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Diamondbacks Designate Tristin English For Assignment, Select Taylor Rashi

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected right-hander Taylor Rashi to the roster. In a corresponding active roster move, fellow righty Juan Morillo has been optioned to Triple-A Reno. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Tristin English has been designated for assignment.

Rashi, 29, gets called up to the big leagues for the first time in his career. He was originally a Giants draftee but the Snakes grabbed him in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. His first couple of seasons after switching organizations weren’t amazing. He spent most of 2023 on the injured list and only pitched 14 1/3 innings. Last year, he was healthy enough to throw 51 2/3 innings but with a 4.70 earned run average.

Here in 2025, the results have been intriguing. He has thrown 67 1/3 innings over 40 appearances for Triple-A Reno with a 3.48 ERA. Considering the Aces play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, that’s a nice number. His 10.3% walk rate this year is a bit high but his 24.7% strikeout rate and 49.4% ground ball rate are both a bit above average.

The Diamondbacks are focused on the future. They fell back in the standings and acted as sellers at the deadline. They can use the remainder of the season to see if Rashi can get outs in the big leagues and decide how much to plan on his contributions in 2026.

English, 28, was selected to the roster in July when Pavin Smith landed on the injured list. Since then, he’s been optioned to Reno and been recalled a few times. He’s only been put into seven big league games and produced a .091/.130/.136 line in his 23 plate appearances.

He has produced a much better .321/.367/.524 line in Triple-A this year, though that is undercut somewhat by a .348 batting average on balls in play and 5.8% walk rate. In the Pacific Coast League, that kind of production translates to a 110 wRC+, or 10% above average.

Evidently, the Diamondbacks didn’t feel he would be a meaningful part of their future, so he’s been bumped off the roster. With the trade deadline having passed, he’ll be placed on waivers. He still has a full slate of options and no service time. If there is a club out there intrigued by his minor league production, he could potentially be a cheap depth piece for the long term. Defensively, he’s capable of playing all four corner spots. If he clears waivers, he would stick with the Diamondbacks as a non-roster depth piece.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Brewers Place Trevor Megill On IL Due To Flexor Strain, Sign Erick Fedde

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3:45pm: Lefty Aaron Ashby will serve as the opener tonight with Fedde likely to follow in a bulk role, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Quinn Priester was previously schedule to start tonight. McCalvy adds that Priester has a “wrist thing” which doesn’t require an IL stint but the Brewers are bumping his next start to Saturday.

2:45pm: The Brewers announced that they have signed right-hander Erick Fedde, who was released by Atlanta earlier this week. He will take the active roster spot of righty Trevor Megill, who has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right flexor strain, retroactive to August 25th. Righty Logan Henderson has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Fedde.

Megill himself provided an update on his status to reporters, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He downplayed the severity and characterized the move as “taking a step back and getting right for the postseason.”

That’s a fairly positive outlook on the situation, all things considered. Regardless, it’s a notable development this late in the season. The Brewers are the best team in baseball and Megill is their closer. He notched 21 saves last year and has added another 30 this season. He has thrown 46 innings this year with a 2.54 earned run average, 30.7% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate.

The Brewers have a strong bullpen on the whole and that should still be the case without Megill. Abner Uribe has a 1.71 ERA this year and could step into the ninth inning role. Still, no club wants to lose its closer, especially this close to the postseason. Teams generally lean harder on their relievers in the playoffs, where the off-days allow the top arms to pitch in almost every game.

For now, his roster spot goes to Fedde. Perhaps that is to give the club a fresh arm capable of covering multiple innings out of the bullpen. Thanks to a doubleheader last week, the Brewers are in a stretch of playing 19 games in 18 days. After on off-day on September 2nd, they play another eight straight. Put together, that makes for 27 games in 27 days.

Fedde hasn’t been having a good year. Between St. Louis and Atlanta, he has thrown 125 innings with a 5.76 ERA, 13.6% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. That led the Cards to designate him for assignment in July. Atlanta picked him up in a cash deal but then released him a month later.

For the Brewers, he’s cheap and doesn’t require a commitment. The Cards are on the hook for the remainder of his salary, as they ate it in the deal which sent him to Atlanta. Milwaukee only has to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster.

There’s also theoretically a bit of upside, as Fedde was far better last year. He tossed 177 1/3 innings between the White Sox and Cardinals with a 3.30 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. The Brewers have a good reputation for getting the best out of pitchers and could perhaps get him back on track, though it’s also possible he does some mop up work and then gets quickly cut from the roster.

