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Padres Activate Yu Darvish

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July 7: San Diego officially reinstated Darvish from the 60-day IL. Lefty Kyle Hart was optioned to Triple-A El Paso to make room on the active roster. To clear the necessary 40-man roster spot, the Friars moved Michael King from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.

It’s a procedural move for King. The 60-day count backdates to his original IL placement, which was retroactive to May 22. He’ll technically be eligible to return two weeks from now. King won’t be ready by then anyhow as he works back from a nerve issue in his throwing shoulder. He has made progress, however, as the team revealed this evening that he’s set to throw off a mound for the first time on Thursday (relayed by Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune). He’ll need to progress through multiple bullpen and live batting practice sessions before he’s ready to embark on a minor league assignment.

July 6: Yu Darvish is set to make his first big league appearance of 2025, as Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that the right-hander will be activated from the 60-day injured list to start Monday’s game with the Diamondbacks.  Darvish developed elbow inflammation in the middle of March, and the veteran’s recovery process ended up costing him over half of the season.

The exact nature of Darvish’s progress was kept somewhat vague.  Shildt has said the team trusted Darvish to essentially manage his own rehab since the pitcher obviously knows the most about how his arm is feeling, and how much ramp-up work is required.  Darvish only pitched in one minor league rehab game back on May 14, though continued soreness in his elbow put his rehab on hold and delayed any plans for a return to the Padres’ rotation.

Acee writes that Darvish tossed two simulated games in the last 12 days, and hit the 64-pitch mark in his most recent outing.  This seems to have checked the final box for Darvish to be activated, and he’ll jump right into the deep end in a big NL West matchup.  San Diego is four games ahead of 44-46 Arizona in the standings, and the Padres would naturally love to further knock their division rivals further out of wild card contention.

It wouldn’t be surprising if it takes a start or two for Darvish to knock the rust off, but in general, getting a frontline pitcher back is naturally a big plus for the Padres.  Even with Darvish out, Michael King to the IL since late May, and Dylan Cease battling through an inconsistent season, San Diego has kept afloat with a makeshift rotation.  Nick Pivetta is enjoying a tremendous debut season in a Padres uniform, and Stephen Kolek and Randy Vasquez have held the fort over their starts, despite some shaky peripheral statistics.  The Padres’ excellent bullpen has also been instrumental in bolstering the pitching staff as a whole.

2025 will mark Darvish’s 20th professional season, counting his seven years in Nippon Professional Baseball and his 12 previous MLB campaigns.  Darvish turns 39 next month but appears to still have plenty left in the tank, as evidenced by the 3.31 ERA he posted over 81 2/3 frames for the Padres last season (and his 1.98 ERA in 13 2/3 playoff innings).  As Acee notes, Darvish has been bothered by elbow problems throughout his time in San Diego, and both the pitcher and the team are focused on having him healthy and ready for the playoff stretch and throughout October.

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

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The Nationals have made an in-season shake-up of their organization, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez have both been fired.  The Nats have confirmed the news, and announced that assistant GM Mike DeBartolo will be the team’s interim general manager for the remainder of the season.  An interim manager to replace Martinez will be determined tomorrow.

“On behalf of our family and the Washington Nationals organization, I first and foremost want to thank Mike and Davey for their contributions to our franchise and our city.  Our family is eternally grateful for their years of dedication to the organization, including their roles in bringing a World Series trophy to Washington, D.C.” managing principal owner Mark Lerner said in an official statement from the team.  “While we are appreciative of their past successes, the on-field performance has not been where we or our fans expect it to be. This is a pivotal time for our Club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course of action for our team moving forward.”

The news comes on the heels of Washington’s 6-4 loss to the Red Sox today, which dropped the Nats to a dismal 37-53 for the season.  Only the White Sox and Rockies have won fewer games than the Nationals, who are on pace for their sixth straight losing season since winning the 2019 World Series.  James Wood and MacKenzie Gore are enjoying breakout seasons and CJ Abrams is delivering big for the second straight year, but virtually the entire rest of the Nationals roster has underachieved in what was supposed more of a step-forward season in the club’s rebuild.

