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Astros Considering Time In Center Field For Cam Smith

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The Astros are considering some time in center field for Cam Smith, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome points out that nothing is imminent and that the club isn’t planning on making Smith an everyday center fielder. It’s more about adding some extra versatility, giving the club the ability to perhaps put someone like Zach Dezenzo in right from time to time.

The club has already been aggressive with Smith. A third base prospect, the Astros moved him to right field during spring training since they have Isaac Paredes at the hot corner. Smith performed well enough to crack the Opening Day roster as the everyday right fielder, despite having almost no experience there. He was also just short on professional experience in general. He was only just drafted by the Cubs last summer before getting into 32 minor league games in the second half of 2024. Only five of those were at the Double-A level and none at Triple-A. He and Paredes both came to the Astros in the offseason trade that sent Kyle Tucker to the Cubs.

All things considered, Smith has taken well to all the aggression. He has a .226/.304/.403 line to start his big league career. His 29% strikeout rate is on the high side but he has three home runs, helping him to a 109 wRC+. It’s hard to read much into a small sample of glovework but both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average consider Smith to be above par in the field so far.

The Astros are clearly happy with the results and feel confident enough in his abilities that they are given him yet another test. Per Rome, they have started getting him some center field reps in pre-game workouts. “When you break down what makes a good center fielder, you’re going to see reactions, routes, speed and an arm. So far, he’s shown the ability to do all those things,” outfield coach Jason Bell tells Rome. “I know it’s early, but from the early signs, you can see the chance that he would have to do that if that was a possibility.”

Rome mentions that this could be a way to add some extra offense on occasion. Houston’s regular center fielder is Jake Meyers, who is a strong defender but has a career batting line of .230/.293/.368 in 1,250 plate appearances, which translates to an 87 wRC+.

Occasionally moving Smith over to center would allow the Astros to bench Meyers and get a different bat into the lineup. Rome mentions Dezenzo as one such possibility. He has mostly played first base in the big leagues but has also seen some brief time at second, third and in the outfield corners. His .238/.282/.363 batting line isn’t better than Meyers’ but he’s only received 85 big league plate appearances. Over 2023 and 2024, he stepped to the plate 636 times in the minors with a .303/.384/.517 line and 139 wRC+.

Getting Dezenzo into the outfield for Meyers could perhaps add a bit more offense but would be a notable gamble defensively. The club is using former second baseman Jose Altuve in left field, so an outfield alignment of Altuve/Smith/Dezenzo would effectively involve three converted infielders. Meyers, on the other hand, has tallied 22 Defensive Runs Saved and 38 Outs Above Average in his career. Having two of those infielders out there with an excellent defender like Meyers is already a bit of a gamble but this new consideration would be pushing that even farther.

It’s a plan that is all still experimental and Rome notes it’s entirely possible Smith never plays in center, but it’s notable that the club is tinkering as guys like Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz and Yordan Alvarez are all scuffling at the plate.

Angels Designate Ian Anderson For Assignment

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The Angels announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. and recalled righty Víctor Mederos. In corresponding moves. they optioned righty Michael Darrell-Hicks and designated righty Ian Anderson for assignment.

Anderson was just acquired from Atlanta prior to Opening Day. It was a one-for-one swap with lefty José Suarez going the other way. It seems neither club was particularly committed to the player it acquired. Suarez was designated for assignment by Atlanta on Monday and now the Angels have followed suit with Anderson just two days later.

The results from Anderson have not been good so far this year. A starter for most of his career, the Halos kept him in relief. He tossed 9 1/3 innings over seven appearances but he has allowed 12 earned runs in that time, with eight strikeouts and seven walks.

That performance has bumped him off the roster. Since he’s out of options, the Angels had to remove him from the 40-man roster entirely. They will now have a week to determine what’s next for him. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Angels could take up to five days to explore trade interest.

If any club wants Anderson, it would be based on his results from a few years ago. Over 2020 and 2021, he tossed 160 2/3 innings with the club, posting a 3.25 earned run average in that time. His 10% walk rate was a tad high but he also punched out 24.5% of batters faced and got grounders on 49.9% of balls in play. He also made four postseason starts in each of those seasons, helping Atlanta win the World Series in the latter season.

