Jarred Kelenic Elects Free Agency
TODAY: Kelenic cleared waivers and elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment, according to Brooke Fletcher of the Chicago Sports Network.
MAY 25: The White Sox announced that outfielder Jarred Kelenic has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move for them to select infielder/outfielder Rikuu Nishida, a move that was reported yesterday.
Kelenic, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason. He began the season at Triple-A and put up some encouraging numbers. In 26 games, he slashed .202/.346/.464. That batting average is obviously not pleasant but was held back by an unfortunate .224 batting average on balls in play. The on-base percentage was buoyed by a huge 18.3% walk rate. His six home runs in 104 plate appearances boosted the slugging percentage. The batting line translated to a subpar 97 wRC+ but would have been above average with a bit more batted ball luck.
The White Sox decided to give him another shot in the big leagues, which didn’t work out. He got into 19 games and stepped to the plate 59 times. His 10.2% walk rate was strong but he also struck out at a huge 33.9% clip. Though his .344 BABIP was actually a help in this sample, he nonetheless put up a .226/.305/.321 line and 81 wRC+.
These are fairly small data sets but they do roughly mirror Kelenic’s larger career arc. A former sixth overall pick and top prospect, he has often put up huge numbers in the minors without finding success in the majors. Including this year’s stint with the Sox, he now has 1,547 big league plate appearances. He has been punched out in 30.7% of those and has a .211/.283/.374 line, which leads to an 84 wRC+. He has stolen some bases but hasn’t received strong grades for his glovework.
The overall performance has pushed him into fringe roster status. As mentioned, he had to settle for a minor league deal coming into this season. He has exhausted his option years, so the Sox had to bump him off the 40-man since they no longer want him on the active roster.
Kelenic is now in DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox could take five days to explore trade interest. The most likely outcome is Kelenic ending up on waivers and clearing. He just cleared waivers in October of last year and he hasn’t done much to raise his stock since then. Players with a previous career outright or three years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of electing free agency. Kelenic qualifies on both counts and can head to the open market if he clears waivers in the next week.
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images
Dodgers Re-Sign Santiago Espinal
8:08pm: Los Angeles officially announced the moves, as well as yesterday’s placement of Teoscar Hernández on the injured list while recalling Ryan Ward from Triple-A. They opened the 40-man spot by transferring Blake Snell from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list. Snell was already expected to be out beyond the All-Star Break after undergoing the NanoScope elbow procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow.
5:35pm: The Dodgers are re-signing infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal, per Jack Harris of The California Post. Infielder/outfielder Hyeseong Kim will be optioned in a corresponding active roster move. The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to add Espinal.
Espinal was just nudged off the roster on Monday when Enrique Hernández came off the injured list. A lot has changed since then. Hernández suffered a significant oblique tear and has gone right back on the IL. Teoscar Hernández also hit the IL this week, in his case due to a hamstring strain. Espinal cleared waivers and elected free agency but has now pivoted right back to the Dodgers.
In addition to losing both Hernándezes to the IL, the Dodgers have been watching Kim struggle. His .259/.323/.328 line for the whole year isn’t awful, leading to an 87 wRC+, but his production has been sagging lately. He had a .296/.371/.389 line when the calendar flipped to May but he has a .226/.279/.274 line since then.
Espinal may not provide much more than that, considering he has a .220/.238/.366 line on the year. But perhaps the Dodgers feel the best thing for Kim is to get regular playing time in the minors, as opposed to sitting on the bench. Alex Freeland was recalled when Enrique went back on the IL and should get the bulk of the second base playing time in the near future.
Kim is 27 years old, signed through 2027, with club options for 2028 and 2029. Espinal is 31 and not signed long-term. It therefore makes sense for the Dodgers to think about the long-term plan with Kim, whereas Espinal is more of a short-term stopgap and therefore a better fit for a part-time bench role.
