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Brewers Designate Drew Avans For Assignment

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The Brewers announced a trio of roster moves, including the news that outfielder Drew Avans has been designated for assignment.  The DFA opens up a 40-man roster spot for Blake Perkins, who was returned from his minor league rehab assignment and optioned to Triple-A Nashville, after spending the entire season on the injured list.  Right-hander Easton McGee was also optioned to Triple-A.

It was a little over a month ago that the Athletics designated Avans, which led to the Brewers obtaining the outfielder via waiver claim.  Avans made his Major League debut in the form of seven games with the A’s this season, and his time in the Brewers organization has mostly been spent in Nashville, apart from a lone appearance on Milwaukee’s active roster back on June 15.  Over 18 plate appearances at the big league level, Avans has two singles and only a .229 OPS.

The 29-year-old Avans has posted much more solid numbers during a minor league career that began when the Dodgers took him in the 33rd round of the 2018 draft.  Avans had played only in the L.A. farm system before joining the A’s on a minors deal this past offseason, and he has a .275/.374/.408 slash line, 37 home runs, and 145 stolen bases over 2328 career PA at the Triple-A level.

Between his speed, decent hitting numbers, and an ability to play all three outfield positions, Avans could very well get claimed again by another club in need of outfield depth.  If he clears waivers, he isn’t eligible to elect free agency, so the Brewers could either release Avans or just outright him off the 40-man roster and send him to Triple-A Nashville.

Perkins fouled a ball off himself during a Spring Training batting practice session back in February, resulting in a shin fracture that has cost the outfielder the entire 2025 campaign.  He started his minor league rehab assignment on June 14 but was set back by a minor groin injury in early July that cost him about a week of action.  Since his 30-day rehab window was up, Milwaukee had to make a decision on his status, and optioning Perkins to Triple-A allows him to keep playing throughout the All-Star break.

It is possible Perkins might be in line for his 2025 debut relatively soon, depending on Sal Frelick’s health.  Frelick is slated to undergo an MRI after the outfielder made an early exit from today’s game due to hamstring soreness.  Emerging as Milwaukee’s everyday right fielder this season, Frelick has hit .294/.354/.404 with seven homers and 17 steals over 385 PA, while also delivering outstanding defense.  Losing Frelick would be a blow to the Brewers’ playoff push, but the All-Star break will allow Frelick four days to rest up and hopefully avoid the IL.

Mariners Agree To Sign First-Round Pick Kade Anderson

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The Mariners and third overall pick Kade Anderson have already reached an agreement, as Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton reports that the two sides have agreed to a deal with a bonus of roughly $8.8MM.  That would represent a significantly below-slot signing, as the third pick comes with a slot price of $9,504,400.

Anderson rose to prominence over his two seasons at LSU, particularly in the 2025 season when he emerged as a full-time starter and arguably the best pitcher in college ball.  Anderson posted a 3.18 ERA over 119 innings (with a 37.4% strikeout rate and 7.28% walk rate) and was named the most outstanding player of the College World Series as LSU captured their eighth NCAA title.

This breakout made the southpaw one of the top prospects of the 2025 draft class, and the top pitching prospect in the eyes of some evaluators.  Kiley McDaniel had Anderson as the best prospect overall on ESPN’s board, while MLB Pipeline had Anderson second, Fangraphs and Keith Law each had the left-hander third, and Baseball America had Anderson fourth in their rankings.

Anderson’s fastball, slider, and curveball each received at least a 55 from Pipeline and Baseball America on the 20-80 scouting scale, and Pipeline’s scouting report also put a 60 grade on Anderson’s changeup.  He throws a lot of strikes with all of his pitches, and Anderson’s fastball is usually in the 92-94 range with the occasional top-out up to 97mph, and this relatively modest velocity is enhanced by plenty of movement.  Health is a bit of a question, as Anderson underwent a Tommy John surgery in high school and is of around average size at 6’2″ and 179 pounds.

