Giants Notes: Rodriguez, Walker, Roupp, Eldridge
The Giants placed closer Randy Rodríguez on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 23, with an elbow sprain. Keaton Winn was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take a spot on the active roster.
Manager Bob Melvin said Rodríguez is headed for a second opinion (via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). It’s not known if that means initial evaluation suggested he was facing significant injury or if that’s a merely an abundance of caution for any kind of elbow concern. Rodríguez missed around five weeks in the second half of last year with elbow inflammation. The Giants have dropped five games below .500 and are essentially playing out the string. There’s a decent chance this ends Rodríguez’s season even if there’s no significant ligament damage.
This has been a breakout year for the 25-year-old righty. Rodríguez earned an All-Star selection and carries a 1.78 earned run average through 50 appearances. He has fanned more than a third of opposing hitters and took over in the ninth inning after the Camilo Doval trade. Melvin said Ryan Walker will step into the closer role for the time being. Walker was the early-season closer and has picked up 11 saves, but he’s had an up-and-down year. He has been pitching well of late, turning in a 2.45 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 14 2/3 frames since the All-Star Break.
The Giants also provided an update on starter Landen Roupp, who went on the injured list last week. Testing has confirmed that the righty sustained a deep bone bruise in his right knee (relayed by John Shea of The San Francisco Standard). That comes with a month-long recovery timetable that’ll very likely end his season.
It’s nevertheless a relief as Roupp revealed he’d immediately feared a torn ACL when he stumbled on the mound and needed to be carted off the field at Petco Park. He finishes his second big league season with a 3.80 ERA over 22 starts and should have the inside track at an Opening Day rotation spot next year.
While there’s not a ton of intrigue for the final few weeks of San Francisco’s season, one question is whether top first base prospect Bryce Eldridge will get to Oracle Park. As part of a longer feature about the 20-year-old’s development, Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle writes that it’s “more likely” that Eldridge’s big league debut will wait until 2026. The ’23 first-round pick has hit well against older pitching at virtually every minor league stop. He’s holding his own in 49 Triple-A contests, batting .232/.303/.497 with 14 home runs in 208 plate appearances. Eldridge has fanned in 32% of his plate appearances at the top minor league level, though, including 31 strikeouts in 91 trips (34%) this month.
Exciting as it would be for the fanbase to get their first look at Eldridge, it’d make more sense to let him play out the year in Triple-A. Their season runs through September 21, only one week shorter than the MLB schedule. Eldridge would not be eligible for the Rule 5 draft. The Giants wouldn’t need to carry him on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason unless they call him up. That also means they wouldn’t burn a minor league option year to have Eldridge start next season back in Triple-A if he struggles during Spring Training.
Rangers, Dylan Moore Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with utilityman Dylan Moore, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Moore, a client of Klutch Sports, was recently released by the division-rival Mariners.
Moore now returns to the organization that drafted him a decade ago. Texas selected him in the seventh round in 2015 out of the University of Central Florida. He didn’t advance beyond High-A before being traded to Atlanta a year later. Moore spent time in the Braves’ and Brewers’ systems until finally getting an MLB opportunity in Seattle as a minor league free agent.
It proved to be an adept pickup for the M’s front office. Moore played parts of seven seasons in Seattle and was a capable role player for most of that time. He won a Gold Glove in a utility capacity just last year. Moore bounced around the diamond while generally hitting for power against left-handed pitching. He has never been a high average hitter but showed enough of a well-rounded skillset that Seattle signed him to a three-year, $8.875MM extension in Spring Training 2023.
The first two seasons of that deal went well enough. Moore’s bat has absolutely cratered this year, as he’s hitting .193/.263/.359 across 213 plate appearances. He’s batting .149 with 44 strikeouts in 109 plate appearances with the platoon advantage and has gone a staggering 3-63 (.048) with 36 strikeouts in 41 games since the start of June. Seattle could no longer live with that kind of production, even in a bench capacity, while they fight for a playoff spot.