Though Espinal may not provide much with the bat, he can be useful in other ways. He has experience at all four infield spots, as well as the outfield corners, so he can give the Dodgers the flexibility to move guys around as needed.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Expansion/Stadium Notes: Vancouver, Sacramento, Tampa
It is expected that Major League Baseball will look to expand from 30 to 32 teams at some point in the future. Several cities have been floated as possibilities over the years, including Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland and Orlando. In recent weeks, Vancouver and Sacramento have thrown their hats into the ring. Gary Mason of The Globe and Mail provided many of the details on the Vancouver situation last month while Evan Drellich of The Athletic amd Maury Brown of Forbes reported on the Sacramento bid this week.
A group led by real estate developer Zack Ross is pushing a Vancouver proposal that seems to have the backing of mayor Ken Sim. City council recently approved a motion directing staff to start a procurement process for the unsolicited bid proposal.
Vancouver is already host to the Canadians, the Single-A affiliate of the Blue Jays. Per Mason’s piece, Ross was asked by that club to look for a spot to build a new stadium. Nat Bailey Stadium, where the Canadians play, was built in 1951. While undergoing that process, he had the idea of potentially pursuing a big league club. The group is targeting a 20-acre plot of city-owned land on the south shore of False Creek. He is now looking for investors. The architecture firm Populous, which designed the Las Vegas Sphere, has put together a stadium rendering.
The piece says that the owners of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers have expressed an interest, as has actor Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds was born and raised in Vancouver and is already the co-owner of Wrexham A.F.C., as documented in the TV show Welcome to Wrexham, which raised the profile of that club. Jed York, principal owner of the 49ers, is also a co-owner of the football clubs Leeds and Rangers. Mason also mentions the owners of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken as being interested.
It’s hard to tell exactly how much money would be needed for a new club, but it would be a total in the billions. As noted by Drellich, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred threw out a figure of $2.2 billion as a possible expansion fee back in 2021. That was before Steve Cohen bought the Mets for $2.4 billion and José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones agreed to purchase the Padres for $3.9 billion. Presumably, the price has gone up since Manfred made those comments.
The viability of Vancouver as a market is somewhat in debate. As Mason points out, Major League Soccer is looking to move the Whitecaps from Vancouver to an American market, something that might not bode well for investor confidence in the city. Vancouver does support the NHL’s Canucks and got an expansion franchise in the NBA in 1995, but the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001. The Lions have played in the Canadian Football League since 1954. The popularity of baseball in the area can be seen whenever the Blue Jays play in Seattle, as Canadian fans stream across the border for those contests.
Though Vancouver is nowhere near Toronto, most of Canada is considered Blue Jays territory. That doesn’t seem like it will be much of an issue. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro has said the Jays would support a team in Vancouver. “We are supportive of any effort to grow baseball in Canada, and that would include the opportunity to bring MLB to Vancouver,” Shapiro said.
Nicholson-Smith also quotes Manfred, from the 2025 postseason, broadly supporting the idea of a second team in Canada. “There’s no place you’re going to go where you’re not splitting the market,” Manfred said. “I’ve got probably four clubs that think Nashville’s part of their market. I’m not being funny. Literally, they do. So whenever you expand, you’re growing the business, you’ve got another revenue-generating point. You’re going to get a big payment on the way in and one of the things that happens is somebody’s market gets nicked a little bit. So this market, Canada, is no different. The advantages that Canada has is there are places you can go that are distant geographically from Toronto.” The Montreal Expos and the Jays co-existed in MLB for many years, starting with the creation of the Jays in 1977, but the Expos struggled to make that arrangement work. They were moved to Washington in 2005 and became the Nationals.
Geographically, Vancouver is closer to Seattle, but it’s possible the Mariners would be on board. As noted by Tim Booth of The Seattle Times, the Mariners would probably be more concerned about Portland having a team, since they would view that area as part of their current territory. Since Vancouver is seen more as Jays country, the M’s may not be too concerned about a team there, and might even welcome the travel impacts. Seattle is so isolated on the MLB map that they currently have to cover large distances for every road game. A team in Vancouver would lead to a few road games with modest travel, while not dramatically impacting the club’s territorial rights.