While Anderson doesn’t have a lot of college innings under his belt, it might not take him too long to start knocking on the door for a promotion to the majors.  The Mariners are already deep in pitching, and their draft-lottery luck in landing the third pick has now brought a high-level young arm into the organization.

Blue Jays Interested In Zac Gallen

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After operating with a short-handed rotation for much of the season, starting pitching is a natural need for the Blue Jays as the deadline approaches.  The Jays “are looking for a front-line pitcher,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes, and Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen is one of the hurlers on Toronto’s target list.

The D’Backs took a 46-50 record into today’s game with the Angels, and they sit 6.5 games back of the final NL wild card spot.  A team with such high expectations (and a club-record payroll) might wait until closer to the deadline before finally deciding to sell, but barring a major winning streak after the All-Star break, it certainly looks like Arizona will be moving some talent at the deadline.  Nightengale writes that the Diamondbacks are already open to discussing impending free agents, which could make Arizona a sought-after trade partner if such players as Gallen, Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, or Merrill Kelly are available.

Gallen is perhaps the most difficult player of that group to evaluate in terms of trade value, as he is posting the worst season of his seven-year MLB career.  The righty has a 5.40 ERA in 115 innings and a slate of unimpressive Statcast metrics, including some of the worst hard-contact rates of any pitcher in the league.  Gallen has been prone to hard contact even in his best years, but a worsening walk rate over the last two seasons has contributed to his struggles.  A 4.18 SIERA indicates that Gallen should be out-performing his actual ERA, though those are still the numbers of more a mid-rotation arm rather than a front-of-the-rotation type.

The catch is that Gallen has looked like an ace in the past, with three top-nine finishes in NL Cy Young Award voting on his resume.  His best finish was a third-place result in 2023, when Gallen had a 3.47 ERA over 210 innings for an Arizona team that made a surprise run to the NL pennant.  The 210 frames was a career high for Gallen, and he added another 33 2/3 innings on his arm during the Diamondbacks’ lengthy playoff run.  It can’t be overlooked that Gallen hasn’t quite looked the same since that signature season, as his production took a step backwards in 2024 before his sharper downturn this year.

Arizona is surely still going to put a significant asking price on Gallen, hoping that rival teams could view him as a change-of-scenery candidate.  The Diamondbacks’ trade efforts will also naturally be helped by the fact that basically every contender could use a starter, plus Gallen is relatively affordable (around $5.625MM remains on his $13.5MM salary).  A pitcher with Gallen’s history will draw interest even if his most recent results haven’t been good.  From the perspective of trade suitors, however, those 2025 numbers will surely loom large, as clubs will have to gauge how much they’re willing to offer for a rental pitcher who isn’t in top form.

The Blue Jays have leaned hard on Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt as the top three starters in their rotation this season, as Max Scherzer’s injuries and Bowden Francis’ struggles left Toronto operating with what felt like a three-man rotation for a big chunk of the first half.  Scherzer has since returned to the mound (though is still managing thumb discomfort) and minor league signing Eric Lauer has pitched really well since joining the rotation in May, plus Alek Manoah has started a rehab assignment and is expected to be back at some point late in the second half in his return from UCL surgery.

With this much uncertainty, another solid starter would go a long way towards helping the Jays’ chances of keeping their lead in the AL East, or at least making the postseason bracket.  Gallen figures to be one of many names linked to the Blue Jays as GM Ross Atkins evaluates what promises to be a typically busy trade market for pitching.

Cardinals Activate Ivan Herrera, Place Lars Nootbaar On 10-Day IL

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Prior to today’s game, the Cardinals activated catcher Ivan Herrera from the 10-day injured list.  The corresponding move saw another regular hit the 10-day IL, as outfielder Lars Nootbaar has been sidelined by what the Cards described as a left costochondral sprain.

Herrera hasn’t played since June 19 due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain, though the fact that he was able to return from a more severe strain within a month’s time is a positive sign.  This was the second IL stint of the year for Herrera, who missed a month due to left knee inflammation in April and early May.  As a result, Herrera’s 2025 campaign has been limited to 43 games, counting his appearance as the designated hitter in today’s contest with the Braves.

