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The Opener: Rutschman, Rangers, Blue Jays, Milestone Watch

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Happy Memorial Day to MLBTR readers! Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world as the long weekend continues:

1. Rutschman being monitored:

Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman departed yesterday’s game after he took a foul ball off his mask during the third inning. According to Jake Rill of MLB.com, the catcher’s removal from the game was precautionary. Interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including Rill) that Rutschman will continue to be monitored for 24 hours following the incident, leaving his status ahead of today’s game against the Cardinals uncertain. It’s been a disappointing year at the plate so far for Rutschman, who is hitting .211/.310/.349 with a 93 wRC+, but losing him for any amount of time would be worrisome for the already struggling Orioles with Gary Sanchez already on the shelf. Maverick Handley took over for Rutschman behind the plate in yesterday’s game, and if a trip to the injured list is necessary the Orioles could turn to Chadwick Tromp or David Banuelos.

2. Series Preview: Blue Jays @ Rangers

Neither the Blue Jays nor the Rangers are having the season they were hoping for so far. Both clubs are three games back in the AL Wild Card race. A big series for either side could put them back into the thick of the playoff conversation, but if either club struggles in this series they could quickly find themselves falling even further back in the standings. The series kicks off at 4:05pm ET this afternoon with ace righty Jacob deGrom (2.33 ERA) on the mound for the Rangers while Toronto counters with a veteran of their own in Kevin Gausman (4.05 ERA). Bowden Francis (5.54 ERA) will look to turn his season around for the Jays tomorrow against Nathan Eovaldi (1.60 ERA), who has put himself into the early AL Cy Young discussion. The series will wrap Wednesday with an as-of-yet unannounced starter on the mound for the Jays against Rangers right-hander Tyler Mahle, who has a 1.80 ERA in 11 starts amid his own brilliant campaign.

3. Arenado, Santana nearing milestone:

Just 196 players in MLB history have hit 400 doubles during their career. That number could jump to 198 any day now, however, because both Guardians first baseman Carlos Santana and Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado are within spitting distance of the milestone. Santana hit the 398th double of his career against the Tigers over the weekend, while Arenado sits just one behind him with 397 career two-baggers. The milestone is within reach for both players, but Santana in particular is white hot of late with 1.262 OPS in his past six games and a .262/.410/.492 slash line in the month of May overall. Arenado’s Cardinals are scheduled to face the Orioles and southpaw Cade Povich (4.86 ERA) today, while Santana’s Guardians face a tough matchup against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.86 ERA) in their own game this afternoon.

Dodgers Notes: Sasaki, Glasnow, Phillips

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The Dodgers’ pitching staff is the most injured in the sport, as has become common for Los Angeles. With three of their five Opening Day starters currently on the injured list, L.A. has been using secondary choices in its rotation in recent weeks. That’s still a strong group, as staff ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is joined by a solid group despite those injuries: Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, and Landon Knack are all pitchers most teams would be happy to have on staff.

Even so, Dodgers fans are surely hoping for the club’s other rotation arms to get healthy soon, particularly given the fact that May’s 4.09 ERA (96 ERA+) is the best of the group aside from Yamamoto. They received some good news on that front today, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that right-hander Roki Sasaki is set to start a throwing progression at some point this coming week. It’s the first sign of the 23-year-old phenom beginning to ramp back up toward a return since he was placed on the shelf with a right shoulder impingement two weeks ago.

It’s encouraging news regarding Sasaki’s status, but fans shouldn’t expect him back on the mound in the near future. Even after Sasaki resumes throwing, it will be some time before he begins throwing bullpen sessions and facing hitters. A rehab assignment of some length is sure to follow after those boxes are checked, and that could leave Sasaki several weeks away from a return to action yet. Still, the fact that the youngster appears likely to return before the first half of the season comes to a close is certainly encouraging. The Dodgers are surely hoping that Sasaki’s current stay on the injured list is giving him time to get on track before his return, as well. After all, the righty has struggled to this point in his big league career with a 4.72 ERA and 6.13 FIP across eight starts and a worrying 14.3% walk rate.