Turning to Sacramento, West Sacramento mayor Martha Guerrero announced last week that the city would be pursuing an MLB expansion club. A local real estate developer named Mark Friedman is leading the charge to sell the area as viable for a big league club more permanently. West Sacramento, a distinct city from Sacramento but part of the same metropolitan area, is the temporary home of the Athletics. Ideally, that would give the region proof of concept, but the A’s haven’t drawn especially large crowds to Sutter Health Park.
The group isn’t deterred by that, expressing belief that turnout would be greater if the area had its own team, as opposed to one just passing through. The group doesn’t have a lead investor but claims to already have $800MM in place in terms of land and private investment. They also claim to have access to $1 billion in public money. They are targeting a 50-acre segment of land in West Sacramento, an area that includes Sutter Health Park.
“We may elect to build a new stadium next to the existing stadium, and then tear that one down, or we may choose to tear down the existing stadium and build a new one on the same site,” Friedman said. “We just haven’t gotten to the design part of this, and are waiting until we bring the lead investor on, because that person will undoubtedly want to place their stamp on what the project looks like.” Brown notes that Sacramento natives Dusty Baker and Derrek Lee are involved in the pitch, though the degree of their involvement is not clear.
As a market, Sacramento supports the NBA’s Kings. They also had the Monarchs in the WNBA starting in 1997 but that team folded in 2009. The River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants, are the more permanent host club for Sutter Health Park. They are sharing the stadium with the A’s for the 2025 to 2027 seasons while the A’s finish their stadium in Las Vegas. Sutter Health Park and the River Cats are owned by the Kings.
At this point, the possibility of expansion is still fairly theoretical. Manfred has consistently said that he would like the A’s and Rays to figure out long-term stadium plans before expansion could be on the table. The A’s are on track to be in Las Vegas for the start of the 2028 season but the Rays are still in a limbo zone.
The Rays have a lease at Tropicana Field through 2028 but don’t have anything in place beyond that. The new owners are in talks with the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County about a new stadium plan. Per Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times, the team and government officials have agreed to a memorandum of understanding about a plan to build a $2.3 billion domed stadium near Raymond James stadium, home of the NFL’s Buccaneers, but the MOU is nonbinding. Per the plan, the county would contribute $796MM and the city $180MM, with the Rays covering the rest as well as any overruns and maintenance. The team will also spend $8 to $10 billion on a mixed-use development to surround the stadium.
It’s unclear if they can get through the next hoops to proceed with the project. As Topkin notes, Tampa city council passed the nonbinding MOU 4-3 but councillor Bill Carlson plans to change his vote for the actual deal. He only voted “yes” on the nonbinding MOU to keep the discussion going for now. If something can’t be worked out in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, it’s expected that a move to Orlando may be pursued.
Drellich notes that MLB would likely prefer that the expansion locations be split with one to the west and one to the east. If that proves to be true, then Vancouver and Sacramento could be competing with each other, as well as with Salt Lake City and Portland.
The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA expires this coming December 1st and negotiations are ongoing. Expansion is something that would have to be collectively bargained between those two parties and it’s possible that it comes up in those talks. Manfred has said he would like to make progress on that front before his expected departure in January of 2029. On the other hand, there are bigger priorities in those talks and expansion may still be on the backburner until the Rays get a more concrete plan in place.
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Eury Pérez To Miss Eight Weeks With Gracilis Strain
The Marlins announced that right-hander Eury Pérez has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 28th, with a right gracilis strain. His recovery will last eight weeks, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Fellow righty Josh Ekness has been recalled to take his roster spot. The Fish also reinstated infielder Leo Jimenez from the seven-day concussion-related IL and optioned infielder Graham Pauley.
Pérez tossed four shutout innings against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday but did not come out for the fifth. As seen in this video from MLB.com, he was stretching in the dugout when he suddenly became visibly overwhelmed with pain. He had to be helped down into the tunnel. After the game, he told De Nicola that his pain was initially a ten out of ten, but had dropped to a seven. He was set to undergo imaging, which apparently found this strain of his gracilis, which is part of the thigh.