Despite the injuries, Herrera has swung a hot bat when he has been able to play, as he hit .320/.392/.533 with eight homers over his first 171 trips to the plate.  In order to keep Herrera healthy, the Cardinals aren’t expected to use him much as a catcher over the remainder of the year, so Herrera will mostly act as a DH.

In an interesting wrinkle, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that the Cards also had Herrera go through some workouts as an outfielder, so he could potentially contribute in the field without entirely locking up the DH spot.  A career catcher, Herrera has never played in the outfield as a professional, as his only other positional experience consists of a few games as a first baseman during winter ball action.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol downplayed the idea of Herrera getting any significant time as an outfielder, simply saying “we’re going to see what that looks like.  We know catching is a stressor. We want to do whatever allows him to stay healthy all the way through, and if we feel at any point that it’s strictly DH, then it’s well worth it to keep his bat in the lineup and give him days off when we need the flexibility of moving someone into that spot.”

Speaking of outfielders, Nootbaar will get a full IL stint to heal up after dealing with a side problem for the last few days.  The costochondral joints connect the ribs to costal cartilage, so while the situation certainly isn’t pleasant for Nootbaar, he has at least avoided an oblique strain that might’ve led to a much longer absence.   Nootbaar missed about seven weeks of the 2024 season due to a pair of IL stints related to an oblique strain and a rib contusion.

Nootbaar is hitting .227/.332/.381 with 12 homers over 386 plate appearances this year, translating to a 104 wRC+ that is just above the league average.  The left-handed hitting Nootbaar has played almost every day for St. Louis, playing mostly left field while chipping in at the other two outfield positions.  After injuries hampered him in both 2023 and 2024, it was a good sign that Nootbaar had at least been able to stay on the field until now, and the hope is that he won’t miss too much more time to get back to playing condition.  Brendan Donovan, Jose Fermin, or Garrett Hampson figure to be used in left field while Nootbaar is out.

Mets’ Dedniel Nunez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Right-hander Dedniel Nunez will undergo Tommy John surgery, according to multiple Mets beat writers.  Nunez was placed on the 15-day IL on July 3 with a right elbow sprain, and said at the time that surgery was a possibility.  Subsequent tests confirmed that Nunez will have to go under the knife, and he’ll now miss the rest of the 2025 season and possibly the entire 2026 campaign.

This will be the second Tommy John procedure of Nunez’s career, which cost Nunez the entire 2021 season and (in combination with the canceled 2020 minor league season) resulted in almost a three-year absence from game action for the right-hander.  That surgery took place during Nunez’s brief time in the Giants organization, as San Francisco selected Nunez away from the Mets in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, but he was returned to New York following the 2021 campaign when Nunez was still in the midst of his rehab work.

Upon finally getting back on the mound in 2022, Nunez’s high strikeout totals drew some attention, and he got his first MLB look in 2024 when he posted a 2.31 ERA over his first 35 big league innings.  Combined with a 35.5% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate, Nunez turned plenty of heads in his rookie year, and his sudden emergence in New York’s bullpen was one of the many factors that led to the Mets’ big surge to the playoffs over the final four months of the season.  Unfortunately for Nunez, forearm problems cut short his participation in the playoff race, as he pitched only once after July 23.

Nunez wasn’t as effective this season, as he posted a 4.66 ERA and a 14.6% walk rate over 9 2/3 innings, and his strikeout rate dropped to (a still solid) 26.8%.  Though opposing batters have only a .217 BABIP against Nunez, he has been allowing a ton of hard contact, so even those relatively few balls that are landing for hits are causing significant damage in his small sample size of playing time.  His Triple-A numbers were also shaky, and it is fair to wonder if the arm troubles Nunez faced last year and his current elbow issues contributed to the lack of production.

