1. Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw (Herniated Disc in Back) Placed On 15-Day DL; Bud Norris Acquired From Braves

The Dodgers’ disabled list already had a pretty good quartet of starting pitchers—Brett Anderson, Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-jin Ryu and Alex Wood. Now they’ll be joined by the best pitcher in baseball.

Kershaw, who has been diagnosed with a mild disc herniation in his lower back, is the biggest reason his team is currently seven games over .500 and at the top of the Wild Card standings. They’ll be forced to lean heavily on Kenta Maeda in his first MLB season as well as Scott Kazmir, who has a 4.67 ERA and has only completed six innings in seven of his 16 starts. Kershaw’s injury also means that 19-year-old Julio Urias, who the Dodgers had planned on moving to the bullpen in the near future in order to limit his workload, will likely stick around in the rotation for a bit longer, as will Brock Stewart, who made his MLB debut on Wednesday after starting the year in High-A.

With the two most likely internal candidates to replace Kershaw, at least for his scheduled start on Friday, being Jharel Cotton (4.98 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 10.7 K/9 in Triple-A) and Chase De Jong (2.45 ERA, 2.7 BB/9, 8.2 K/9 in Double-A), the Dodgers decided to trade for Braves pitcher Bud Norris, who would be sufficiently rested for Friday’s start and had been pitching well as of late.

After a rough start to the season—he posted an 8.74 ERA in five starts before being banished to the bullpen —the 31-year-old Norris has bounced back nicely since returning to rotation in early June (2.15 ERA, 29.1 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 29 K in five starts). He’ll make his Dodgers debut against the Rockies at Dodgers Stadium, where he has a career 3.10 ERA in 29 innings pitched.

Dodgers Depth Chart

 

2. Nationals SP Stephen Strasburg (Strained Upper Back) Placed on 15-Day DL; SP Lucas Giolito Promoted From Double-A

While the Nats could’ve went the boring route to replace Stephen Strasburg by inserting the versatile Yusmeiro Petit into the starting rotation, they did the baseball world a favor by calling up Lucas Giolito, who many consider to be the top pitching prospect in baseball.

The only disappointment in Giolito’s MLB debut against the division rival Mets on Tuesday was that his start was cut short because of a rain delay. In his four scoreless innings of work, the 21-year-old allowed one measly hit to go along with a pair of walks.

So is Giolito up for good? That probably depends on the state of the rotation when Strasburg is ready to return. But Giolito has probably earned at least another start or two and the Nats can be patient with Strasburg as long as the youngster is pitching well. However many innings the Nats will allow him to throw this season—he’s at 75 innings so far after throwing 117 innings in 2015—it sure would be fun to see them utilized at the big league level.

Nationals Depth Chart

 

3. Mets LF Michael Conforto Optioned To Triple-A; Brandon Nimmo Promoted From Triple-A

Michael Conforto had a great rookie season in 2015. He had a great start to the 2016 season. Then he struggled, just like any big leaguer struggles. The league had figured out how to get him out. Almost two months into his prolonged slump, it was evident that the 23-year-old was having a hard time making an adjustment to these latest plans of attack.

Therefore, the Mets have attempted to shake things up by sending Conforto to Triple-A last weekend and giving another young prospect, Brandon Nimmo, a chance to spark a struggling Mets offense. It hasn’t happened. At least not yet.

With only five singles and no walks in 20 at-bats, the 23-year-old Nimmo’s Triple-A success (.917 OPS in 63 games) hasn’t carried over during his first week in the majors. He’ll need to pick up the pace if he’s to hold off Conforto (5-for-16, HR, 3 BB, K in Triple-A), who shouldn’t need much time to get back on track.

Mets Depth Chart

 

4. Athletics RF Josh Reddick Activated From 15-Day DL

One of the biggest potential trade chips of the 2016 season, Reddick has returned to action after missing more than a month with a fractured thumb. He’ll have plenty of time to establish his value and set the A’s up for a nice return prior to the August 1st deadline.

While he isn’t likely to maintain his .310 batting average and .383 on-base percentage—he’s 1-for-9 with one walk since being activated on Tuesday—the 29-year-old is a solid all-around player who can hit 20 homers and knock in 75 runs while hitting at the top, middle or bottom of a contending team’s lineup.

Billy Beane acquired Sean Manaea and Daniel Mengden in separate pre-deadline deals in 2015 for Ben Zobrist and Scott Kazmir. He could be in an even better position this year with Reddick and Rich Hill.

Athletics Depth Chart

 

5. Rays Closer Alex Colome (Biceps Tendinitis) Placed On 15-Day DL; Closer To Be Determined

New closer alert! Well, not really. The last place Rays aren’t really ahead enough in the 9th inning for it to matter very much and this might actually be the least inspiring group of closing candidates I’ve ever seen. If the decision has been made on who’ll get the ball in the 9th inning of a close game, it hasn’t been announced.

“Closer-by-committee” is a common short-term solution whenever a closer goes on the disabled list or has pitched himself out of a job. In most cases, it’s just a way of not putting too much pressure on the guy who is expected to be the first in line for the job.

But in the case of the Rays, their “committee” consists of a few pitchers who don’t have the typical closer’s arsenal of at least one “plus” pitch and none are having very good years in their current lesser-leverage roles. But the opportunity to earn a save will probably arise before Alex Colome or Brad Boxberger returns from the disabled list. Until then, we can only guess if it will be Erasmo Ramirez, Xavier Cedeño, Matt Andriese, Danny Farquhar or someone else who is first in line.