It’s the latest blow to the Miami rotation, which has seen its once-vaunted starting depth evaporate. The Marlins felt good enough about their stock of starters that they traded both Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers in the offseason. Those moves allowed the Fish to acquire Owen Caissie and various prospects. The hope was that they would still have plenty of arms. They began the season with Pérez, Sandy Alcantara, Max Meyer, Chris Paddack and Janson Junk in the rotation, with Braxton Garrett, Robby Snelling, Thomas White and others in Triple-A.
In early May, they gave up on Paddack. He was designated for assignment and landed with the Reds. Snelling was called up to take his rotation spot but then Snelling suffered a sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament after just one start in the big leagues. He underwent internal brace surgery and will miss the rest of the year. Garrett was then called up to replace Snelling but Garrett’s two starts resulted in just 4 1/3 innings with seven earned runs allowed. He was optioned back down to the minors after that. White hasn’t been an option because he landed on the minor league IL a couple of weeks ago.
With Pérez now out, the Fish are basically down to Alcantara, Meyer and Junk from their season-opening group. Tyler Phillips, who has been working a multi-inning relief role, made a start on Sunday. He went 3 2/3 innings and is listed as the probable starter for tomorrow’s game, so perhaps he’ll stick in the rotation for now. Meyer is taking the ball tonight and Junk on Sunday, followed by Alcantara on Monday. By Tuesday, they’ll need to figure something else out, whether that’s a spot starter or bullpen game.
Garrett was only optioned nine days ago. Pitchers need to wait 15 days after being optioned before they can be recalled, unless they directly replace someone else going on the IL. Dax Fulton, Ryan Gusto and Bradley Blalock are on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A, though Fulton has a 6.17 ERA in Triple-A this year and Blalock is at 5.44. Gusto has a more palatable 4.01 at Triple-A this year, though he has a 5.61 ERA in his big league career.
Time will tell how the Marlins proceed but it’s a rough situation for them. They are 26-31 on the year, putting them five games back of a playoff spot. There’s still lots of time to climb in the standings but that will be hard to do with the pitching staff so banged up.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
MLB Announces One-Game Suspension For Abner Uribe
Major League Baseball announced that right-hander Abner Uribe has been given a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his inappropriate actions towards the Cardinals’ dugout during the top of the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game at American Family Field. Uribe is appealing, so the suspension is held in abeyance until the appeals process is complete.
The incident occurred after Uribe struck out Alec Burleson, as seen in this footage from MLB.com, which also includes comments from manager Pat Murphy and Uribe himself. After striking out Burleson, Uribe turned towards the away dugout and performed a gesture that will be familiar to wrestling fans of a certain era.
Murphy was visibly unpleased at the time and later called the situation unacceptable. Uribe, through a Spanish-language translator, apologized to various people with the Brewers. But he didn’t apologize to the Cardinals and actually condemned St. Louis manager Oli Marmol, implying Marmol had threatened Milwaukee hitters with bean balls.
It’s not the first time Uribe has been suspended for an on-field situation. The Brewers and Rays got into a brawl in 2024, with Uribe and Jose Siri at the center of it. Uribe received a six-game suspension for that, though it was later reduced to four games on appeal.
When a player is suspended for an on-field infraction, the team cannot replace him on the roster. If Uribe’s suspension is upheld or he drops his appeal, the Brewers will have to play a man short for one game. For a suspension this short, it’s possible that Uribe will drop the appeal prior to a game that he wasn’t going to be available for regardless, perhaps after pitching a few days in a row.
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Cardinals Select Nelson Velázquez, Recall Jimmy Crooks
The Cardinals announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Nelson Velázquez and recalled catcher Jimmy Crooks. The 40-man roster has had a vacancy since left-hander Jared Shuster was designated for assignment a couple of weeks ago, so Velázquez fills that spot. In terms of the active roster, infielder César Prieto and catcher Yohel Pozo have been optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
Velázquez, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Cards in the offseason. He put up a monster .357/.449/.667 line during spring training but nonetheless got sent to Memphis to begin the year. His production in the minors has been more human than what he showed in camp. His 13.5% walk rate is quite good but he has also been striking out at a 29.4% clip while hitting seven home runs. He has a .232/.344/.420 line and 101 wRC+ on the year, indicating he has been barely above average.