The usual 13-15 month period for Tommy John rehab means that Nunez might be sidelined until Opening Day 2027 if he runs into any setbacks in his recovery process.  Given that this is his second TJ surgery, it is perhaps more likely anyway that Nunez’s rehab will be on the longer end of a timeframe.  Nunez will continue to collect MLB service time while on the Mets’ injured list, though that is small consolation as the 29-year-old is facing yet another extended career hiatus.

The Mets weren’t necessarily counting on Nunez as a high-leverage arm, but his absence removes another arm from an injury-ravaged pitching staff.  New York is already expected to heavily target rotation and bullpen help in advance of the trade deadline, and multiple new hurlers may be required to help the Mets reverse their slide over the last month of play.

Reds Activate Jake Fraley, Option Christian Encarnacion-Strand

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The Reds announced that outfielder Jake Fraley has been activated from the 10-day injured list.  In a notable corresponding move, infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been optioned to Triple-A.

Fraley last played in a big league game on June 23, when he suffered a partial tear in his right labrum.  This is the latest in a series of shoulder issues that have bothered Fraley for a few years, and he received a cortisone shot in an attempt to play through the pain and hold off a potential surgery until after the season.

Time will tell if this gutsy approach will be successful, though Fraley’s numbers have declined over the last two seasons (he has hit .263/.330/.383 over 527 plate appearances since Opening Day 2024) as he has been dealing with multiple other injuries.  A calf strain sent Fraley to the IL for another stint earlier this season, and he missed time with a knee sprain in 2024.

The left-handed hitting Fraley figures to supplant Will Benson in the outfield mix, and between Fraley, Benson, TJ Friedl, and Gavin Lux, Cincinnati is a little overloaded with lefty-swinging outfield options.  Austin Hays is a right-handed bat that has been getting time in both left field and at DH, in a nod to Hays’ multiple IL stints this year.  As the Reds remain in the NL wild card hunt, a righty bat seems like an obvious need if the club is still in position to buy when the July 31 trade deadline roll around.

Encarnacion-Strand hit .270/.328/.477 with 13 home runs over 241 plate appearances in his rookie season, as he was one of many young position players that burst onto the scene for the 2023 Reds.  After tearing up minor league pitching en route to this impressive debut showing in the majors, it looked like CES was going to make himself a fixture in the Cincinnati lineup.

Unfortunately, Encarnacion-Strand has since sputtered to hit only .199/.227/.337 over 260 PA, as he missed most of the 2024 season recovering from surgery to fix a wrist fracture.  Back problems returned him to the IL in April and he didn’t return to the big leagues until early June, with Reds manager Terry Francona intimating that the club was viewing CES’ rehab assignment as a way for the 25-year-old to get on track the plate.

However, the results haven’t been much better since Encarnacion-Strand was activated, so he’ll now head back to Triple-A Louisville.  A 1.048 OPS over 359 career Triple-A PA indicates that Encarnacion-Strand doesn’t have much more to prove in the minors, yet the Reds can’t afford to give CES more time to find himself in the big leagues when the club is trying to fight its way deeper into the playoff picture.

Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

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Hunter Dobbins’ 2025 season is over, as the Red Sox placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list due to a right ACL tear.  Right-hander Richard Fitts was called up from Triple-A to take Dobbins’ spot on the active roster.

Dobbins was only just activated from the 15-day IL yesterday, as the rookie right-hander had been out of action since June 20 due to what ended up being a minor elbow strain.  His return start was cut short in the second inning, when he hurt his right leg while covering first base on a Chandler Simpson grounder.  MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported earlier today that Dobbins was believed to have “a significant knee injury…potentially with ACL damage,” and unfortunately the worst-case scenario has proven to be true.

This is the second time Dobbins has torn his right ACL, as he told the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey and other reporters that he sustained the same injury while playing high school football.  Between that previous ACL tear and a Tommy John surgery during his college days at Texas Tech, Dobbins has a lot unwelcome experience in managing long-term injuries, and he’ll now face another extended absence.  His recovery process will keep him sidelined for at least the start of the 2026 season, though a more definite timeline may be difficult to establish for now given Dobbins’ past knee issues.