If Sasaki’s ramp back up to big league readiness may end up being as much about getting him right as it is about getting him healthy, the same could arguably be said about right-hander Tyler Glasnow. The 31-year-old had an uncharacteristic 4.50 ERA with a 5.41 FIP in 18 innings of work across his first five starts of the season before getting shelved with inflammation in his right shoulder near the end of April, but the good news is that he’s making good progress towards a return. MLB.com notes that Glasnow threw his first bullpen session since going on the shelf on Friday. The session lasted less than 20 pitches, but Roberts suggested that Glasnow came out of it feeling “great.”

That suggests that Glasnow is a bit ahead of Sasaki in his rehab process. The veteran righty will likely throw more bullpen sessions with higher pitch counts before progressing to facing live hitters and an eventual rehab assignment, but this weekend’s first step was nonetheless an important one. Glasnow would be a huge boost to the Dodgers’ rotation if he comes back looking anything like he did last year, when he pitched to a 3.49 ERA with a 2.91 FIP across 22 starts during his first year in Los Angeles.

Positive as those updates regarding the rotation might be, however, the Dodgers also revealed some worrying news regarding the status of right-hander Evan Phillips today. The reliever was shelved earlier this month due to what was termed “discomfort” in his right forearm at the time, and while that injury was initially believed to be minor Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that Phillips is still feeling discomfort and has yet to resume throwing three weeks later. Harris went on to note that Roberts acknowledged the injury is “starting to get a little concerning,” though he added that the club is still “hoping for the best.”

Phillips is sorely missed in a bullpen that is also without Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, and Brusdar Graterol among others. The righty was removed from Los Angeles’s closer job last year but has been nothing but excellent during his time with the Dodgers overall, posting a 2.22 ERA in 195 innings of work since the club acquired him back in 2021. That includes seven scoreless appearances this season where he struck out 27.3% of opponents while issuing walks at just a 9.1% clip.

Royals Reportedly Option Cavan Biggio

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The Royals optioned infielder Cavan Biggio to the minor leagues following the club’s game against the Twins today, according to a report from Anne Rogers of MLB.com. As a player with five years of service time, Biggio has the ability to refuse an optional assignment, and Rogers reports that he’ll be able to decide between accepting the optional assignment or electing free agency in the coming days. It’s unclear what the corresponding move for Biggio’s departure from the active roster will be.

It’s unusual to see a player consent to an optional assignment when they have the requisite service time necessary to reject one. That’s not to say it’s completely unheard of, with veteran first baseman Jose Abreu’s decision to consent to being optioned after struggling badly with the Astros early last year standing out as one of the more memorable recent examples, but it would hardly be a surprise if Biggio decided to elect free agency rather than stick with the Royals. On the other hand, Biggio may be limited to exclusively minor league deals in free agency and would therefore lose the benefits of being on the 40-man roster that he would retain should he accept an optional assignment from the Royals.

Son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio and a veteran of seven MLB seasons in his own right, the younger Biggio got off to a hot start early in his career with a .240/.368/.430 slash line (good for a wRC+ of 118) across his first two seasons in the majors. That was enough to earn him down-ballot Rookie of the Year consideration in the AL during the 2019 season and make him the club’s on-paper everyday third baseman headed into the 2021 season. Unfortunately, things started to unravel from there. Biggio hit just .224/.322/.356 with a wRC+ of 84 that eventually got him pushed into a part-time role that year. He wouldn’t recapture his everyday job with the Blue Jays ever again, although his .220/.330/.361 (100 wRC+) performance over the next two seasons was enough to make him a viable bench player in a utility role.