As for Henderson, he hit the 15-day IL in early August due to his own flexor strain. This move suggests the club doesn’t expect him back before early October. Perhaps he will be healthy for the playoffs but he probably didn’t have a shot at cracking the postseason roster. He’s had good results this year but has mostly been squeezed to the minors due to the other talented pitchers on the staff.

Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

Tigers Pull Alex Cobb Off Rehab Assignment

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Tigers right-hander Alex Cobb will be pulled off his rehab assignment and shut down for a week. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press spoke to manager A.J. Hinch about the situation. Hinch framed this as a way to restart Cobb’s rehab window. A rehab assignment for a pitcher comes with a 30-day maximum. Cobb began his rehab assignment July 29th and was coming to the end of his 30 days. A player can finish a rehab assignment and start a new one but, per MLB rules, must be shut down for seven days in between.

In essence, this is the Tigers kicking the can down the road on Cobb again. Detroit signed him to a one-year, $15MM deal in the offseason but he has yet to throw a pitch for the big league club, mostly due to issues in his hips. He had missed a decent chunk of 2024 recovering from left hip surgery, but then his right hip was inflamed in spring training 2025. The right hip issue put him on the injured list to start the year.

Since then, he’s been battling issues in both hips and struggling to get back on the mound. He started a rehab assignment in late May but that only lasted three appearances before he was shut down again. He started a new rehab assignment about a month ago but he seemingly struggled to pitch for more than about two innings at a time. Last week, the club decided to pivot Cobb to a relief role to see if that could help him get back to the majors. The soreness in his hips has continued.

The tricky part of the calculus is that the Tigers are playing meaningful baseball. They have a huge lead in the Central division but have a tighter fight for a bye through the first round of the playoffs. Just because Cobb is a respected veteran and earning a decent salary, doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed a role as the games become more important.

“I think the goal is to have as many productive players as we can and guys that can help us win,” Hinch said this week. “If that’s the case and it lines up, then great. We want him to be good. We want him to help us win. We want him to be a part of this because we think that the stuff has been pretty good throughout the summer. He just hasn’t been able to bounce back as much. It’s not just trying to be the good guy and try to give him a platform to pitch again. That’s not been the motivation. It’s because when he has flashed that stuff over the last handful of outings, it’s been pretty good. He hasn’t always been able to retain it, or hasn’t been able to bounce back, and that’s what we’re working towards. We’re going to go day by day. This isn’t something that we’re looking at over the course of weeks. We know how much of the season is left. We know what he has to accomplish to be one of the best 13 pitches that we have — or 14 when September rosters expand. We’re just going to continue to evaluate.”

In other news from Detroit, Hinch said this week that outfielder Parker Meadows will begin a rehab assignment shortly, per Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “He will have a schedule and we’re going to go day-to-day to see how much activity he has and how much he can handle,” Hinch said. “Which is good. We need him out there playing the field and we need him running around freely.”

Injuries have limited Meadows to just 38 games this season. A nerve issue in his right arm held him back during spring training and into the regular season. He was reinstated from the IL in early June but then a quad strain put him back on the shelf at the end of July. Those issues seemingly prevented him from getting in a groove. He hit just .200/.270/.296 in between those IL stints, a far cry from last year’s .244/.310/.433 line.

Meadows is a strong defender in the outfield, so he can be a useful player with a bit more offense than he’s shown this year. For now, the Tigers are using Riley Greene, Wenceel Pérez, Javier Báez, Jahmai Jones and Kerry Carpenter in the outfield. The return of Meadows could perhaps lead to Carpenter sticking as the designated hitter more often or more infield time for Baez.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Willson Contreras Issued Six-Game Suspension

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Major League Baseball has announced that Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras has received a six-game suspension and an undisclosed fine in relation to his behavior during last night’s game. Contreras is appealing the suspension, so he can continue playing with the club until that process has been completed.

Contreras got into an argument with the home plate umpire Derek Thomas during last night’s game, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. After getting ejected, Contreras was obviously furious and had to be held back by his fellow Cardinals. While departing the field, he tossed his bat in the general direction of the umpire, though it hit hitting coach Brant Brown instead.

It’s not surprising that Contreras has been suspended, nor is it a shock that he is appealing. It’s quite common for players to appeal when given a suspension. The calendar also gives him a few reasons to want to avoid serving the penalty right away. For one thing, the Cards are still hanging around the playoff race, just 5.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. Appealing the suspension allows him to keep playing as the club tries to stay alive.