There’s neither much risk nor a huge ceiling on the deal for Texas. Seattle is on the hook for the rest of Moore’s $3.575MM salary. Texas would only pay him the prorated $760K league minimum for time he spends on the MLB roster. Moore will be a free agent at season’s end. He’ll provide an alternative to Ezequiel Duran and Josh Jung for infield playing time if he gets called up. Texas just lost Marcus Semien to what appears to be a season-ending foot fracture. Moore would be playoff eligible if Texas makes a surprise September run.
Nathan Eovaldi Likely Out For Season Due To Rotator Cuff Strain
Nathan Eovaldi has a rotator cuff strain and is likely done for the season. President of baseball operations Chris Young relayed the news to reporters, including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com.
The All-Star righty had been listed as the probable starter for tomorrow’s game against the Angels. There was no previous indication he was dealing with an injury. Eovaldi had reeled off seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts against the Guardians on Friday. It’s not clear whether he pitched through discomfort toward the end of that appearance or suffered the injury during a between starts throwing session. In either case, he’s headed for the injured list.
It’s the latest blow in a Rangers season that has unraveled. They bought at the deadline. They’d played at a 16-9 pace in July to pull within a few games of a Wild Card spot. Their impressive run differential and seemingly positive trend convinced the front office to push in prospect capital for Merrill Kelly, Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe. They’ve followed up with their worst month of the season.
Texas has played at a 9-14 pace in August to fall below .500. They swept Cleveland over the weekend, more or less driving a nail into the Guardians’ season, but were shut out in last night’s series opener against the Angels. They’ve also lost Evan Carter (wrist fracture), Marcus Semien (foot fracture) and Eovaldi to what may all be season-ending injuries. Overcoming those hits to erase a 5.5 game postseason deficit in the final month seems very unlikely.
Eovaldi has had a brilliant year when healthy. He carries a career-best 1.73 earned run average while working nearly six inning per start. He has earned a quality start in 14 of his 22 appearances. Eovaldi has fanned 26% of batters faced while showing his typical elite command. The only black marks have been injuries. He was limited to one appearance in June by elbow inflammation and will miss all of September with the shoulder issue. Eovaldi has turned in a 2.67 ERA or better in every other month.
This was the first season of his three-year, $75MM contract. Texas has both Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom signed for another two guaranteed years. They’ll go into next season with as much upside as any 1-2 punch in MLB. With both pitchers in their mid-late 30s, however, it’s difficult to count on them to stay healthy. That makes it all the more disappointing that the Rangers have seemingly squandered a season of fantastic production from both veterans.
Eovaldi’s injury comes a few days before the Rangers need to decide whether to wave the white flag and place a number of players on waivers. They could try to dump the salaries of a handful of players (Merrill Kelly, most notably) in an effort to get below the $241MM luxury tax line. Players need to be in an organization by September 1 in order to be playoff eligible, so they’d be much likelier to get claimed if their waivers resolve before the end of August. Waivers take 48 hours to process, meaning players need to land on the wire no later than Friday to be playoff eligible with a claiming team. Texas plays two more against the Angels and is off on Thursday before making that call.
Patrick Corbin takes the mound opposite Yusei Kikuchi tonight. They’ll probably run a spot starter or bullpen game tomorrow. Kumar Rocker is on optional assignment but hasn’t pitched in a Triple-A game in nearly three weeks as he irons out mechanical issues. Caleb Boushley pitched 2 2/3 frames in the minors on Sunday. That essentially leaves long man Jacob Latz, who last pitched on Wednesday, as the only option on the 40-man roster for a spot start.
Diamondbacks Outright Jose Herrera
D-Backs catcher José Herrera went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Reno, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Arizona designated him for assignment when Gabriel Moreno returned from the injured list last week.
Herrera has played parts of four seasons as a light-hitting backup. He’s worked behind Moreno for the past three of those. The switch-hitting Herrera has tallied 204 plate appearances this season. He has slashed .187/.285/.259 with a pair of home runs. He has hit a trio of homers among his 562 career trips to the dish.