While Biggio seemed to have carved out a solid part-time role for himself with Toronto, that changed during the 2024 campaign. He struggled badly across 44 games with the club, hitting just .200/.323/.291 with a wRC+ of 86, and that step backwards in conjunction with the Blue Jays’ losing record was enough to convince Toronto brass to pull the plug on a player who was once considered to be part of their core alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Biggio spent the rest of the season bouncing between the Dodgers, Giants, and Braves organizations and finished the year with a .197/.314/.303 (84 wRC+) slash line in the big leagues across 78 games.

Biggio elected free agency back in November after being cut loose by the Braves and eventually caught on with the Royals on a minor league deal back in January. He showed out enough in Spring Training to make the club’s Opening Day roster but has performed poorly in a part-time role during the regular season with a slash line of just .176/.300/.250. His 61 wRC+ this year is the 35th-worst figure in the majors among players with at least 80 plate appearances, and for a Royals club that’s tied for third from the bottom in the majors in runs scored his bat is clearly not producing enough to justify his roster spot.

MJ Melendez, Joey Wiemer, Tyler Gentry, and Tyler Tolbert are all on the 40-man roster already as potential replacements for Biggio on the active roster. Anyone else would require selecting a contract to the roster, though it should be noted that the Royals have space on their 40-man so no corresponding move would be necessary to make that sort of addition. Rogers notes that outfielder John Rave was out of the lineup at Triple-A Omaha today, potentially suggesting he could be an option to be called up to the majors, while Nelson Velazquez, Nick Pratto, and Jordan Groshans are all non-roster players with big league experience who could theoretically be called upon.

Braves Sign Jose Cuas To Minor League Deal

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The Braves have signed right-hander Jose Cuas to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on his MLB.com profile page. Cuas, who the Braves have initially assigned to Double-A, was previously in the Phillies organization at Triple-A but was released earlier this month.

Cuas, 31 next month, made his pro debut with the Brewers back in 2018 but didn’t make it to the majors until 2022 as a member of the Royals organization after bouncing between the minor leagues with the Brewers and Diamondbacks and mixing in multiple stints with the independent Long Island Ducks. The righty began throwing sidearm during his time with the Ducks and took that approach into the big leagues with him, posting a 3.58 ERA (115 ERA+) with a 4.39 FIP in 47 appearances for Kansas City during his rookie campaign.

The right-hander continued to pitch for the Royals the following year, but was traded to the Cubs ahead of the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for outfielder Nelson Velazquez. Cuas proceeded to pitch to a 3.04 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work down the stretch for Chicago, albeit with a 4.90 FIP, 19.0% strikeout rate, and 14.0% walk rate that all stood out as potential red flags regarding the righty’s effectiveness. Cuas remained in the Cubs’ bullpen mix for the start of the 2024 season, but was cut from the team after surrendering a 7.43 ERA with a 6.02 FIP across nine appearances early last year. He was plucked off waivers by the Blue Jays shortly thereafter but surrendered three runs in three innings of work for Toronto with more walks than strikeouts before being claimed by the Phillies in September.

Cuas did not make an appearance for Philadelphia at the big league level in 2024 before being outrighted off the 40-man roster back in January. He began the year with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley, but was cut loose after surrendering a 13.50 ERA with more walks than strikeouts in seven outings at Triple-A. After going unsigned on the open market for a couple of weeks, he’s now caught on with Atlanta and will try to work out his control issues at the Double-A level.

If the Braves can figure out how to harness Cuas’s impressive raw stuff, he could prove to be an asset to a bullpen that is in desperate need of reinforcements. Raisel Iglesias is in the midst of a career-worst season as the club’s closer after dominating in the role as recently as last year, and while other arms like Daysbel Hernandez and Aaron Bummer have mostly pitched well this year, the club’s relievers have posted a 4.01 FIP that leaves them sixth from the bottom in the NL this year. Getting Iglesias right will of course be the most important factor in turning the club’s relief corps around, but if Cuas can get right and offer another viable arm to the club that would provide a real boost to Atlanta’s efforts to force itself back into the playoff conversation after their brutal 0-7 start to the season has largely been erased by a run of strong play in more recent weeks. For now, he joins a battery of non-roster depth options for the bullpen that also includes Craig Kimbrel and Jesse Chavez.