Also, rosters expand on September 1st, from 26 to 28. That’s notable in this instance as a team has to play shorthanded when a player is suspended for an on-field infraction such as this. If the suspension were to be served now, the Cards would have to play with a 25-man roster. If it is served in September, then they could play with 27 guys.

The Cards are using Iván Herrera as the designated hitter almost every day, with Contreras at first most of the time. That means Alec Burleson is often in left field, where he’s not a great defender. Whenever Contreras serves his suspension, Burleson could spend more time at first base, which could open more outfield playing time for Nathan Church, José Fermín or Garrett Hampson. It’s also possible that Victor Scott II could be reinstated from the IL when roster expand.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Athletics Select Mason Barnett

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The Athletics announced that left-hander Jacob Lopez has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his left elbow, a move that was reported yesterday. Right-hander Mason Barnett has been selected in a corresponding move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy due to Luis Urías being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Barnett, 24, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. A third-round pick of the Royals in 2022, he was one of three players who came to the A’s as part of last year’s deadline deal which sent Lucas Erceg to Kansas City.

The A’s have given Barnett his first taste of the Triple-A level this year, though the results haven’t been amazing. He has tossed 119 innings over 23 starts and two long relief appearances with a 6.13 earned run average. Part of that might be the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, as his 15.6% home run to fly ball rate is far higher than any other stop in his career. His 22.8% strikeout rate is close to average, though his 11.9% walk rate is a few ticks north of par.

Despite the uninspiring numbers, Baseball America still lists him as the #9 prospect in the system while MLB Pipeline has him in the #11 slot. Both outlets give him a shot at becoming a mid-rotation starter at some point, highlighting his pitch mix. His four-seamer sits in the mid-90s and he also throws a sweeper, curveball and changeup. He was going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and would need a 40-man spot to be protected, so the A’s are giving it to him now.

It’s unclear if the A’s plan on dropping Barnett right into the rotation or perhaps having him begin his career in a long relief role. The Lopez injury does open up a rotation job but the club is off on Thursday and doesn’t play more than six games in a row for the rest of the season. They could run with a four-man rotation of Jeffrey Springs, J.T. Ginn, Osvaldo Bido and Luis Morales along with occasional bullpen games. Guys like Barnett, Joey Estes and Eduarniel Núñez could take on bulk roles. The A’s could also recall arms such as Ken Waldichuk or Mitch Spence with rosters expanding in September.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Astros Reinstate Yordan Alvarez From Injured List

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Air Yordan is back. The Astros announced today that outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. They had an open 40-man roster spot due to right-hander Shawn Dubin getting designated for assignment earlier this week. The Astros optioned infielder Brice Matthews to Triple-A to open an active roster spot.

The return of Alvarez is potentially a huge boost for the Astros down the stretch, as he is one of the most potent hitters in baseball when he’s at his best. He came into this year with 164 home runs and a .298/.390/.583 slash line, which translates to a 166 wRC+.

He has not been that guy in 2025. He hit .210/.306/.340 through 121 plate appearances before landing on the 15-day IL in early May. The club listed his injury as right hand inflammation. Later that month, it was thought that he was nearing a return but then the club found a fracture in the ring finger of that right hand.

Setbacks with that hand issue prevented him from starting a rehab assignment until a few days ago. He recently played in four Double-A games, stepping to the plate 17 times with no home runs but a huge .467/.529/.733 slash line.

That rehab performance is obviously encouraging but Alvarez will likely remain something of a wild card until he gets back on track at the big league level. Getting peak Alvarez back would obviously be tremendous for the Astros but it’s unclear if that’s possible. Houston is trying to hold off Seattle in the West, currently holding to a lead of 1.5 games, and will obviously welcome all the help it can get.

He is in tonight’s lineup and playing left field, alongside center fielder Jacob Melton and right fielder Jesús Sánchez. Lately, Jose Altuve has been seeing a lot of time in the designated hitter slot and is in there again tonight. It’s possible that guys like Cam Smith, Chas McCormick and Mauricio Dubón see a bit less playing time now. Dubon can also play second and is at the keystone tonight, though Ramón Urías is also a factor there, as well as Altuve.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

Orioles Claim Shawn Dubin, Designate Matt Bowman For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that they have claimed right-hander Shawn Dubin off waivers. The Astros designated him for assignment earlier this week. The O’s also announced that righty Kyle Bradish has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move which was previously reported. To open 40-man spots for those two, the O’s transferred righty Scott Blewett to the 60-day injured list and designated righty Matt Bowman for assignment. Bowman’s DFA opens an active roster spot for Bradish. Dubin is out of options and will also need an active roster spot once he reports to the club.