That minor league performance is a close match for his big league track record. He has a solid 8.5% walk rate and 31 home runs in 615 plate appearances but a big 28.8% strikeout rate. That has led to a .212/.286/.433 line and 98 wRC+.
There’s clearly some power but also some swing and miss. Since he’s not a strong defender, he really needs to hit to provide value. The uneven performance has led to Velázquez exhausting his option years. He was passed through waivers last year and had to settle for a minor league deal coming into 2026.
It’s possible Velázquez will be filling a complementary role with the Cards. He hasn’t played center field since 2023. Jordan Walker is having a breakout season in right and isn’t in jeopardy of losing playing time. In left, Bryan Torres just got called up and has a .316/.381/.579 line so far. But Velázquez is a righty and both Torres and center fielder Victor Scott II are both lefties. Velázquez only has modest splits in his career but could nonetheless help the Cards play some matchups.
It’s also worth considering the designated hitter spot, as Velázquez is in there tonight against left-hander Shota Imanaga. The Cards have been giving a decent amount of DH time to catcher Iván Herrera, which is why they have been running a three-catcher system. Alongside Herrera, they have also had Pozo and Pedro Pagés on the roster. It’s unclear what their plan is with swapping in Crooks for Pozo today. Pozo has a dismal .242/.242/.273 line on the year but has only received 33 plate appearances in over two months on the roster.
Crooks is one of the club’s best prospects and has a huge .262/.412/.567 line in Triple-A this year but has presumably been held down because there hasn’t been a lot of big league playing time for him. Herrera has a .264/.390/.423 line and is going to be the lineup most days, either behind the plate or at designated hitter. Perhaps the recall of Crooks signals reduced playing time for Pagés, who is hitting just .219/.262/.360 on the year.
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Pirates Designate Justin Lawrence For Assignment
The Pirates announced that right-hander Justin Lawrence has been designated for assignment. That opens active and 40-man roster space for righty Jared Jones. It was reported yesterday that Jones would be activated from the 60-day injured list to start tonight’s game.
Lawrence, 31, is having a poor season. He has thrown 22 innings for the Bucs, allowing 5.32 earned runs per nine. His 23.6% strikeout rate and 43.1% walk rate are decent but his 11.3% walk rate is quite high and he has allowed four home runs.
The Pirates were surely expecting much better. Lawrence had spent 2021 to 2024 with the Rockies, posting a 5.43 ERA. The Bucs claimed him off waivers ahead of the 2025 season, perhaps hoping that getting Lawrence away from Coors Field would help him out. That worked last year, in a sense. Lawrence missed a few months due to elbow inflammation and only made 17 appearances, but the results were great. He had a 0.51 ERA in that time. His 11.6% walk rate was too high but he struck out a third of batters faced and induced grounders on 47.2% of balls in play.
Pittsburgh tendered Lawrence a contract for 2026 and he is making $1.225MM this year but that investment has not worked out so far. Lawrence is out of options and has been bumped into DFA limbo. That can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the club could take as long as five days to explore trade interest.
Though Lawrence isn’t having his best season, it’s possible there’s some interest. The salary is barely over this year’s $780K league minimum. His four-seamer and sinker average in the upper-90s. His control has never been good, with a 12.3% walk rate in his career, but he has always induced grounders and has occasionally flashed big strikeout potential as well. This year’s struggles are partially due to a drop in strikeouts but also to a home run spike, leading to an unfortunate 55.6% strand rate. His 3.79 SIERA suggests he could have fared better with a slight change in luck.
If Lawrence were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency but likely wouldn’t do so. Players with three years of service time have the right to elect free agency but need five years of service to exercise that right while keeping their salary commitments in place. Lawrence is in between those three- and five-year lines and he is still owed about $800K on his contract. Presumably, he wouldn’t want to walk away from that money and would accept an assignment to the minors.
