league deal and the change of scenery seemed to helped him. He has since logged 123 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA. His 10.6% walk rate is a bit high but he has also struck out 27.6% of batters faced. Last year, he logged 50 2/3 innings, mostly at Double-A but also with some Triple-A work. For the whole year, he had a 3.02 ERA, 31.6% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. Last month, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs listed the top prospects in Atlanta’s system and gave Halligan an honorable mention, highlighting his splitter as his key to success.

With the Montero deal, the Astros were probably happy just to shed a few million bucks. His contract had quickly gone underwater and they had been trying to trade him for quite a while. On top of saving roughly $3MM, they will take a flier on Halligan and see if he can work his way into their big league bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Royals Place Hunter Harvey On Injured List

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3:10pm: Anne Rogers of MLB.com relays some more info from manager Matt Quatraro. Harvey’s strain is grade 1, the lowest severity. He will be re-evaluated next week.

2:04pm: The Royals announced that they’ve placed right-hander Hunter Harvey on the 15-day injured list due to a teres major strain. Fellow righty Steven Cruz has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha in his place. The team has not yet provided a timetable for Harvey’s return.

Harvey, acquired from the Nationals last July, has been outstanding to begin the 2025 season. He’s appeared in six games and tossed 5 1/3 shutout frames with only one hit allowed and seven strikeouts. Strong as that start has been, it hasn’t come without red flags. The flamethrowing Harvey averaged 97.8 mph on his heater in 2024 but has averaged 95.3 mph on the pitch in the early stages of the current season. He’s seen a similar velocity drop in his splitter.

Kansas City parted with third base prospect Cayden Wallace and their Competitive Balance draft selection (No. 39 overall) to acquire Harvey last year. (The Nats selected catcher Caleb Lomavita with that pick.) However, Harvey pitched just 5 2/3 innings for the Royals following that swap, as a back injury wiped out the remainder of his season. He’s now headed back to the shelf for a yet-to-be-determined period of time.

Injuries are nothing new for Harvey. The former No. 22 overall draft pick (Orioles, 2013) had Tommy John surgery back in 2016 and has also missed extended periods of time with strains of his oblique, forearm (twice) and elbow. The 60 2/3 innings he pitched for the Nationals in 2023 stand as his career-high mark.

Carlos Estevez has picked up four of the Royals’ five saves this year. (Daniel Lynch IV has the other.) Harvey and Lucas Erceg have served as the primary setup men for Estevez. Lynch and John Schreiber figure to move up the pecking order and take on more leverage work in Harvey’s absence.

Marlins Designate Xzavion Curry For Assignment, Select Rob Brantly

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The Marlins announced a series of roster moves today. Right-hander Edward Cabrera was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and catcher Rob Brantly was selected to the roster. In corresponding moves, catcher Nick Fortes was placed on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain and righty Xzavion Curry was designated for assignment.

The Marlins started the season with Nick Fortes and Rule 5 pick Liam Hicks as their catching duo. Fortes is generally considered to be more of the glove-first variety. Hicks hasn’t hit much in his first eight major league games but has been known more for his bat, with questionable work behind the plate. Prospect Agustín Ramírez is also on the 40-man and has huge offensive numbers but prospect evaluators have also been suspicious about his work behind the plate.

Rather than recall Ramírez and have two weak defenders for the catching position, the Fish have replaced Fortes with Brantly. He’s a 35-year-old veteran depth guy who signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He made his debut back in 2012 and has received scattered playing time over the years. Despite debuting over a decade ago, he has appeared in just 138 games in his career. 2017 was the last time he got into more than six games in a season. 2013 was the last time he went beyond 14.

He is not really known for his bat, with a .222/.284/.322 line in his major league career. His minor league work has been better, with a .272/.357/.396 slash and 102 wRC+ since the canceled 2020 season. His work behind the plate in Triple-A has generally been well regarded. He can take up some of the catching duties and has certainly been around the game longer than the 25-year-old Hicks. That could provide the club with some veteran experience to help manage the pitching staff, which is largely composed of fairly inexperienced hurlers and veterans the Marlins are hoping to trade.

To open a 40-man spot for Brantly and an active roster spot for Cabrera, they have designated Curry for assignment. Cabrera started the season on the IL due to a blister on his throwing hand but is now ready to return.

Curry, 26, was added to the roster a few days into the season. Thanks to spring injuries suffered by Cabrera and Ryan Weathers, the staff was a bit taxed in the early going. He pitched on March 30 and April 2 but his usage has fallen off, with just one appearance on April 8th since then.

He’ll now head into DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Marlins technically have five days to explore trade possibilities. Curry was passed through waivers unclaimed in February. He hasn’t had many opportunities to raise his stock since then but other clubs have been going through injury troubles, perhaps opening an opportunity for him somewhere.