Yankees Reportedly Interested In Right-Handed Bat, Rotation Help

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The Yankees are “aggressively” searching for a right-handed bat to add to their lineup, according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale adds that the club would “ideally” like that bat to be a third baseman, and goes on to suggest that the club is also interested in adding a starting pitcher.

The Yankees are off to a solid start this season, with a 30-21 record that puts them in the driver’s seat for not only the AL East but also a bye through the Wild Card round of the playoffs as things currently stand. Even so, that’s not to say the club is without flaws. Reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge anchors the club’s lineup, and with a .315/.439/.683 slash line dating all the way back to the start of the 2022 campaign it’s hard to imagine him slowing down any time soon. Standout performances from Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe to this point in the year appear to be largely sustainable, and despite questions about Cody Bellinger’s slow start, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s injury woes, Paul Goldschmidt’s elevated BABIP and the sustainability of hot starts for Trent Grisham and Ben Rice, that collective group seems likely to allow the club to continue producing at a high level at the plate.

If there’s a substantial question mark in the club’s lineup, however, it’s on the infield. Chisholm should be able to hold down the fort at second base when he eventually returns from the injured list, but Oswaldo Cabrera was hitting at a below average level at third base even before his likely season-ending ankle injury. DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, and Jorbit Vivas are currently mixing and matching around the infield with Chisholm on the shelf, but adding a right-handed bat to the mix who’s more reliable than LeMahieu (52 wRC+ in 2024) and Peraza (career 73 wRC+) would go a long way to solidifying the club’s offense.

Right-handed bats who can play the infield seem likely to be relatively few and far between on this offseason’s market, however. Perhaps Otto Lopez of the Marlins, Lenyn Sosa of the White Sox, or Amed Rosario of the Nationals could make some sense, but there aren’t a lot of obvious fits on clear sellers at the moment, especially if the Orioles aren’t interested in trading controllable pieces within the division. Plenty of teams could still plausibly fall out of contention before the trade deadline, but with two months to go until then the Yankees will need to wait a lot longer if they’re going to find an upgrade with a club like the Cardinals or Rangers that’s currently on the bubble of contention.

Fortunately, it’s a lot less difficult to find viable pitching help. The Yankees are relying on rookie Will Warren and journeyman Ryan Yarbrough in the rotation as things currently stand, so an ace pitcher won’t be necessary to upgrade the rotation. Sandy Alcantara remains one of the names getting the most buzz despite his struggles with Miami this year, but even someone like White Sox righty Adrian Houser could help raise the floor in the Yankees’ rotation and offer some depth while the club waits for arms like Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman to get healthy.

Of course, even in those cases it’s still early enough in the season that any sort of substantial trade is unlikely. The calendar hasn’t even flipped to June yet, and for the time being clubs looking for external solutions are typically best off scouring the waiver wire for potential additions to the roster given how rare blockbuster deals are this time of year. Orlando Arcia and Kevin Pillar are two right-handed hitters who have been let go by their organizations in recent days, while Kyle Gibson and Sean Newcomb are among the potential starting options who have recently been let go just within the Yankees’ own division.

Dodgers Sign Chris Stratton

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The Dodgers have signed right-hander Chris Stratton to a major league deal, per a team announcement. Right-hander Bobby Miller was optioned to the minor leagues to make room on the active roster, while right-hander J.P. Feyereisen was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for Stratton. Stratton’s signing was first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, though it is a major league contract.

Stratton, 34, was a first-round pick by the Giants back in 2012 and made his debut in 2016. He mostly pitched as a starter during those early years in San Francisco, but he was traded to the Angels prior to the 2019 season and in the years since then has been used almost exclusively as a reliever. The right-hander has bounced between Anaheim, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Texas, and Kansas City over the years, compiling a rather pedestrian 4.63 ERA (93 ERA+) and 3.96 FIP across 406 2/3 innings of work over the past six seasons. That includes a stretch of solid middle relief work with the Pirates, Cardinals, and Rangers for whom he pitched to a 3.91 ERA (109 ERA+) with a 3.51 FIP.