The Diamondbacks valued Herrera’s glove and clubhouse presence enough to stick with him as a backup despite his lifetime .200/.280/.259 batting line. Veteran James McCann, signed when Moreno went on the IL in late June, has hit three homers with a .326 on-base percentage in 30 games. McCann figures to pair with Moreno for the final month of the season. Herrera will become a minor league free agent at the end of the regular season unless the D-Backs add him back to the MLB roster in the next few weeks.
A’s To Place Jacob Lopez On Injured List With Flexor Strain
A’s starter Jacob Lopez has been shut down after sustaining a Grade 1 flexor strain, manager Mark Kotsay tells reporters (including Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). He’ll go on the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Kotsay said the A’s still hope Lopez can make it back this season, likely as a reliever in the final few days.
Lopez has quietly been one of the American League’s best rookie pitchers. Acquired from the Rays alongside Jeffrey Springs in a deal sending Joe Boyle to Tampa Bay, Lopez was on and off the active roster early in the season. The 6’4″ southpaw has grabbed a firm hold on a big league roster spot since late May. He fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Phillies in his first start after being recalled and has occupied a rotation spot since then. Lopez has had a few blow-up outings but has shown glimpses of dominance, including five scoreless starts over the course of the year.
Four of those came consecutively between July 26 and August 12. He had the two best performances by an A’s pitcher all season in back-to-back outings earlier in the month. Lopez punched out 10 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Washington on August 7, then blanked the Rays on nine strikeouts over seven frames five days later. He tossed another quality start — six innings of three-run ball with eight strikeouts in Minnesota — last Tuesday.
Lopez had by far his worst outing of the season yesterday. He walked six and gave up nine runs in two innings in Seattle. The A’s revealed postgame that he’d been dealing with forearm tightness that initially cropped up during his start against the Twins. Yesterday’s appearance pushed his season earned run average to 4.08, but he’d entered the game with a 3.28 mark while striking out 29% of batters faced. That’s excellent production anywhere and especially impressive considering the A’s temporary home field in Sacramento has been the most difficult park for pitchers outside of Coors Field.
The 27-year-old Lopez is arguably the A’s most promising pitcher going into next season. Highly-touted prospect Luis Morales is in the big league rotation now as well. Morales has erratic command but power stuff headlined by a 97 MPH heater. J.T. Ginn has posted better than average strikeout and ground-ball numbers over 60 MLB frames, though it hasn’t translated to great results. Springs and Luis Severino are each signed for next year and will probably be in trade rumors in the offseason.
Osvaldo Bido is listed as the probable starter for tomorrow night’s game against the Tigers. It’ll be his first start since mid-May. Bido has been working 3-4 inning stints out of the bullpen and could take a few turns through the rotation in Lopez’s absence. He owns a 5.37 ERA in 65 1/3 frames over 19 appearances.
Ron Washington Recovering From Quadruple Bypass, Hopes To Manage Angels In 2026
In late June, the Angels announced that manager Ron Washington would remain on medical leave for the rest of the season. The team respected his privacy and didn’t provide any more specifics at the time. The 73-year-old skipper updated the media on his health this afternoon.
Washington revealed to the Halos beat that he underwent quadruple bypass surgery to remove blockages from his heart valves roughly two months ago (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com and Sam Blum of The Athletic). The situation came together quickly, as Washington revealed he first sought medical attention after noticing swelling around his ankles while the Angels were playing in the Bronx from June 16-19. Washington said the scary situation has spurred him to quit smoking and improve his diet and sleeping habits.
The baseball lifer said he expects to be fully cleared medically in December. He was unequivocal about his desire to return to managing in 2026. Washington said it’s his goal “to finish what we started” with the Angels (relayed by Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). It stands to reason the Angels will welcome him back, but the team has not said anything his contract. Washington signed a two-year deal when he was hired going into the 2024 season. The club holds an option on his services for 2026.
Bench coach Ray Montgomery will remain the interim manager for the rest of this year. The Angels have dropped a season-high eight games below .500 entering tonight’s series in Texas. MLBTR sends our continued well wishes to Wash as he completes his recovery.