But it’s been rough sledding since then. His ERA jumped to 5.00 in 2022 and then he required Tommy John surgery in April of 2023, shortly after he had been optioned to the minors. He spent the rest of 2023 recovering. He returned to the mound last year and logged 68 innings over 15 minor league starts. He had a 3.44 ERA in those with a 23.8% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 51.9% ground ball rate.

He exhausted his options during that time, which has led to his current roster bubble situation. Perhaps he can find some club that’s willing to give him a roster spot and some time to get back on track. He hasn’t been good for a few years but health was at least part of that. He’s a former third overall pick, top prospect and even has some past major league success. If he lands somewhere, he has less than three years of major league service, meaning he could be retained for three years beyond this one.

As for Edwards, he’s a veteran journeyman. He actually signed with a Mexican League club in early March but the Angels signed him a couple of weeks later. He has tossed 11 2/3 innings over seven appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake with a 1.54 ERA. His major league career goes back a decade, with a 3.54 ERA in 280 innings, but it’s been almost two years since he was a regular. His 2023 season was ended by a stress fracture in his shoulder and he only made one appearance in the majors last year.

Last night, starter José Soriano only lasted 3 1/3 innings, forcing the Angels to lean heavily on the bullpen. That included Anderson and Darrell-Hicks, who have been swapped out for two fresh arms.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro,Imagn Images

Dodgers Shut Down Blake Snell

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Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell likely won’t be returning to the club soon. Manager Dave Roberts told members of the media, including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, that the southpaw “didn’t feel great” after a recent catch session. He will be shut down and it’s possible he’ll be sent for more imaging. He’ll be re-examined when the club gets back to Los Angeles, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers are at Wrigley tonight, then have an off-day Thursday before starting a new homestand on Friday.

Snell started the season healthy but landed on the injured list after just two starts due to shoulder inflammation. An MRI at that time didn’t find any structural damage and the club was hopeful that he wouldn’t miss too much time. It’s now been three weeks since his last appearance and this latest shutdown figures to extend his timeline.

More information will likely be revealed in the coming days as the Dodgers conduct more tests but it’s obviously not encouraging for him to have any kind of setback or recurrence of discomfort. The Dodgers signed him to a five-year, $182MM deal in the offseason, though with some deferrals. He got that big payday on account of strong production on a rate basis. He has only twice pitched more than 130 innings in a season, with both of those seasons resulting in Cy Young awards.

The Dodgers surely were aware that they might have a few IL stints from Snell over the course of his contract, based on past precedent. In other seasons, he has managed to post decent results around his injuries. That was the case last year. He followed up his 2023 Cy Young season with an uneven campaign in 2024. He went on the IL a couple of times due to groin issues and had a 9.51 ERA at the end of June, but then dominated the rest of the way with a 1.23 ERA in the final three months.

That was an extreme example of a general trend in Snell’s career, as he has almost always been a slow starter and strong finisher. For his career, he has a 3.92 first half ERA but a 2.39 ERA in the second half. Time will tell if this is a significant ailment or just another instalment of Snell’s typical magic. The Dodgers surely care more about Snell’s ability to contribute in October, so it makes sense to be cautious with anything at this time of year.

Snell is one of a number of Dodger starters on the injured list. Each of Emmet Sheehan, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan and Gavin Stone are out after undergoing major arm surgeries last year. Clayton Kershaw underwent knee and foot surgery and is still working his way back. Tony Gonsolin suffered a back injury during spring training.

Right now, the healthy rotation consists of Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. Gonsolin and Kershaw are both currently on rehab assignments and could return in the coming weeks, though it’s a bit short-handed for now, especially with the club keeping Yamamoto and Sasaki on weekly pitching schedules. Ben Casparius is starting a bullpen game tonight after the Dodgers used six relievers in last night’s extra-innings loss.

Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Mariners Select Casey Lawrence

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Casey Lawrence. Fellow righty Sauryn Lao was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma in a corresponding active roster move. To get Lawrence onto the 40-man, outfielder Víctor Robles was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Robles suffered a left shoulder dislocation a couple of weeks ago and isn’t expected back for several months.

Lawrence and the Mariners seem to have an arrangement that is working for both of them. The season is only a few weeks old but this is already the third time he has been selected to the roster. He signed a minor league deal with the M’s in the winter and was called up to the majors on April 9th. A few days later, he was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and elected free agency. He returned on a fresh minor league deal and was back on the roster by April 18th. Once again, he was quickly DFA’d and cleared waivers but is now back on the roster a third time.