The right-hander’s work with the 2023 World Series champion Rangers was enough to earn him a two-year, $8MM guarantee from the Royals prior to the 2024 season that included an opt-out opportunity prior to the 2025 offseason. Stratton’s performance in Kansas City was not exactly what the Royals were hoping for, however, and he exercised his player option for 2025 after a rough campaign last year where he posted a 5.55 ERA in 57 appearances. Things continued to go poorly for Stratton this season, as his ERA ballooned all the way up to 7.94 in 17 innings of work before he was designated for assignment and eventually released by Kansas City earlier this week.

Those rough numbers may make it seem surprising that the Dodgers would bring Stratton into the fold on a big league deal, but his peripheral numbers do offer some reason for optimism. Stratton’s .443 BABIP this year is much too high to be sustainable, and his 58.5% strand rate suggests some bad luck when it comes to sequencing as well. The righty sports an above-average ground ball rate with improved strikeout and walk rates relative to last year. If he can pitch closer to his 4.13 FIP and 4.02 SIERA going forward, he could be a valuable middle relief piece for a Dodgers club that has a whopping 14 pitchers on the injured list.

Stratton’s addition means the end of the line for Feyereisen, at least in terms of his time with the Dodgers. Feyereisen has split this year between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, posting a lackluster 11.25 ERA in four innings of work overall. Feyereisen had a couple years of legitimate big league success, with a 1.90 ERA and a 3.44 FIP across 80 1/3 innings of work with the Brewers and Rays from 2021-22. He missed the entire 2023 season due to injury, however, and since he returned he’s struggled to a 9.00 in 15 innings. He also struggled at Triple-A with the Dodgers last year, but his brief stint with Arizona’s Reno affiliate saw him post a 2.25 ERA in ten outings. The Dodgers will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Feyereisen or attempt to pass him through waivers.

Cubs Place Miguel Amaya On 10-Day IL, Select Reese McGuire

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TODAY: The Cubs officially placed Amaya on the 10-day IL and selected McGuire’s contract from Triple-A.

SATURDAY, 11:00pm: Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that McGuire is likely to be the Cubs’ choice to replace Amaya on the roster.

10:16pm: The Cubs were dealt a blow to their lineup today when catcher Miguel Amaya exited their game against the Reds due to an oblique issue. As noted by MLB.com’s Mike Petraglia after the game, the issue was described by the club as a left oblique strain and will require a trip to the injured list according to manager Craig Counsell. Petraglia adds that Amaya is expected to undergo imaging to determine the severity of the issue on Tuesday, which will likely give the club a clearer timetable for his return.

In the meantime, it’s safe to assume that Amaya will miss at least the next ten days and quite possibly much longer than that. Teammate Ian Happ required only a minimum stint on the shelf for an oblique issue earlier this month, but it’s not uncommon for more serious strains to require weeks or even months of recovery. It’s impossible to know exactly how long Amaya will be shelved until results from the imaging come back, but an absence of any length is frustrating for the 26-year-old given his brilliant start to the season at the plate this year. Through his first 98 plate appearances this season, Amaya has hit .286/.320/.516 with a 131 wRC+.

The youngster’s .333 BABIP is unlikely to be sustainable and 22.4% strikeout rate that’s five points higher than last year stands as a cause for concern, but even Amaya’s .313 xwOBA suggests at least league average production in his future. That’s a solid outcome for a young a catcher, but figuring out exactly where Amaya’s offensive future is headed will be put on hold for the time being. In the meantime, veteran Carson Kelly figures to step into a larger role behind the plate. The 30-year-old entered the season as the backup to Amaya on paper but forced himself into something of a starting role with a sensational start to the season.