His major league work isn’t terribly inspiring, with a 4.38 earned run average, 15.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate in 150 innings. He has flashed better numbers in the minors. In 2021 and 2022, he tossed 219 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.28 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. He does have an option remaining, so an acquiring club would not need to put him on the active roster in the short term.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Mariners Exploring Infield Market

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Injuries have quickly changed the complexion of the Mariners’ infield. Second baseman Ryan Bliss will miss four to five months after suffering a tear in his left biceps and undergoing surgery. First baseman Luke Raley has shifted to the outfield in the wake of a fracture in Victor Robles’ shoulder, which will sideline him for around 12 weeks. Jorge Polanco is currently relegated to DH work and won’t play the infield for another week or two, per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. He underwent knee surgery back in October and is dealing with some discomfort in his side as well.

With those early changes to the infield composition, the Mariners are poking around the market for potential external additions, Jude further reports. A major trade this time of year is rare but not unheard of. The Brewers just picked up young right-hander Quinn Priester in a trade with the Red Sox earlier this week, helping to shore up an injury-ravaged rotation in Milwaukee. Last year’s trade of Luis Arraez from Miami to San Diego occurred in early May. Of course, the Mariners spent the bulk of the offseason pursuing trades to bolster their infield and ultimately wound up making a series of small free agent signings instead — clearly not finding a match to their liking.

It’s unlikely that there are any teams that have strongly rethought their status as postseason hopefuls just a few weeks into the season. As such, it’s unlikely that there are any players available on the trade market at present whose teams weren’t willing to discuss them over the winter. If the Mariners couldn’t find an offseason trade of note to bolster their infield, it’s hard to envision them suddenly doing so now.

That said, Jude notes that Seattle’s front office is “combing” other rosters and looking at veteran players who are on minor league deals elsewhere. Many veterans will have opt-out dates and upward mobility clauses in April. Article XX(b) free agents (i.e. six-plus years of MLB service, finished the preceding season on a major league roster/injured list) who signed minor league contracts have a uniform opt-out opportunity on May 1. MLBTR took a look at 36 such players late in camp, though the majority this year happened to be pitchers.

This type of acquisition wouldn’t necessarily be a sexy one, but the Mariners have gotten no production to date out of Rowdy Tellez or Donovan Solano, and they’re hitting .200/.303/.333 as a team as of this writing. The bar for improvement is fairly low. Tellez and Solano will surely get some runway to turn things around, but it’s sensible to looking at other, similar veteran options who could potentially be had on the cheap. Among the veteran infielders on minor league deals and hitting well in Triple-A with other clubs are Christian Arroyo (Phillies), Scott Kingery (Angels), Harold Castro (Royals), Nick Gordon (Royals) and Jake Lamb (Giants).

Help could always come from the farm system as well. Jude writes that the organization is prioritizing top prospect Cole Young’s development at the moment and doesn’t want to rush him to the big leagues but could consider an accelerated path for third baseman Ben Williamson. Young is hitting .178/.302/.267 in Triple-A at the moment anyhow, making it tough to consider him an upgrade. Williamson is a plus defender at third base who’s gotten some reps in the middle infield, too. He’s light on power but has plus contact skills and is out to a .286/.314/.347 start in Tacoma. He batted .283/.375/.394 in 541 plate appearances between High-A and Double-A last year. First baseman Tyler Locklear didn’t hit in his big league debut last year but is slashing .286/.359/.457 through his first nine games in Triple-A this season.

If Seattle’s offensive doldrums continue much longer and there’s no help to be found outside the organization, it stands to reason that Williamson and/or Locklear could get early looks to help right the ship.

Red Sox Outright Robert Stock

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Right-hander Robert Stock has been outrighted to Triple-A Worcester, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Players have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if they have at least three years of major league service time or a previous career outright. Stock meets the latter criterion but it’s not clear if he will exercise his right. He could return to the open market or stick with the Sox as non-roster depth.

He just had a very brief stay on Boston’s roster, his first time in the big leagues in years. He wasn’t in the majors at any point during the 2022-2024 seasons but he put up some good numbers in Mexico last year. That led the Sox to give him a minor league deal. They played a doubleheader on Sunday with one game going to extra innings.

They added Stock on Monday to give the bullpen a fresh arm. That night, the Sox found themselves losing 5-1 to the Blue Jays after seven innings, so Stock was sent in to mop up the final two frames. He gave up three hits and issued one walk, leading to one run as the Sox lost 6-2. He was designated for assignment the next day.

The Sox ended up going to extras on Wednesday and Thursday as well. They don’t have another off-day until the 17th and then play another ten straight after that. Perhaps they may need a fresh arm in the bullpen again soon but they also might be able to strengthen the staff with Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello, who are both currently on rehab assignments and almost ready to rejoin the big league club. That could push Richard Fitts or Sean Newcomb from the rotation into a long relief role.

Stock now has 74 2/3 innings in the majors, most of that coming from 2018 to 2021. Overall, he has a 4.70 earned run average, 22.5% strikeout rate, 12.1% walk rate and 49.3% ground ball rate. He pitched in Korea in 2022 then split 2023 between the minors and Indy Ball. Last year, he had a 3.38 ERA over 19 starts for Tecos de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican League. He then remained in Mexico for the winter ball season to put up a 1.60 ERA for Naranjeros de Hermosillo, which led to a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images

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