CORRECTION: The Rays did have a save opportunity in Thursday’s game. Ryan Garton started the 9th inning with a 7-2 lead and departed with a 7-3 lead and the bases loaded after four consecutive singles. Ramirez entered the game and proceeded to record one out and give up two walks, two singles and a double before exiting with his team down 10-7. I’m guessing that he might not get another shot.

Rays Depth Chart

MLB rosters are ever-changing, mostly due to the fragility of players—there are currently over 170 players on the disabled list. Baseball players also go through ups and downs and a coaching staff/front office must decide at which point to shake things up and make a change.

This keeps me very busy over at Roster Resource, where I spend my day moving roster pieces around as news is reported. This past week was no exception, although there were more big names than usual in the transactions. Here are the five most important moves from the past seven days …

1. Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista (Turf Toe) Placed On 15-Day DL 

Despite a nagging quad injury, the 35-year-old Bautista was settling in nicely as Toronto’s leadoff man when he injured his toe on June 16th. The Jays were also playing their best baseball of the season, about to win for the 15th time in 22 games to push their record to 37-31.

Without their superstar right fielder, who was placed on the disabled the list the following day and expected to be in a walking boot for two weeks, the Jays have now lost 3 of 5. Bautista’s replacement in the starting lineup is veteran journeyman Ezequiel Carrera, who is having a terrific season (.827 OPS in 114 plate appearances), but only 3-for-14 with a homer in his absence.

While he’s earned the opportunity with his performance as a part-time player this season, the 29-year-old Carrera would likely have a short leash if Dalton Pompey was having a more eye-popping season down in Triple-A.

Although Pompey does have a .280 batting average and .351 on-base percentage, the former top prospect has shown very little power and doesn’t appear to be an upgrade at this moment. But if Carrera and the Jays are struggling 7-10 days from now and Pompey has heated up, this scenario could change.

2. Tigers RF J.D. Martinez (Non-Displaced Elbow Fracture) Placed On 15-Day DL

Like fellow slugger Bautista, Martinez suffered his injury while playing in the outfield last Thursday. The 2015 All-Star, who was on a similar pace to last season (.879 OPS, 38 HR in 158 games ’15; .878 OPS, 12 HR in 65 games in ’16), is expected to miss at least 4-6 weeks and possibly much more. And yet, the Tigers’ lineup hasn’t missed a beat.

Not only did Justin Upton pick a good time to finally get going at the plate—8-for-27 with four homers since Martinez’s injury—Steven Moya has 9 hits in 24 at-bats, including three homers and two doubles, since replacing Martinez on the 25-man roster and in the starting lineup.

The 24-year-old rookie has huge power potential, but has been strikeout prone throughout his minor league career. So maybe this is a case of small sample size success before teams figure out the best way to attack the young hitter. Until then, he’s giving the Tigers some much-needed lefty power to help balance out a right-handed heavy lineup.

3. Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig Activated From Disabled List

Puig is having a terrible season. On the day he was placed on the disabled list in early June, he had a .643 OPS with nine walks, 43 strikeouts and only 11 extra-base hits. Trayce Thompson, who had already worked his way into the outfield mix, had an .872 OPS with eight homers at the time. No Puig. No problem.

Fast forward almost three weeks and the Dodgers have a slight dilemma. Puig is ready to return. Howie Kendrick is getting most of his at-bats in left field and, coincidentally, hit over .300 during Puig’s absence. Thompson wasn’t bad, but his production had fallen with Puig on the disabled list (.740 OPS).

So who sits? The answer is “not the guy who became a star after posting an .888 OPS in his first two big league seasons.” Since returning from the disabled list on Tuesday, the 25-year-old Puig has started both games in right field and collected three singled in seven at-bats, while Thompson and Kendrick have each started one game in left field.

Of course, Kendrick’s versatility makes this much less complicated—he’s made starts at first base, second base, third base and left field—as does Thompson’s ability to play all three outfield spots. There are plenty of at-bats for all three, at least until Andre Ethier returns later in the season. But if Puig reverts to his poor pre-injury form, the Dodgers could have a “starting right field controversy” on their hands.

4. Angels SP Tim Lincecum Recalled From Triple-A

It’s probably a case of “too little, too late” for the Angels, who haven’t had much of a chance to compete since losing staff ace Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney to elbow injuries. But the signing and subsequent call-up of former Giants ace Lincecum was supposed to give the team a shot in the arm.

But between the time Lincecum agreed to the deal on May 20th and the day of his call-up on June 18th, the Angels went from 19-23 and 5.5 games out in the AL West to 29-38 and 13.5 games out.

The 32-year-old Lincecum is now likely auditioning for those playoff contenders looking to bolster their starting rotation next month. The results are mixed, thus far, with a solid debut against Oakland (6 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K) and a clunker against the same A’s team yesterday (3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K).

5. Blue Jays SS Troy Tulowitzki Activated From 15-Day Disabled List

When Tulowitzki was placed on the disabled list in late May, he was hitting just over the Mendoza Line and the Blue Jays were a .500 ball club. When he returned three weeks later on June 18th, they were eight games over .500 and Darwin Barney was headed back to the bench after an impressive stint as Tulo’s replacement (.309/.356/.397 in 73 plate appearances).

Not that there was any question whether the 31-year-old Tulowitzki should be playing over the light-hitting Barney. We learned, however, that the Jays are still a good team without him. If he can ever return to his pre-trade form when he starred with the Rockies—he has a career OPS of .809 outside of Coors Field so this is unlikely to be the cause of his mediocre numbers—the Jays can be a great team.

So far, so good. In four games since returning, Tulowitzki is 5-for-14 with a double and two homers. If he’s hitting like this when Bautista returns, likely sometime next month, this Jays offense will be as scary as we all thought it would be.