Boone: Yankees Still Consider Volpe Starting Shortstop
Anthony Volpe is out of the lineup as the Yankees open their series against the Nationals. It’s the second straight game in which José Caballero gets the start at shortstop. New York is giving the scuffling Volpe what amounts to a two-day mental reset. However, manager Aaron Boone made clear this evening that the Yankees aren’t moving the third-year infielder to the bench.
“I view Anthony as our shortstop,” Boone told reporters (including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic). The skipper confirmed that Volpe would be back in the lineup tomorrow and continue playing regularly from that point. He added that the Yanks consider Caballero their “10th man” and will keep bouncing him around the diamond in a utility role (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).
Volpe is hitting .208/.274/.400 across 509 plate appearances. He had a productive April but carries a .198/.255/.382 batting line in 96 games since the beginning of May. Volpe has never hit for a high average or reached base at a strong clip. He’s tied with Dansby Swanson for eighth among shortstops with 18 home runs, but he hasn’t been a productive overall hitter. The struggles have magnified over the past six weeks, as he’s batting .171 with a .203 on-base percentage going back to July 1. Among 253 hitters with at least 100 plate appearances in that stretch, only Miami’s Dane Myers has a lower batting average. No one has a worse on-base mark.
The offensive drought is magnified by his uncharacteristic issues on the other side of the ball. Volpe won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023; he was a finalist for that honor last year. He trailed only Swanson and Ezequiel Tovar in combined Defensive Runs Saved among shortstops over those two seasons. Statcast’s Outs Above Average had him tied for seventh. Even with the OBP deficiencies, Volpe’s power and plus defense made him a valuable all-around player. The Yankees presumably felt he was on a similar trajectory as Swanson, an eventual everyday shortstop on a World Series team who received a $177MM free agent contract.
Volpe’s defensive grades have tanked this year as well. DRS has him right around average. Statcast has him five runs below par, tying him for fourth worst at the position. Volpe has committed 17 errors, matching his career high with another month to play. Only Elly De La Cruz (19) has been charged with more this season.
Caballero, acquired from the Rays at the deadline, has gotten out to a fantastic start to his Yankee tenure. He’s hitting .286 with more walks than strikeouts in 15 games. Caballero has stolen six bases in seven tries and is up to an MLB-high 40 steals between Tampa Bay and New York. He led the American League with 44 steals last year, though he was also caught a league leading 16 times. Caballero is a plus runner and versatile defender but is unlikely to remain an above-average hitter over a large sample. He owns a .227/.313/.337 batting line in more than 1000 career plate appearances.
There’s no argument that Caballero hasn’t been the more productive player of late. Still, the 24-year-old Volpe entered the season as New York’s expected franchise shortstop. Caballero is soon to turn 29 and is established as a high-end utility player. The Yankees can still find playing time for him on most days. He’s a right-handed complement to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon at second and third base, respectively. They’re tolerating Giancarlo Stanton in right field for as long as Aaron Judge is unable to throw at game speed, but they’ll frequently kick Caballero into the outfield later in games for defensive purposes.
Dodgers Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment
The Dodgers designated infielder Buddy Kennedy for assignment. That makes room on the roster for Kiké Hernández, who is back from the 10-day injured list. Kennedy is out of options, so the Dodgers need to expose him to waivers to take him off the big league roster. The team’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Los Angeles claimed Kennedy off waivers from Toronto ten days ago. That coincided with an IL placement for Max Muncy. He joined Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Hernández on the shelf. Kennedy provided an extra infielder alongside Miguel Rojas and rookie Alex Freeland between second and third base. He went 1-17 over seven games.
A former fifth-round pick of the Diamondbacks, Kennedy has played sporadically in parts of four big league seasons. He’s a .178/.271/.274 hitter in 181 career plate appearances. The 26-year-old has split time in Triple-A this year between the Philadelphia and Toronto systems. He has turned in a solid .268/.372/.408 showing in 77 combined games.