He’s hit an unbelievable .287/.416/.574 in 125 plate appearances entering play today. That 176 wRC+ leads all catchers with at least 80 plate appearances, his nine home runs so far have already tied his total across 91 games last year, and he’s even walking (17.6%) more than he’s striking out (13.6%). It’s superstar level production from Kelly overall, and while he can’t realistically be expected to keep these numbers up forever, he smacked another two hits (including his ninth homer of the year) to improve his numbers for the month of May, which had dipped a touch below league average after a recent cold spell.

With Kelly now more firmly poised to take up the mantle of primary catcher in Chicago, the question remains of who will serve as Kelly’s primary backup while Amaya is injured. Moises Ballesteros is the only other catcher on the Cubs’ 40-man roster at the moment. He made his big league debut while Happ was on the IL earlier this month, but served exclusively as a DH while Seiya Suzuki shifted over to right field to cover for Happ. Ballesteros went 3-for-16 with two walks and a strikeout in his first five-game cup of coffee in the majors but did not take the field as a defender at any position, including catcher. Scouts have long considered his work behind the plate to be questionable, and while his .349/.410/.490 slash line at Triple-A this year shows there’s little left for Ballesteros to prove offensively in the minors it remains to be seen if the Cubs would be comfortable with him serving as a backup catcher in the majors at this point in his development.

If not Ballesteros, the Cubs will need to select the contract of a veteran in the organization on a minor league deal to the 40-man roster. The most likely candidate for that role would seemingly be Reese McGuire, who has 355 games under his belt at the big league level and is considered a quality defender despite being held back somewhat by a lackluster .252/.300/.364 slash line at the plate for his career. Another option would be 34-year-old veteran Carlos Perez, who offers even less with the bat than McGuire but does have five years of MLB experience under his belt and has a strong defensive reputation of his own. Neither player is as exciting as Ballesteros, but for a club that already has one of the league’s best offenses this year it’s fair to wonder if prioritizing defense behind the plate could make sense.

Rangers To Promote Alejandro Osuna

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The Rangers are poised to select the contract of outfielder Alejandro Osuna, according to a report from Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The news comes after DH Joc Pederson suffered a fractured right hand during today’s game against the White Sox that is expected to leave him sidelined for the next six weeks. Osuna is not yet on the 40-man roster, and the Rangers will need to make a corresponding move to clear 40-man roster space.

Osuna, 22, signed with the Rangers out of Mexico back in 2021. The youngster has gradually climbed through the minor leagues while splitting time fairly evenly between all three outfield spots and boasts a solid .277/.370/.436 slash line in 373 career games across all levels of the minors. Osuna got his first taste of the upper minors last last year following a call-up to Double-A over the summer, and he responded by slashing an excellent .306/.379/.523 in 57 games. The Rangers decided to be cautious with Osuna and keep him at Double-A to start the 2025 campaign after Evan Carter failed to make the Opening Day roster and was optioned to Triple-A.

The outfielder’s numbers weren’t quite as impressive in his repeat of Double-A, as he hit just .283/.363/.409 in 31 games, but that was still enough to convince the Rangers to promote him to the highest level of the minors earlier this month. He has just seven games under his belt with the club’s affiliate in Round Rock, but he’s impressed in that limited time with a .485 on-base percentage and more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven). Between Osuna’s hot start to his time at Triple-A and the injury to Pederson, it seems as though the Rangers have decided now is the time to call the youngster up and see what he can do in the majors.

Currently ranked as Texas’s #7 prospect according to MLB.com, scouts view Osuna as a player with a real chance to stick in center field who faces questions about his ability to hit lefties, though he made strides on that front last year, and his power potential despite solid bat-to-ball skills and improving exit velocities. He posted brilliant numbers in big league camp with the Rangers this spring and draws comparison to Alex Verdugo for his approach at the plate. Longer term, he’ll likely need to either stay viable in center or tap into more power in order to be a big league regular, but that doesn’t mean he can’t provide a spark for the Rangers while Pederson is out of commission.