Around those transactions, he has served as a multi-inning reliever for the club. He has logged five innings across three appearances thus far, having allowed two earned runs. By continually shuffling him on and off the roster, the Mariners can keep fresh arms moving in and out of the bullpen.

Lawrence is out of options, which necessitates him continually being removed from the 40-man. He has the right to elect free agency as a player with a previous career outright but seems content to circling back to the Mariners each time. From his perspective, he gets to add a bit of major league pay and service time, not a bad outcome for a 37-year-old journeyman.

Emerson Hancock, the least established member of the Seattle rotation, takes the ball tonight for the M’s at Fenway Park. If he gets into trouble, Lawrence will likely be called upon to sop up some innings and save the rest of the bullpen before tomorrow’s day game.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images

Rangers Getting Josh Smith Reps In Center Field

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The Rangers played utility guy Josh Smith in center field last night, something that Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News spoke to manager Bruce Bochy about. Smith had played a bit of center field in the minors but this was his first appearance there in the big leagues.

The decision speaks to a couple of things, one of which is just that the club wanted to get Smith in there somewhere. “He’s swinging the bat so well,” Bochy said. “I’ve got to find a place for him in the lineup.” Smith currently sports a monster line of .367/.456/.571 on the season. He won’t be able to keep a .485 batting average on balls in play going forever but he’s drawing walks at a 14% clip and his hard hit rate on pace to jump for a third straight year.

Given that performance, it’s understandable that Bochy wants to ride the hot hand, but Smith’s regular spots are taken. The Rangers have Jake Burger, Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Josh Jung around the infield. Joc Pederson is the designated hitter while Wyatt Langford and Adolis García are in the outfield corners. Not everyone in that group is performing well but the struggling ones are established big league bats and should bounce back.

Center field is a bit more open, however. Leody Taveras has seen most of the playing time there in recent seasons but with diminishing returns. He managed to hit .266/.312/.421 for a league average 100 wRC+ in 2023. When combined with his speed and defense, that made him a useful player. But he dropped down to a .229/.289/.352 line and 82 wRC+ last year. It’s even worse so far in 2025, as he currently sports a dismal .197/.210/.246 line. He is striking out at a 27.4% pace so far and only drawing walks 1.6% of the time.

Time will tell if it’s a brief experiment or if Smith says in there longer, which will presumably depend on many factors. An injury for anyone else on the diamond might lead to Smith being moved elsewhere. Dustin Harris and Kevin Pillar have also been performing well in part-time roles. If Smith’s results taper off or Taveras improves, perhaps the calculus will change.

There’s also the Evan Carter factor. He once seemed like a potential long-term solution in center, as he came up late in 2023 and hit the ground running, playing a key role in the club’s title run that year. But he was injured for most of last year and the Rangers optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock to start this year, where he’s currently hitting .167/.352/.262.

General manager Ross Fenstermaker tells McFarland that the club is “pretty encouraged” by Carter’s progress as he works on managing his autoimmune back issue and making a swing adjustment. “We’re confident that he’s going to find his footing here and get going,” Fenstermaker said. “When that time comes that he’s the best option to help this club, he’ll be up here.”

Carter may be a factor down the line but his Triple-A numbers don’t suggest he’s likely to be called upon soon. That situation and the recent struggles of Taveras have opened a spot for Smith, which has expanded his versatility. He has now played every position on the diamond outside of the battery. His glovework in the outfield corners has been around league average thus far, but center field will be a bit more of a test for him defensively.

Photo courtesy of Ed Szczepanski, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Release Grae Kessinger

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The Diamondbacks have released infielder Grae Kessinger, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was already off the 40-man roster, having been designated for assignment by the Snakes on Saturday.

It’s a bit surprising to see Kessinger released, as most DFA’d players are either traded or placed on outright waivers. An injured player can’t be placed on outright waivers, so a release is sometimes an indication that a player is hurt, though there’s been no reporting to suggest that’s the case with Kessinger. Another possibility is that he has been released to pursue an opportunity overseas, though that’s entirely speculative.

Kessinger, 27, has spent most of his career with the Astros. That club drafted him and gave him a chance to make his major league debut. But he was designated for assignment in December and flipped to the Diamondbacks in a small trade, sending minor league pitcher Matthew Linskey the other way. Kessinger never appeared in a game for Arizona, as he was optioned to Triple-A Reno prior to Opening Day.