The Dodgers will place Kennedy on outright waivers this week. He has cleared waivers a few times in his career and has the right to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.
Rockies Select McCade Brown
TODAY: The Rockies officially announced the selection of Brown’s contract. In corresponding moves, left-hander Lucas Gilbreath was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Dugan Darnell was moved to the 60-day injured list. Darnell was placed on the 15-day IL two days ago due to hip inflammation, and the shift to the 60-day IL means that his rookie season has officially been ended. Darnell posted a 3.86 ERA over his first 11 2/3 innings in the majors, though he had more walks (seven) than strikeouts (five).
AUGUST 22: The Rockies will promote pitcher McCade Brown to make his MLB debut on Sunday against the Pirates, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The 25-year-old will step into the rotation spot vacated when the Rox released Austin Gomber this afternoon. General manager Bill Schmidt tells Harding that the Rockies weren’t going to make an effort to re-sign Gomber, a free agent, and preferred to take a look at Brown to see if he should be part of next year’s Opening Day roster. They’ll need to clear a 40-man roster spot this weekend.
Brown was a third-round pick out of Indiana in 2021. Colorado left him exposed in last winter’s Rule 5 draft, where he went unprotected. The 6’6″ righty has had a breakout minor league season that might’ve garnered him legitimate consideration in the upcoming Rule 5. Colorado was going to add him to the 40-man roster at the beginning of the winter regardless. They’ll select his contract a couple months earlier to evaluate him over six or seven starts down the stretch.
On the one hand, they’ll give him a soft landing with a debut against the league’s worst lineup at PNC Park. He won’t have much margin for error, though, as the Bucs will send Cy Young favorite Paul Skenes to the mound. Brown will skip past the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and make the jump from Double-A. He has logged 43 innings with a 3.14 earned run average, striking out 33.5% of opponents. He’d punched out more than 35% of batters faced with a sub-2.00 ERA over nine High-A starts earlier in the year.
That production came against mostly younger competition, largely because of injury. Brown only made 18 appearances over three college seasons. He lost all of 2023 and the first half of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was all over the place with his command when he returned last year, which isn’t uncommon for pitchers working back from surgery.
Brown has never placed among Colorado’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention in his writeup of the system in January, writing at the time that he was likely to end up in the bullpen. That could still be the case, but the Rox have nothing to lose in trying him out as a starter. Ryan Feltner leads their rotation with a 4.75 ERA, and he’s been limited to six starts by injury. Kyle Freeland is their only other returning starter who has allowed fewer than six earned runs per nine. Brown doesn’t need to show much to have a chance at cracking the ’26 rotation.
Marlins’ Jesus Tinoco To Undergo Flexor Surgery
Marlins reliever Jesús Tinoco will undergo flexor surgery next month, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. It’ll cost him most or all of the 2026 season. Tinoco is already on Miami’s 60-day injured list and will remain there until the beginning of the offseason.
The Fish claimed Tinoco off waivers from the Cubs last July. The journeyman righty impressed down the stretch, turning in 26 2/3 innings of 2.03 ERA ball behind a 30.6% strikeout rate. It was the best two-month stretch of his career and secured his spot on the roster last offseason.
Tinoco opened the season on the shelf with a minor back injury. He returned in mid-April and struggled over the next six weeks. His velocity was down nearly two ticks relative to the end of last season, and he allowed more than five earned runs per nine with a massively reduced 12.5% strikeout rate. A forearm strain sent him back to the IL in early June. He evidently had a setback in recent weeks and will be unable to avoid surgery.
The 30-year-old will collect the $760K minimum salary for the season. He surpassed the two-year service threshold, but that’s not of huge significance as he faces the extended rehab process. Miami will almost certainly run him through outright waivers at year’s end rather than putting him back on the 40-man roster. The injured list goes away over the offseason, and Tinoco would’ve been a fringe roster player even if healthy. He’ll become a minor league free agent and could look for a two-year minor league contract. He owns a 3.98 ERA in 100 career big league appearances.