Given this backdrop, it isn’t surprising that Nationals ownership has chosen to make a fresh start, even if the specific timing is a little surprising.  Some contractual language was also likely at play, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the middle of July loomed as a deadline for the organization to decide whether or not to exercise club options on Rizzo and Martinez for the 2026 season.  It was known that Martinez’s last extension contained a club option for 2026, and while the specific terms of Rizzo’s last extension weren’t publicly revealed, it makes sense that his deal would line up timeline-wise with Martinez’s contract.

DeBartolo has been with the Nationals organization since starting as an intern with the team in 2012, and he worked his way up the management ladder to the AGM position prior to the 2019 season.  While most teams promote from within for interim positions, keeping some continuity in place is particularly important in this case given how the Nationals hold the first overall pick in next weekend’s MLB Draft, plus the club has plenty of important decisions to make on the selling front for the July 31 trade deadline.

Rizzo’s tenure with the Nationals ends just short of 19 years, as he was hired as an assistant GM in July 2006.  Rizzo himself was named to an interim GM role when Jim Bowden resigned as general manager just prior to the start of the 2009 season, and Rizzo was promoted to the full-time GM job that August.  Washington lost 103 games in 2009 in the low point of another rebuild, yet Rizzo overall a successful rebuild and franchise overhaul that turned the Nationals into consistent contenders for much of the next decade.

Bottoming out helped the Nationals land the first overall pick in both the 2009 (Stephen Strasburg) and 2010 (Bryce Harper) drafts, so there’s some irony in Rizzo being fired so close to Washington getting to make another top selection.  Taking Anthony Rendon sixth overall in 2011 added to this new core of talent, though Rizzo and the Nationals already announced their intention to compete a little earlier when Jayson Werth was signed to a seven-year, $126MM free agent deal during the 2010-11 offseason.

This bold move from a last-place team was one of many headline-grabbing transactions Rizzo swung over the years, as the Nationals made more big free agent investments in such players as Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin.  Trea Turner was a major trade acquisition as a prospect who developed into a star infielder, and Juan Soto’s emergence from international prospect to immediate superstar added to the all-around roster creation that culminated in the 2019 World Series title.  That championship capped off a run of eight straight winning seasons for Washington from 2012-19, and four NL East crowns (though the Nats made it into the 2019 playoffs as a wild card team).

Martinez’s hiring was also a key element in finally getting the Nationals over the top.  The longtime former player and coach was a first-time skipper when he was hired following the 2017 season, and Martinez had big shoes to fill in taking over from Dusty Baker.  It took a while for things to fully click for Martinez, as the Nats were only 82-80 in 2018, and then got off to a 19-31 start in 2019 before turning things around in historic fashion.

Since the 2019 championship, of course, the Nationals have fallen into disrepair.  While the club was willing to let such notables as Harper and Rendon walk, the decision to re-sign Strasburg to a seven-year, $245MM contract proved disastrous, as arm injuries limited Strasburg to only 31 1/3 big league innings over the course of the deal, and forced the right-hander into premature retirement.  Strasburg’s issues proved symbolic for the Nationals’ struggles as a whole, and the club turned into another rebuild period.

Trading Scherzer and Turner to the Dodgers at the 2021 deadline brought Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz to Washington, but the 2022 deadline blockbuster deal that sent Soto to the Padres may well have built the foundation of the Nationals’ next era of winning baseball, even if Rizzo and Martinez won’t be present to see it.  The Soto deal brought Wood, Gore, Abrams, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana, all in one fell swoop, which already stands as an incredible haul even with Hassell or Susana yet to show anything at the MLB level.

That single trade aside, however, papered over some of the flaws in the Nationals’ rebuild plan.  The amount of talent coming through the draft and international signing market slowed to a crawl, and Rizzo overhauled his scouting and player developments a few years ago in an attempt to address the problem.  Ruiz was signed to an eight-year, $50MM extension prior to the 2023, yet the catcher hasn’t become the building block the front office had hoped.  Injuries to Gray and Cade Cavalli also hampered the club’s ability to re-establish its rotation depth, as Gore stands as the only clear-cut success story on the pitching front.

It should be noted that this year’s Nationals entered June with a respectable 28-30 record, so it seemed like some hope was the horizon for a potential return to at least the .500 mark, if not wild card contention.  However, an 11-game losing streak led to a 7-19 record in June, and Martinez reportedly upset the clubhouse when he seemingly put the blame for the losing streak on the players rather than the coaching staff.  Martinez now moves on with a 500-622 record to show for his eight-year run as Washington’s skipper.