Dubin, 29, isn’t having his best season but has shown promise in the past. He came into the year with 54 1/3 big league innings and a 4.64 earned run average. His 11.6% walk rate was a bit high but he had struck out 24.1% of batters faced and kept balls in play on the ground at a 45.5% clip.

Here in 2025, he has spent time on the IL due to shoulder inflammation and a forearm strain. Around those IL stints, he tossed 25 2/3 innings for the Astros with a 5.61 ERA. His 46.9% ground ball rate was still good and he dropped his walk rate to 7.2% but his strikeout rate also fell to 18.9%. Since he is out of options, he got nudged off Houston’s roster and onto the waiver wire.

He’s a sensible flier for the O’s. They are playing out the string on a lost season. Their bullpen has been stripped down a lot this year. They traded Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Andrew Kittredge ahead of the deadline. Closer Félix Bautista recently underwent shoulder surgery and will be out of action well into 2026. That gives them a lot of roles to fill on the 2026 team.

They can use the remainder of this season to take chances on guys like Dubin to see what happens. He is out of options but could be a long-term piece if he bounces back. His service time is between one and two years, meaning he could be controlled for five seasons beyond this one if he continues to hold onto a roster spot. It’s also possible the O’s try to run him through waivers in the future in order to keep him as a non-roster depth piece.

As for Blewett, he was acquired from Atlanta in a June cash deal. He was placed on the 15-day IL July 13th due to elbow discomfort. This transfer is backdated to that initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in a couple of weeks. That gives him a window to pitch again this season but it’s unclear if that’s possible from a health perspective.

This was Bowman’s fourth stint of the season with the Orioles. He appeared in one game, pitching 1 1/3 innings but allowing a pair of runs. That ballooned his season-long earned run average to an ugly 6.20. Bowman has been solid in Triple-A Norfolk, tossing 26 1/3 innings for the Tides and posting a 4.10 ERA. He’s set down 21.8% of his opponents there on strikes and notched a 5.5% walk rate.

Bowman will be placed on outright waivers or release waivers within the next few days. He’s cleared waivers at multiple points this season and accepted an outright assignment to Norfolk each time, so it seems there’s a strong chance the O’s will hang onto him as a depth arm for the final month or so of the regular season.

Blue Jays Sign Ryan Borucki To Minor League Deal

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The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays, announced that left-hander Ryan Borucki will be active for the club tonight. That suggests that the Jays and Borucki have signed a minor league deal. The southpaw was released by the Pirates last week.

Borucki, now 31, started his career with the Blue Jays. He showed some potential as a rookie starter but some injuries and control issues eventually pushed him to the bullpen. He has since bounced to the rosters of the Mariners, Cubs and Pirates in recent years.

He has occasionally had some success as a big league reliever, with 2023 standing out as a highlight. He gave the Bucs 40 1/3 innings that year with a 2.45 earned run average. His 21.7% strikeout rate was around average but his 46.8% ground ball rate was pretty good and he had an absurdly low 2.6% walk rate.

He hasn’t been quite as impressive since then. He missed most of last year due to left triceps inflammation. He was only able to toss 11 innings with a 7.36 ERA. That was a tiny sample and he still posted solid underlying numbers, including a 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate.

The Pirates re-signed him to a minor league deal with a $1.15MM base salary if he made the major league club. He cracked the Opening Day roster but his results this year have been a bit uninspiring, at least at the surface level. He gave Pittsburgh 30 2/3 innings with a 5.28 ERA. The numbers under the hood were  more encouraging. His 21.4% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate were both near average while his 55% ground ball rate was quite strong. An unfortunate 56.9% strand rate seems to have put some extra runs on his ledger, which is why his 4.32 FIP and 3.81 SIERA look a bit better.

Regardless, the Pirates decided to move on a little over a week ago and no club claimed his salary off waivers. That makes him a sensible depth add for the Jays. The Pirates are on the hook for the majority of what remains of his salary. If the Jays call him up at any point, they would only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for however long he has a roster spot.