An eighth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins steadily climbed the ranks of Boston’s farm system and made his MLB debut this past April, as injuries thinned out the Red Sox rotation and opened the door for the 25-year-old.  The Sox moved him up and down between Boston and Triple-A Worcester a few times in April before recalling him in early May for an extended stint in the bigs, as Dobbins had done plenty to impress the organization.

Dobbins has a 4.13 ERA and 17.6% strikeout rate over his first 61 innings and 13 games — 11 of them starts — in the majors.  While he isn’t missing many bats, Dobbins is doing a good job of keeping the ball on the ground (48.4% grounder rate) and keeping opponents from free passes (6.6% walk rate).  Dobbins has relied mostly on his 95.5mph fastball as his primary pitch, but his heater has helped set up batters for slider and curveball, which have significantly higher whiff rates.

Essentially the only minor silver lining for Dobbins is that he’ll continue to accumulate big league service time while on Boston’s injured list.  The Sox will shift him to the 60-day IL as soon as 40-man roster space is required.

Injuries have impacted Boston’s starting depth this year, as Kutter Crawford was also recently lost for the season due to wrist surgery.  Tanner Houck has missed two months due to a flexor pronator strain but is on a Triple-A rehab assignment right now and is expected back soon.  Fitts has pitched pretty well over parts of two big league seasons and is the best bet to fill in for Dobbins right now.  Kyle Harrison is likely the top rotation depth option at Triple-A, as the former Giants top prospect has yet to make his Red Sox debut since being acquired in the Rafael Devers trade.

The All-Star break will give the Sox some extra time to figure out their rotation picture, yet the more obvious answer might be to add a new pitcher prior to the trade deadline.  Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said even prior to yesterday’s game that the Sox were going to explore the market for both starting and relief pitching options in advance of the deadline, and that need has only grown greater in the wake of Dobbins’ injury.  Boston’s ongoing eight-game winning streak has revived the club’s playoff chances, and put the Sox more firmly into buying territory as the deadline approaches.

Cubs Select Brooks Kriske

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The Cubs announced that right-hander Brooks Kriske’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Iowa.  Left-hander Jordan Wicks was optioned to Triple-A to create 26-man roster space, and that was the only corresponding move necessary since Chicago already had an open spot on its 40-man roster.

Kriske was signed to a minor league deal during the offseason, and this marks his second stint on the Cubs’ MLB roster this season.  The righty ended up appearing in one game when his contract was previously selected back in May, and the Cubs designated him for assignment a few days later, and then outrighted Kriske off the 40-man roster once he cleared waivers.

That two-inning outing on May 24 marked Kriske’s first big league game since he appeared in four games for the 2023 Royals.  Kriske’s Major League resume consists of 21 games and 23 2/3 innings over parts of four seasons with the Yankees, Orioles, Royals, and Cubs, and he has been hit hard for a 10.27 ERA during his brief time in the Show.

This could very well end up being another cup of coffee in the majors for Kriske, as the Cubs might just need a fresh arm for the weekend in the wake of yesterday’s 11-0 loss to the Yankees.  Wicks allowed six runs over three innings of work in a relief outing and surely wouldn’t have been available for either of the two games remaining before the All-Star break.

The situation lines Kriske up for a possible appearance against his former team, and the club that initially selected him in the sixth round of the 2016 draft.  After spending parts of his first five pro seasons with the Yankees, Kriske has bounced around to a few other teams and also spent parts of the 2022-23 seasons pitching in Japan.

Braves Place Austin Riley On 10-Day Injured List

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The Braves announced that third baseman Austin Riley was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right abdomen.  Right-hander Nathan Wiles was also optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, and the two open roster spots will be filled by infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. (called up from Gwinnett) and southpaw Joey Wentz (claimed off waivers yesterday from the Twins).