As noted in my recent Nationals-centric Trade Deadline Outlook piece (for MLBTR Front Office subscribers), it seemed like Washington was likely going to play it safe at this year’s deadline, with a focus just on moving impending veteran free agents.  Today’s news may keep that speculative plan in place, if DeBartolo doesn’t want to rock the boat too much, or if ownership perhaps wants to save any bigger-picture decisions for the next president of baseball ops — whether DeBaroto himself in a promotion, or perhaps a new voice from outside the organization.

Whomever takes over the Nationals’ front office will inherit some tremendous young talents, since some of the heavy lifting has already been done with Wood, Abrams, and Gore in place for at least the next two seasons (Gore is a free agent after the 2027 campaign).  It could be that the hiring of a new top executive may extend the rebuild a little further if a new PBO wants to again shuffle the front office staff around and bring in some fresh blood, which may not be what Washington fans want to hear after six years of losing baseball.  There is also the lingering question of when the Lerner family is willing to start increasing the Nats’ payroll, or perhaps if the Lerners may still be considering a sale of the team after spending almost two years exploring the market.

Rays Notes: Rasmussen, Boyle, Lowe, Kim

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Drew Rasmussen was the starting pitcher in Sunday’s 7-5 Rays win over the Twins, but Rasmussen only tossed two innings before turning things over to Joe Boyle, who was called up from Triple-A before the game.  Boyle allowed just one unearned run over five innings of work, and he has yet to allow any earned runs over 10 MLB innings this season.

The quick hook for Rasmussen wasn’t for any health reason, but rather the debut of a strategy the Rays will be deploying over the next few weeks.  As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explains, Rasmussen has now thrown 89 1/3 innings this season, putting him on track to far exceed the 150-inning limit the Rays set for the right-hander since he missed most of the 2023-24 seasons due to an internal brace surgery.  Since he also underwent two Tommy John surgeries before even beginning his pro career, the Rays naturally wanted to be careful in managing Rasmussen’s workload in the aftermath of yet another major elbow procedure.

Since Rasmussen has delivered a 2.82 ERA this year, Tampa wants to make sure the right-hander will still have something for later in the season and into October, as the 49-41 Rays are in position for a playoff berth.  The team’s answer is to use Rasmussen as essentially an opener over his next few starts, with Boyle acting as a piggyback pitcher.

Rasmussen is happy with the plan, as “it lets us get the Joe Boyle experience, which is electric. And then also allows me to just stay on routine as well as limit some of the innings for this year.  When they brought the idea to me a couple days ago, it was something I’m on board with, obviously, because I think they are always looking out for my best interest.”

Tampa Bay’s rotation of Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, Taj Bradley, and Zack Littell has been both effective and incredibly durable.  The quintet have combined to start all but one of the Rays’ games this season — the lone exception was Boyle’s only other MLB outing of 2025, a spot start on April 13.  As a result, Boyle has had trouble working his way onto the roster, despite a 1.85 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate, and 10.6% walk rate over 73 Triple-A frames.

Acquired from the A’s as part of the Jeffrey Springs trade back in December, Boyle appears to be the latest pitcher to find a new level of performance after joining the Rays organization.  Boyle always had a ton of velocity and racked up plenty of strikeouts, but it seems like he has now lessened the control problems that plagued his time in the Athletics farm system.  His emergence gives Tampa Bay yet another pitching weapon to bedevil opposing batters, and it will be interesting to see how Boyle is deployed beyond the end of this piggybacking experiment with Rasmussen.

Sunday’s game wasn’t without its concerns for the Rays, as Brandon Lowe left in the bottom of the third inning due to soreness in his left side.  Lowe downplayed the seriousness of the situation when speaking with Topkin and other reporters after the game, saying that the removal “feels very precautionary, as it’s a little sore.  Let’s just get off of it for a little bit and let it rest up.”

Lowe missed over a month of the 2024 season dealing with a right oblique strain, so he is no stranger to side injuries.  Even if this latest issue costs Lowe a game or two, that is vastly preferable to another long-term absence, as injuries have plagued Lowe over the last three seasons.  Lowe has stayed healthy and productive in 2025, and his .272/.324/.487 slash line and 19 home runs in 343 plate appearances earned the second baseman a spot on his second All-Star team.