The Jays have Brendon Little as their primary lefty out of the bullpen. Behind him, they have had guys like Mason Fluharty and Justin Bruihl moving on and off the roster. Fluharty has had a bigger role for the year overall but he’s currently on optional assignment while Bruihl is currently on the active roster.  Borucki gives the Jays another arm at Triple-A alongside Fluharty, one who doesn’t require an immediate roster spot. By signing this deal before September 1st, Borucki is eligible for Toronto’s postseason roster.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

José Ureña Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander José Ureña has cleared waivers and elected free agency, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Twins a few days ago when they recalled Mick Abel.

Ureña, 33, is a well-known commodity at this point in his career. He throws hard but doesn’t get a ton of strikeouts. He will keep the ball both in the strike zone and on the ground at a decent clip. The results won’t be astounding but he can take the ball and eat some innings. He hasn’t had a stint on the injured list longer than a couple of weeks since 2021.

A team usually grabs him when they need a fresh arm, either because they are facing a few injuries or a tough part of the schedule, but it’s rare for him to stick with one club for long. As a veteran with years of experience, he has the right to reject outright assignments and elect free agency, a right he is clearly willing to exercise. From the start of 2022 to the present, he has leaned into journeyman mode, pitching for the Brewers, Rockies, White Sox, Rangers, Mets, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Twins. Those last four clubs were all this year.

From 2019 to the present, he has logged 495 1/3 innings with a 5.09 earned run average. His 14.9% strikeout rate in that span is well below average but his 9.1% walk rate is right around par. His ground ball rate is down to 31.7% here in 2025 but he usually has that figure around 50%.

Teams won’t be super excited by Ureña but he should land somewhere. The fact that he cleared waivers likely suggests he’ll be limited to minor league offers. Teams always want depth, especially in this age of frequent pitching injuries. With the trade deadline having passed, it’s harder to find external additions.

Photo courtesy of Matt Krohn, Imagn Images

Athletics Designate Luis Urías For Assignment

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The Athletics announced today that second baseman Zack Gelof has been recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. Fellow infielder Luis Urías has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Urías, 28, signed with the A’s in the offseason. The one-year deal guaranteed him $1.1MM, with some bonuses based on plate appearances also in the deal. There was a time where it looked like that deal was going to work out quite well for the A’s. Urías hit .245/.345/.490 through the end of April, with that line translating to a 127 wRC+. In May, his production dropped a bit but was still passable. He still had a decent .244/.333/.407 line and 105 wRC+ by the start of June.

Unfortunately, things have soured from there. Since the end of May, Urías has a .217/.298/.276 line and 63 wRC+ in 171 plate appearances. With Urías an impending free agent and the A’s out of contention, he was a logical trade candidate. However, that dip in performance presumably tanked his trade value, as the A’s didn’t end up flipping him anywhere. A stint on the injured list in July for a right hamstring strain presumably didn’t help.

As Urías has been slumping, Gelof has been getting back on track in Triple-A. His 2025 season was initially thrown off course by injuries. He started the season on the IL due to hamate surgery. While trying to work his way back from that, he suffered a stress reaction in his ribs. He was reinstated from the IL in July but then hit .080/.143/.080 in eight games, at which point the A’s optioned him down to Vegas.

Since getting optioned, he has stepped to the plate 155 times for the Aviators. He has hit 11 home runs and drawn a walk in 11.6% of his plate appearances. His 27.7% strikeout rate is still high but something of an improvement for him. He has a 32.3% strikeout rate in his big league career. Even in Triple-A from 2022 to 2024, his 28.1% strikeout rate was a bit higher than what he’s done lately.

The A’s are 10.5 games back of a playoff spot, so they are in a spot where it makes sense to prioritize the future over the present. Urías was a few weeks away from returning to free agency, so he doesn’t do anything for them down the line. Gelof, on the other hand, could still be a part of the club’s future. He has just over two years of big league service time, meaning he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration. He can be retained for four more years after this one. He will also still has two more option years after 2025, so future optional assignments could even extend the club’s window of control.

For now, it makes sense to give the second base job to Gelof. He has shown some good pop in his time, with 31 home runs in 875 big league plate appearances. He’ll need to cut down on the strikeouts but regular playing time could help with that. The A’s can give him the final few weeks of the season to see how he handles it. His performance in that stretch could determine if they look for external additions in the offseason or plan on Gelof being their second baseman in 2026.

Since the trade deadline has passed, Urías will be available on waivers in the coming days. There’s still about $200K left on his deal and he hasn’t been playing well lately, so it’s unlikely any club would claim him. If he if passed through waivers unclaimed, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. The A’s might skip that formality and simply release him.

Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images

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