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Reds Place Graham Ashcraft On 60-Day IL With UCL Sprain
The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Yunior Marté. To open spots on the active and 40-man rosters, right-hander Graham Ashcraft has been placed directly onto the 60-day injured list with a sprain in his ulnar collateral ligament.
The Ashcraft news is both devastating and surprising. He last appeared for the Reds on Monday and there wasn’t any indication anything was amiss. He recorded two strikeouts and a groundout in a scoreless inning, with his velocity in line with previous outings.
Presumably, some discomfort popped up in between that outing and today and testing found a sprain of Ashcraft’s UCL. The team hasn’t announced any information but the fact that Ashcraft has been placed directly on the 60-day IL suggests they don’t expect him back anytime soon.
Not all UCL sprains lead to surgery. In recent years, guys like Mason Miller and Grant Holmes have suffered UCL sprains and managed to come back without surgery, but even those situations required a few months of recovery. Miller’s diagnosis was in May of 2023 and he was back on the mound in September of that same year. Holmes suffered his sprain in July of last year but was healthy for spring training here in 2026.
Perhaps that means Ashcraft could return later this year in a best-case scenario. But the worst-case scenario is Tommy John surgery, which usually comes with a recovery timeline of 14 months or more. That would wipe out the rest of his season and most of his 2027 campaign as well.
Either way, it’s another blow to the Cincinnati bullpen. The Reds are already without closer Emilio Pagán, who hit the IL earlier this month with a hamstring strain. That only made Ashcraft’s contributions more important. Ashcraft picked up 23 holds for the Reds last year, posting a 3.99 earned run average. His 22.5% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate were around average but his 55.9% ground ball rate was quite strong.
Here in 2026, he has added a save and another ten holds. His walk rate has ticked up to 14.7% but his strikeout rate also jumped, getting to 29.4%. His ground ball rate has held fairly steady at 54.1%. The end result is a slightly better ERA of 3.33.
With both Pagán and Ashcraft on the IL, the Reds will have to rely on guys like Tony Santillan, Brock Burke and Pierce Johnson for leverage work. Santillan has a decent track record but is not having a good season, with a 5.57 ERA so far. Burke has a 3.60 ERA but is walking a tightrope, having given free passes to 14.3% of opponents. Johnson’s 3.27 ERA is decent but he’s gotten some help from a .262 batting average on balls in play and 83.3% strand rate.
Marté, 31, returns to the big leagues for the first time in a couple of years. He got some time with the Giants and Phillies from 2022 to 2024, posting a 5.64 ERA over 113 1/3 innings. He spent 2025 in Japan, pitching for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball, posting a 1.95 ERA for that club.
He returned to North America this past offseason by signing a minor league deal with the Reds. He has thrown 19 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year with a 5.12 ERA. His 50% ground ball rate and 27.4% strikeout rate are good but he has walked 12.6% of batters faced and been vulnerable to the long ball, with an 18.8% home run to fly ball ratio. For now, he’ll add a fresh arm to the bullpen. If the Reds want to make a change in the future, Marté is out of options.
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Orioles To Select Cameron Weston
The Orioles are going to select right-hander Cameron Weston, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Fellow righty Trey Gibson will be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding active roster move. Baltimore had a couple of 40-man vacancies due to both Albert Suárez and Dietrich Enns being designated for assignment in recent days, so Weston fills one of those vacancies.
Weston, 25, was Baltimore’s eighth-round pick in 2022. Reports on him have generally noted that he doesn’t have overpowering stuff but he does have a deep arsenal than can help him keep hitters off balance. He throws a low-90s sinker along with a slider, cutter, changeup and splitter.
The results were definitely working in the lower levels. From 2022 to 2024, he logged 163 1/3 innings as he climbed from Single-A to Double-A. He posted a 3.09 earned run average with a 28.3% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. Going into 2025, Baseball America ranked him the #13 prospect in the system while FanGraphs had him at #14.