His big league experience consists of just 70 plate appearances with the Astros, with a .131/.243/.213 line in those. His minor league work has naturally been greater in quality and quantity. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has slashed .268/.370/.400 on the farm for a 105 wRC+, thanks in large part to a strong 13.6% walk rate. He did that while playing all four infield spots, providing a good amount of defensive versatility. With Reno this year before being designated for assignment, he had a 27.7% walk rate, .235/.447/.324 batting line and 113 wRC+.

Martín Pérez To Miss Majority Of 2025 Season

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5:25pm: Perez has been diagnosed with a flexor strain, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

3:15pm: White Sox left-hander Martín Pérez is on the injured list with inflammation in his throwing elbow and it doesn’t appear he will be coming back soon. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that the southpaw won’t require Tommy John surgery but his season is effectively done regardless, though he could be throwing again in September.

The lefty departed Friday’s game after just three innings and the Sox placed him on the 15-day IL the next day. The club didn’t provide any updates about how long they expected him to be out of action, but they quickly moved him to the 60-day IL yesterday when they added Bobby Dalbec to the roster. That at least indicated they didn’t expect him back within a couple of months, but it now seems he’ll be out longer than that and may not return this year at all.

That’s obviously unfortunate for both Pérez and the Sox. The two sides agreed to a one-year, $5MM pact in the offseason. With the Sox having lost 121 games last year, the plan was presumably to have Pérez act as a stabilizing veteran presence in the rotation for at least a few months. If he pitched well into July, he would have been traded to a contender for prospects, giving him a chance to potentially play meaningful games while the Sox would add young talent to help in their rebuild.

That’s all off the table now. Pérez made just four starts before landing on the shelf and it’s possible he won’t get a chance to add to that. Even if he does make it back in September, that would only give him a chance to make a start or two. In that scenario, the Sox might prefer to give the ball to young pitchers they are hoping to evaluate before the winter sets in.

For now, the rotation on the South Side consists of Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin and Shane Smith. A fifth starter will be needed at some point to replace Pérez. Jairo Iriarte, Nick Nastrini and Owen White are each on the 40-man and pitching in Triple-A so far this year. Justin Dunn is a non-roster depth arm with big league experience, also in Triple-A at the moment. Some pitchers recently designated for assignment by other clubs include Triston McKenzie and Yoendrys Gómez and Michael Fulmer.

Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images

Tigers Promote Chase Lee For MLB Debut

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The Tigers announced that right-hander Chase Lee has been recalled to the major league roster. He was already on the 40-man but is still looking for his major league debut. Righty Keider Montero was optioned as the corresponding move.

Lee, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Rangers in 2021. He was flipped to the Tigers as part of the deal sending lefty Andrew Chafin to Texas in July of last year. The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

He isn’t a power arm but throws hitters off with his sidewinding delivery, which allows him to succeed even though his fastball tops out around 90 miles per hour. Overall, he has 182 minor league innings on his track record thus far with a 3.86 earned run average. He has struck out 31.4% of opponents while issuing walks at a reasonable 8.1% clip and getting grounders on roughly half the balls in play he’s allowed.

The Tigers had recently recalled Montero to make a couple of spot starts, thus giving the other members of their rotation a breather. Brenan Hanifee had been optioned out, leaving the club with a slightly shorter bullpen for a few days. (Hanifee was later recalled when Beau Brieske landed on the IL.) Lee’s recall will get things back to the standard five/eight ratio of starters to relievers.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Yankees Select Tyler Matzek, Designate Yoendrys Gómez For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they have selected left-hander Tyler Matzek to their roster. Right-hander Yoendrys Gómez has been designated for assignment to open space on the active and 40-man rosters.

Gómez, 25, was once a notable prospect for the Yankees. However, he came into 2025 out of options and with limited experience. Even though the Yankee rotation has lost Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman and JT Brubaker to the injured list, Gómez never seemed to get much consideration for a rotation spot.

Instead, he’s been kept in a long relief role, having tossed ten innings across six appearances this year. That includes three innings last night after Clarke Schmidt only lasted four frames against the Guardians. Gómez was likely going to be unavailable for a few days after that and the Yanks have another long relief option on hand in Ryan Yarbrough, so Gómez has been bumped off the roster and into DFA limbo.