Riley was in the starting lineup for yesterday’s 6-5 Braves win over the Cardinals before his injury forced an early exit from the game in the fourth inning.  Manager Brian Snitker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Chad Bishop that he thought Riley hurt himself while making an infield throw, and the team decided to make a precautionary removal since Riley was still feeling lingering soreness.

More should be known about the third baseman’s condition when Snitker meets with reporters today, though it may not be a great sign that Riley has been so quickly placed on the IL.  The fact that his injury was still termed as an abdomen strain rather than an oblique strain could be a plus, and with the All-Star break looming, the Braves may have decided to just give Riley the full 10 days off to perhaps minimize the amount of lost game time.

Missing any action is a relative rarity for Riley, who has played in 681 of a possible 741 games since the start of the 2021 season (including all 93 of Atlanta’s games this season).  Riley’s durability took a hit last season, as a fractured hand on August 18 ended up bringing his 2024 campaign to a premature close.

After delivering star-level performance during the 2021-23 seasons, Riley has been more ordinary over the last two years.  He has followed up his 116 wRC+ from 2024 with a 113 wRC+ in 408 plate appearances in 2025, with Riley hitting .274/.324/.441 with 14 home runs.  This relatively modest production has come despite a .356 BABIP and excellent hard-contact numbers, as Riley’s longtime issues at making contact and taking walks have only worsened this season.  His 6.1% walk rate is well below league average, and Riley’s 27.7% strikeout rate puts him in the eighth percentile of all batters.  Both metrics would represents new career lows over a full season, as Riley had a 5.4% walk rate and 36.4K% over 297 PA in his 2019 rookie season.

The injury comes at a particularly unfortunate time for Riley, as an .891 OPS over his last 50 PA indicated that he was starting to heat up.  His absence is also another blow to an underachieving Braves team that has struggled to a 41-52 record, and even if Riley does end up missing just a minimal amount of time, every game is critical as Atlanta slips further and further back in the playoff race.  The Braves certainly have the appearance of being deadline sellers, though recent reports indicate that the club is only looking to move rental players (if anyone) by July 31.

Riley is enough of a lineup fixture that Luke Williams’ six innings of fill-in duty yesterday marked the first time all season that a Braves player besides Riley had lined up at the hot corner.  Williams figures to get more of the work at third base while Riley is out, though Alvarez has a good deal of experience at the position in the minors.  This will be Alvarez’s first taste of MLB action in 2025, and he hasn’t seen much game time at all this year, as a wrist injury and an oblique strain have limited the infielder to just 13 Triple-A appearances.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Toronto Blue Jays

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MLBTR’s new deadline preview series (available to Front Office subscribers) continues with a look at the Blue Jays, who held a 26-28 record on May 27 and seemed to be headed for another also-ran season.  However, the Jays have since won 29 of their last 40 games, pushing Toronto to the top of the AL East.  With the postseason now looking like a very realistic possibility, the Jays have plenty of options available to them as they consider roster upgrades.

Record: 55-39 (89.3% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs, Rays, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Angels, Mets

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Starting pitching, relief pitching, outfield depth, bench depth, possibly third base

Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt have been invaluable to the Blue Jays, as the steadiness and durability of the top three starters helped keep the pitching staff on track amidst some early chaos at the back end of the rotation.  Minor league signing Eric Lauer has a 2.78 ERA over 55 innings, and his entry into the fourth starter's spot was a key element of Toronto's success over the last six weeks.  Max Scherzer has pitched only 23 innings due to his ever-present thumb problems, and it remains to be seen whether or not Scherzer can remain healthy enough to contribute as a full-fledged starter or perhaps as a piggyback starter in front of a long reliever.

Even with Alek Manoah aiming to return from UCL surgery at some point in August, Manoah's own struggles since Opening Day 2023 make him far from a possible savior.  The Jays could obviously use an extra arm to help stabilize the starting five, as if Lauer starts to regress or one of the top three starters gets injured, the pitching situation could quickly go south.  That would in turn put more pressure on the bullpen, which itself could use some reinforcement after tossing a lot of innings over the first half.

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