The effectiveness of his diverse arsenal seemed to wane as he reached more polished hitters. He tossed 135 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year with a 4.59 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate. This year, he has a 6.26 ERA through 11 appearances with a big 30.8% strikeout rate but a worrisome 14.6% walk rate. BA now lists him 28th in the system while FG recently placed him 42nd.
The Orioles have a rotation consisting of Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, Brandon Young and Trevor Rogers. Perhaps Weston is coming up to take on the long relief role that Suárez was in previously, as the O’s kick off a four-game series hosting the Blue Jays. Bassitt is taking the ball tonight but is having a rough year, with a 5.51 ERA so far. Rogers takes his 6.96 ERA to the mound on Friday. Young goes on Saturday and has a solid 3.47 ERA on the year but in a small sample of seven starts. In his 19 career starts, he has a 5.17 ERA.
If the O’s get into trouble at any point in the coming days, perhaps Weston could eat some innings for them, sparing the other relievers. Since this is his first call-up, he has a full slate of options and could be easily sent back to Norfolk if the O’s need a fresh arm again in the future.
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Jared Jones To Start For Pirates On Friday
Pirates manager Don Kelly told members of the media, including Jason Mackey of MLB.com, that right-hander Jared Jones will start for the Pirates on Friday. Carmen Mlodzinski will move to the bullpen. Jones is on the 60-day injured list, so the Bucs will have to add him to both the 40-man and active rosters.
Jones will be making his first big league start since the 2024 season. He experienced some elbow discomfort during spring training in 2025. He didn’t initially require surgery but ultimately went under the knife on May 21st, requiring an internal brace procedure. The Bucs announced his return timeline as 10 to 12 months and he will now rejoin the club after an absence just a bit longer than the initial window.
Prior to that injury absence, Jones put together an exciting debut season. Paul Skenes got a lot of the attention in 2024 but Jones was also putting up good numbers as a rookie, just not to the same degree. Jones made 22 starts that year and logged 121 2/3 innings with a 4.14 earned run average, 26.2% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He has made five rehab starts this year with a 2.89 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate.
While Jones has been gone, other young arms have stepped in, with Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler debuting in 2025. Ashcraft has an excellent 2.73 ERA through his first 138 1/3 innings. Chandler hasn’t been as effective but his 4.54 ERA through 83 1/3 innings is serviceable.
If Jones can pick up where he left off, it’s an exciting rotation core. Skenes and Jones are under club control through 2029. Ashcraft and Chandler are controlled for another two years after that. Mitch Keller is signed through 2028. Prospects like Hunter Barco, Thomas Harrington and Antwone Kelly are lurking in the upper minors. Seth Hernandez, the club’s first-round pick in last year’s draft, isn’t even 20 years old yet but he just got promoted to High-A and could be a fast riser.
The long-term rotation picture seemed to motivate the Pirates to add more offense this winter. They felt good enough about the depth to send out Mike Burrows and Johan Oviedo, bringing back Jhostynxon García, Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and a couple of other pitchers. They also signed free agents Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna.
So far, the team is hanging in a tough National League playoff race. All five clubs in the Central are above .500, leaving the Bucs technically in last place despite a solid 29-27 record, but they are just one game back of a playoff spot at the moment. Jones will jump into the rotation next to Skenes, Ashcraft, Keller and Chandler, hopefully strengthening the staff for the coming months and into future seasons.
Mlodzinski has been holding down a rotation spot in the meantime. He has made 11 appearances this year, only nine of which were officially starts, but the other two were effectively starts behind an opener. Overall, he has 55 innings on the year with a solid 3.76 ERA. His 19.3% strikeout rate is subpar but his 8.4% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate are both a bit better than average.
He also has plenty of relief experience, so he should be able to return to that role fairly easily. Officially, he has a 4.40 ERA as a starter and a 2.63 ERA as a reliever in his career, though that split is thrown off a bit since he has occasionally worked as an opener and as a bulk guy behind an opener.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images