In other infield news, Ha-Seong Kim made his Rays debut on July 3, but that remains his lone appearance due to a cramp in his right calf.  It doesn’t seem like the injury is too serious, as Kim took part in most normal baseball activities prior to Sunday’s game.  Kim is only just back in action after his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery cost him over half of the 2025 campaign, so it makes sense that the Rays don’t want to push him too soon.

Cubs, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Ke’Bryan Hayes

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Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is drawing interest from multiple teams, with reporter Francys Romero listing last week that the Cubs, Tigers, and Yankees were all “potential suitors.”  Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote a few days ago that Hayes was indeed “on the Yankees’ radar,” and Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that Chicago and Detroit have also checked in with the Pirates about Hayes’ status.

Hayes remains one of the sport’s best defenders at any position, as he is again posting fantastic numbers (+13 Outs Above Average, +11 Defensive Runs Saved) over 710 1/3 innings at the hot corner.  The 28-year-old has also played in 83 games this season and thus far stayed off the injured list, which is noteworthy given how recurring back problems have plagued Hayes for multiple years, and limited him to just 96 games in 2024.

On the down side, Hayes is still producing next to nothing at the plate.  It seemed as though Hayes was turning a corner with his .762 OPS season in 2023, as even producing league-average offense along with his superb glove would’ve made Hayes a great all-around boost to Pittsburgh’s lineup.  However, his bat has cratered over the last two years, as his .238/.288/.295 slash line over 721 plate appearances has resulted in a dismal 62 wRC+.  Since Opening Day, Hayes has the lowest wRC+ of any player in baseball with at least 700 PA.

Another possible obstacle to a trade is the eight-year, $70MM extension Hayes signed with the Pirates in April 2022.  He is still owed the remainder of his $7MM salary for 2025, $30MM over the 2026-29 seasons, and then a $6MM buyout of a $12MM club option for the 2030 campaign.  As great as Hayes’ glovework is, a trade partner would be taking a risk in absorbing over $39MM for a player with a history of both back problems and lackluster offense.

Third base has been a problem area for the Cubs all season, as the team’s hope that top prospect Matt Shaw was ready for prime time hasn’t yet paid off.  A month-long demotion to Triple-A resulted in a brief surge at the plate once Shaw was recalled to the majors in May, but his bat tapered off again, and Shaw is hitting only .207/.288/.293 over 222 PA.  Backup options like Vidal Brujan or Jon Berti also haven’t contributed much, leaving the hot corner as a clear weak link in an otherwise very strong Chicago lineup.

Hayes’ lack of pop would be less of an issue amidst so many other strong hitters, yet Shaw is no slouch with the glove himself — he has +6 DRS, though the OAA metric has him only league-average over 487 2/3 innings at third base.  Acquiring Hayes would also block Shaw at third base over an extended period of time, whereas just picking up a rental third baseman at the deadline would help the Cubs’ chances of winning in 2025 while still keeping Shaw in line as the third baseman of the future.

It can be argued that third base isn’t even a need position for the Tigers at all, as the position has become Zach McKinstry’s most common pathway into the lineup.  McKinstry is hitting an impressive .285/.356/.456 over 307 PA, and he has gone from being a utility option to a near-everyday option for manager A.J. Hinch.  The advanced metrics indicate that McKinstry is due for regression, however, and the fact that he hasn’t hit anywhere near this level in his previous five Major League seasons could leave Detroit looking for more stability at third base.

Javier Baez, Colt Keith, Jace Jung, and Andy Ibanez have all also seen time at third base for the Tigers this year, with the latter two currently in Triple-A.  Baez looks to have re-established himself at shortstop and Detroit would love to see Keith find a regular spot for himself in the lineup, as his past positions of first and second base have been filled by Spencer Torkelson and Gleyber Torres.  Relying on Keith for a pennant run is risky, however, so the Tigers may prefer exploring veteran third base options at the deadline.

From the Pirates’ perspective, it isn’t surprising that the club is already open to moving a player that so recently seemed like a building block.  With the Buccos now approaching their seventh straight losing season, it isn’t clear if their rebuild is bearing much fruit, even with Paul Skenes’ rise to superstardom and so many other promising young arms on the way.  The struggling Pirates are reportedly open to moving basically anyone besides Skenes and Andrew McCutchen, and dealing Hayes has the side benefit of moving a long-term financial commitment from the team’s books.