The righty now has a 3.09 earned run average in a small sample of 23 1/3 major league innings in his career. He could perhaps garner interest from other clubs based on his past prospect pedigree and work in the minors. Years ago, he put up some good numbers in rookie ball and A-ball, leading Baseball America to have him as the club’s #12 prospect in 2020 and #8 in 2021. Tommy John surgery in 2021 reduced his workload for a while. In 2023 and 2024, around occasional major league call-ups, he tossed 148 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.63 earned run average. His 12.3% walk rate in that time was high but he also struck out 27.7% of batters faced.

Since Gómez is out of options, any acquiring club would have to keep him on the active roster. If he does find a landing spot and succeeds, there would be long-term benefits for that team. Gómez has just a handful of service days, meaning he can be cheaply retained for years to come. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Yanks will have as much as five days to explore trade interest.

His departure makes room for the veteran Matzek. Now 34 years old, he has a strong track record but is a few years removed from his best work. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2022 while with Atlanta and then missed the entire 2023 season. He returned to the mound last year but posted a 9.90 ERA in ten outings before landing on the IL in early May due to elbow inflammation. He was traded to the Giants as part of the Jorge Soler deal but was released and ended up back with Atlanta on a minor league pact to finish out the year.

He had a strong run prior to that. From 2020 to 2022, he posted a 2.92 ERA in 135 2/3 innings. His 13.4% walk rate in that time was certainly on the high side but he punched out 27.4% of batters faced. The Yanks gave him a shot to bounceback by signing him to a minor league deal this winter. He suffered an oblique strain during spring and therefore didn’t have a chance to crack the Opening Day roster. He recently returned to the mound and has thrown 5 2/3 minor league innings with two earned runs allowed, issuing two walks and punching out seven opponents.

The Yanks have Yarbrough and Tim Hill as lefties in their bullpen but Yarbrough is a long man while Hill is a soft tossing ground ball guy. Matzek will give manager Aaron Boone more of a swing-and-miss option from the left side.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Guardians Select Will Wilson

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The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Will Wilson. He will take the active roster spot of outfielder Lane Thomas, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a bone bruise in his right wrist, retroactive to April 20. To open a 40-man spot for Wilson, right-hander Trevor Stephan has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Thomas has been dealing with the wrist issue for a quite a while, as he was hit by a pitch in that area back on April 8th (video from MLB.com). He wasn’t immediately placed on the IL but didn’t play again for about a week, as he entered the April 15th contest as a pinch hitter. He then started the April 16-18 contests and entered the game on April 19th as a pinch hitter again, but hasn’t appeared in the club’s past two games.

The fact that he wasn’t immediately placed on the IL suggests it’s not a major injury but it’s possible it has been contributing to his awful season, as he currently sports a line of .156/.188/.178 on the year. It seems a decision has been made to let him heal up for a week or so, as opposed to continuing to play through it with poor results.

That will allow Wilson to get to the majors for the first time, which has been a winding road. He was a first round pick of the Angels in 2019, getting selected 15th overall and signing a $3.4MM bonus. Just a few months later, in December of 2019, he was flipped to the Giants in what was essentially a salary dump deal. The Giants took on infielder Zack Cozart, who was owed $12.67MM for the 2020 season, in order to acquire Wilson. The Angels received a player to be named later, whom was later named as left-hander Garrett Williams, and then quickly signed Anthony Rendon to a seven-year $245MM deal to replace Cozart at third base.

The Giants released Cozart a month later, clearly signaling that they only took on his deal as a means of acquiring Wilson, but that didn’t work out for them. Wilson stalled out in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Over 2023 and 2024, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A but hit just .222/.297/.346 for a wRC+ of 76. His stock had fallen enough that the Giants left him unprotected in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December, when the Guardians snatched him up.

He’s out to a strong start with his new club, as he has slashed .324/.418/.647 in 18 Triple-A games thus far. Part of that is a .340 batting average on balls in play but he’s also drawing walks at a 12.7% clip and only striking out at a 19% pace. He’s done that while playing mostly third base but also some shortstop and second base.

He won’t directly replace Thomas, who was previously the club’s center fielder, but he will give the club an extra body as they move some versatile pieces around. Utility players like Ángel Martínez and Daniel Schneemann can help cover center while Wilson can perhaps take over as the resident depth infielder for now.

As for Stephan, he underwent Tommy John surgery in March of last year and started this year on the 15-day IL. His current status is unknown but it appears the Guards don’t expect him back before late May, based on this transfer.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Madar, Imagn Images.

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