AL Central Notes: Thomas, Ragans, Lynch, Cobb

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Prior to today’s game, the Guardians placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 5), as Thomas is again dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.  Infielder Will Wilson was called up from Triple-A to replace Thomas, who is headed to the IL for the third time this season.  The first placement was due to a bone bruise in his right wrist, and the last two placements were prompted by Thomas’ recurring foot problems.  Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt told MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters that Thomas again started to feel discomfort in his foot during Friday’s game, so the team decided to see if the combination of an IL stint and the All-Star break can provide enough time for Thomas to finally heal up.

The injuries have contributed to a brutal .160/.246/.272 slash line over 142 plate appearances for Thomas, though he was starting to heat up a little with an .816 OPS and three homers in last 38 PA.  Thomas’ struggles have been emblematic of an ugly offensive year for the Guardians as a whole, and today’s loss to the Tigers extended the Guards’ losing streak to 10 games.  It increasingly seems like Cleveland will be sellers at the deadline, yet Thomas’ injuries and lack of production will probably mean the Guards won’t be able to move the impending free agent.

More from around the AL Central…

  • Cole Ragans will resume throwing tomorrow after an MRI came back clean, Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters.  The Royals ace hasn’t thrown since suffering a left rotator cuff strain in early June, so with that four-week shutdown period now over, Ragans can get started on the early stages of what could be a lengthy ramp-up plan.  It doesn’t appear likely that Ragans will be back in the K.C. rotation before the July 31 deadline, and his progress will surely be a factor in whatever decisions the Royals face about buying or selling.  Today’s win over the Diamondbacks bumped Kansas City up to a modest 43-48 record, and the club sits 5.5 games out of the final AL Wild card slot.
  • Another injury arose for the Royals prior to today’s game, as the club placed left-hander Daniel Lynch IV on the 15-day IL due to nerve irritation in his throwing elbow.  Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Lynch will undergo further testing tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury.  The former top prospect has settled into a relief role (with a pair of opener starts this season) in Kansas City, and has managed a 2.59 ERA over 41 2/3 innings despite lackluster strikeout and walk rates.  With Lynch out, Angel Zerpa and the struggling Sam Long are the remaining left-handed options in the Kansas City bullpen.
  • Alex Cobb was slated to resume playing catch yesterday after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection in his left hip, as per a Tigers medical update from Friday.  Cobb has yet to pitch this season due to inflammation in his right hip, and he has made three minor league rehab outings but recurring discomfort in both hips has halted those rehab assignments.  Cobb has now received multiple injections in both hips, and it remains to be seen when (or even if) the right-hander will be able to make his official debut on Detroit’s big league roster.  The Tigers signed Cobb to a one-year, $15MM free agent deal this past winter, taking the risk on the veteran following his injury-riddled 2024 campaign.

Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

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7:06PM: The Brewers will indeed call up Vaughn once Hoskins is placed on the IL, according to reporter Francys Romero.

3:34PM: Rhys Hoskins left the Brewers’ 3-1 win over the Marlins on Saturday due to a left thumb injury, and now faces a lengthy stint on the injured list.  Initial x-rays were negative on Hoskins’ thumb, but Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the first baseman underwent an MRI that revealed a Grade 2 thumb sprain.  Hoskins will be placed on the 10-day IL prior to the Brewers’ game with the Dodgers on Monday.

The injury occurred on a tag play at first base, as Hoskins had to lunge at a wide throw and tag out Miami’s Eric Wagaman.  Hoskins showed immediate discomfort in the aftermath.  Hoskins was able to finish the inning, but Jake Bauers took over as a pinch-hitter and then at first base for the remainder of the game.

The Grade 2 designation indicates a more severe variety of sprain, so chances are Hoskins will be out of action for at least a month.  We’ll likely learn more specifics about a recovery timeline soon, and the exact timing could very well factor into the Brewers’ plans for the July 31st trade deadline.

If Hoskins is going to be sidelined for well into August or beyond, Milwaukee could consider adding a bat to help out at first base.  Should Hoskins be projected for a return in early August, the club could stand pat with in-house options.  Bauers is the obvious candidate, and Andrew Vaughn (acquired in a trade with the White Sox in mid-June) will probably be called up from Triple-A to team up with Bauers in a lefty/righty first base platoon.  Utilityman Andruw Monasterio and even Sal Frelick (who has all of one career inning as a first baseman) could potentially chip in at the cold corner if necessary.

It should be noted that the thumb sprain also likely removes any chance that Hoskins himself could be traded at the deadline.  Though the Brewers are competing for a playoff berth, Hoskins is an impending free agent who still has roughly $8.25MM of his $18MM salary for 2025 left to be paid out.  (He is also owed a $4MM buyout on an $18MM mutual option for 2026 that will surely be bought out.)  This price tag probably would’ve made it difficult for the Brewers to find a trade partner anyway, but the Vaughn trade created some speculation that Milwaukee might try to shed Hoskins’ salary at the deadline in order to address other needs for their postseason push.  With payroll space at a premium, the Milwaukee front office has often tried to both buy and sell at the deadline regardless of the club’s position in the standings, with the 2022 deadline trade of Josh Hader standing out as the prime example of the Brewers’ flexibility.

Hoskins is hitting .242/.340/.428 with 12 homers, good for a 115 wRC+ over his 318 plate appearances.  In what seemed like an echo of his 2024 season in Milwaukee, Hoskins also got off to a big start this year before drastically cooling off.  The first baseman had an .892 OPS over his first 187 PA of the season and then just a .436 OPS in his following 83 PA, though Hoskins had started swinging the bat a lot better over the last couple of weeks.

Looking ahead to Hoskins’ free agency, an extended injury absence won’t help his chances of landing a multi-year contract.  It was already going to be a bit of an uphill battle for Hoskins as a first base-only player entering his age-33 season, and it remains to be seen how his market might develop this winter.  More immediately, of course, Hoskins is just focused on getting healthy and returning to help the Brewers both reach and succeed in the playoffs.

Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

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The Rays have signed right-hander Peter Strzelecki to a minor league deal, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports.  Strzelecki was just released from a previous minors contract with the Pirates earlier this week, and he’ll now try for a fresh start with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham.

It has been a rough season for Strzelecki, who battled some injuries and posted a 9.90 ERA over 20 innings and 16 appearances for Triple-A Indianapolis.  The righty’s walk rate ballooned to 11.8% and his strikeout rate was only 14.7%, which is far below the solid K% numbers Strzelecki has posted throughout the rest of his minor league career.

That was enough for Pittsburgh to part ways with the 30-year-old, and it marks the third straight year Strzelecki has struggled against Triple-A batters.  Interestingly, he has posted much more respectable numbers during his time in the Show, with a 3.44 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 8.4% walk rate in 83 2/3 innings with the Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Guardians from 2022-24.  Cleveland dealt Strzelecki to the Pirates in advance of last year’s non-tender deadline, as his lack of minor league options makes him a trickier player to keep on a big league roster.

The Rays will take a look at Strzelecki and see if he can be the latest in a long line of pitchers revived by Tampa Bay’s player development factory.  Should he get the call to the majors, Strzelecki will be in familiar territory, as he played college ball at the University of South Florida.

MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

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The starting lineups for the 95th All-Star Game were revealed earlier this week, and the league has now announced the rest of the American League and National League rosters for the upcoming Midsummer Classic on July 15 in Atlanta.  Each roster is comprised of 32 players — the nine starting position players determined by fan voting, and then 23 pitchers and backup position players selected by both a player ballot and input from the Commissioner’s office.

The league’s share of the reserve picks will help adhere to the rule that every team must have at least one All-Star rep.  This rule could also be observed via substitutions that will inevitably be named to the rosters in the coming days, as some players won’t participate in the All-Star Game due to injury or personal choice.  The starting pitchers won’t be announced until July 14, with each team’s manager (Aaron Boone for the AL and Dave Roberts for the NL) deciding who will get the honor of the All-Star start.

The Dodgers lead the way with five players selected, while the Tigers and Mariners each had four players selected.  Nineteen of the players in this year’s game are making their All-Star debuts.  Clayton Kershaw made the team specifically as a “Legend Pick” from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, in a nod to Kershaw’s performance over what is sure to be a Hall-of-Fame career.

American League

National League

Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Right-hander Clarke Schmidt has a tear in his UCL and will probably undergo Tommy John surgery, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Joel Sherman of the New York Post).  Schmidt will miss the remainder of the 2025 season and will miss perhaps all of the 2026 season, given the usual 13-15 month recovery timeline for TJ procedures.

It is a worst-case scenario for Schmidt, who went on the 15-day IL yesterday with what was described as forearm tightness.  Schmidt told reporters that he had been dealing with the issue for a month, which perhaps makes his recent performances all the more impressive.  The righty carried a streak of 28 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings in June but ran into trouble in his last two starts, when Schmidt allowed seven earned runs over nine combined innings against the Athletics and Blue Jays.  In that latter outing against Toronto on Thursday, Schmidt was pulled after just three innings of work.

Rotator cuff tendonitis kept Schmidt from making his 2025 debut until April 16, but he’ll now wrap up his season with a 3.32 ERA over 78 2/3 innings.  Though his strikeout and walk rates were nothing special, Schmidt did a very good job of limiting hard contact, and benefited from a .232 BABIP.  That batted ball luck is reflected in Schmidt’s 4.24 ERA, but the 29-year-old did well to help stabilize a Yankees rotation that was already dealing with a number of injury issues.

Unfortunately, Schmidt now joins ace Gerrit Cole and reliever Jake Cousins as Yankee pitchers who have undergone a Tommy John procedure this season.  In the bigger picture, this is the second TJ surgery for Schmidt, who also went under the knife in 2017 when he was still a college pitcher at South Carolina.  He also missed a big chunk of the 2021 season due to an elbow strain, and missed about half of last season due to a lat strain.

Since this is Schmidt’s second Tommy John surgery, chances are that his rehab process will sit on the longer end of the usual timeframe.  This means Schmidt might only be available for the very end of the 2026 season, and it is probably more likely that he isn’t back until Opening Day 2027.  Schmidt is arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season, so the Yankees might consider a non-tender this winter and then look to re-sign the righty to a two-year deal with most of the salary pushed into 2027 when Schmidt is healthy.

In the shorter term, the Yankees now have to figure out how to address Schmidt’s rotation spot.  Ryan Yarbrough (oblique strain) and Luis Gil (lat strain) should both be back after the All-Star break, with Gil set to make his 2025 debut after his own long-term injury absence.  Between Gil and swingman Yarbrough joining Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and Will Warren, that might be enough depth at the big league level for New York to remain comfortable with the rotation, plus Allan Winans and prospect Cam Schlittler are available at Triple-A.

There’s also the upcoming trade deadline as a possible avenue for rotation help, if the club decides some upgrades are necessary.  The Yankees have some time to see how Gil and Yarbrough fare in their recoveries before deciding one way or the other, plus rival teams’ asking prices on any available starters are surely still very high here in early July.  It is possible the front office might have felt compelled to add starting pitching even if Schmidt was still active, yet his loss only makes the rotation more of a need for a struggling Yankees team that is only 6-15 in its last 21 games.

Astros Sign Hector Neris

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2:56PM: Neris’s deal is official and he is active for today’s game, according to Matt Kawahawa of the Houston Chronicle.  Right-hander Jason Alexander has been optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

2:25PM: The Astros are set to sign right-hander Hector Neris to a Major League contract, KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports.  The Angels designated Neris for assignment and then released the veteran reliever this week after he cleared waivers, but Neris didn’t have to wait long on the open market for his next deal.

Neris posted a 2.69 ERA over 133 2/3 innings for Houston during the 2022-23 seasons, as well as a 1.50 ERA over six playoff innings during the Astros’ run to the 2022 World Series.  He signed a one-year, $9MM deal with the Cubs during the 2023-24 offseason, and after Chicago released him last August, Neris rejoined the Astros but didn’t really recapture the magic, delivering only a 4.70 ERA in 15 1/3 innings over the remainder of the 2024 campaign.

A pair of minor league contracts with the Braves and Angels saw Neris receive some MLB time with both clubs this season, and Neris has a 7.80 ERA over 15 combined innings with the two teams.  A big 29.4% strikeout rate has been countered by an 11.8% walk rate, and Neris has allowed three home runs over his small sample size of big league activity.

Neris’ 3.47 SIERA is perhaps a truer reflection of his performance, which is probably why the Astros opted to guarantee a roster spot to the 36-year-old.  His past history as a known quantity and clubhouse favorite in Houston also undoubtedly played a role, as both parties will see if Neris can regain his old status as an innings-eating bullpen workhorse.  The Astros’ bullpen has been one of the very best in baseball this season, so the team has the luxury of giving Neris an audition to see if he can even further deepen the relief corps.

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