Providing a spark is exactly what the 22-year-old will be tasked with doing for a beleaguered team that fell to 25-28 today, leaving them in fourth place in the AL West and three games out of an AL Wild Card spot. It’s unclear whether the lefty-hitting Osuna is expected to play DH or perhaps help fill in for Carter in center field, where Sam Haggerty has been tasked with playing every day recently. Perhaps he could even be tasked with spelling Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia in the outfield corners. Wherever he ends up playing, it seems fair to expect that Kyle Higashioka will continue to get occasional reps at DH against left-handed pitchers, with Osuna likely to sit on the bench on those days.

Joc Pederson Suffers Right Hand Fracture

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The Rangers were dealt a major injury blow today when DH Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch in this evening’s loss to the White Sox. Pederson initially stayed in the game but was later lifted for a pinch-hitter. Manager Bruce Bochy revealed to reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) that Pederson suffered a fracture in his right hand when he was struck by the pitch. Pederson told reporters, including McFarland, that he expects a recovery timeline of six weeks for the injury.

It’s a blow to a Rangers club that has already struggled to stay healthy this year. Pederson will now join Corey Seager and Evan Carter on the shelf from the club’s lineup, in addition to injuries suffered by reliever Chris Martin and starters Kumar Rocker, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. Those injuries have contributed to Texas’s struggles this year, as they’ve posted a lackluster 25-28 record that’s left them three games out of a Wild Card spot and five games out of the AL West. With Josh Smith covering for Seager at shortstop and Sam Haggerty holding down center field in place of Carter, the Rangers will likely be forced to get creative with replacing Pederson.

One option could be first baseman Blaine Crim, who failed to record a hit in a five-game cup of coffee earlier this year but sports a .301/.369/.558 slash line in Triple-A this year. Another could be outfielder Dustin Harris, who has a 104 wRC+ in 45 trips to the plate at the big league level and is the club’s only left-handed hitter already on the 40-man roster at Triple-A. Harris could be a particularly attractive option if the Rangers would like to continuing starting backup catcher Kyle Higashioka at DH against left-handed pitchers, a role which the club is already carrying third catcher Tucker Barnhart in order to accommodate on a more regular basis.

Turning back to Pederson, it must be acknowledged that for however much losing his offensive prowess from the lineup may sting on paper he hasn’t delivered much production in his first season with the organization. Signed to a two-year, $37MM guarantee over the winter, Pederson has hit a paltry .132/.266/.240 (51 wRC+) in 144 plate appearances to this point in the season. That’s hardly production a club will miss from their lineup, but it’s unfortunate timing nonetheless giving that Pederson had just begun to look more like his normal self at the plate: he’s hitting .220/.429/.444 with four extra-base hits and an eye-popping 26.5% walk rate over his last 16 games.

The Rangers can only hope that he’ll be able to pick back up right where he left off when he returns to action later this summer. A six week timetable would leave him poised to return in early July, shortly before the All-Star break. Rough as his start to the 2025 campaign was, it goes without saying that Pederson can be a dynamic addition to virtually any lineup when healthy; while he almost exclusively plays against right-handed pitching, the slugger slashed an excellent .262/.365/.485 with a wRC+ of 135 and 61 homers in 387 games over his last three seasons. That’s the 16th-best wRC+ among all hitters with at least 1000 plate appearances in that span, sandwiched between Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Jose Ramirez on the leaderboard. If Pederson can offer that sort of production to the Rangers in the second half, it should be easy for fans to forget his first-half struggles and injury woes so long as Texas hasn’t already fallen out of the playoff conversation before he returns.

Marlins Select Janson Junk

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The Marlins are selecting the contract of right-hander Janson Junk, according to a team announcement. Right-hander Lake Bachar was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Junk on the active roster, while a 40-man roster spot was opened up by transferring catcher Rob Brantly to the 60-day injured list.

Junk, 29, was a 22nd-round pick by the Yankees back in 2019 who made his big league debut with the Angels back in 2021. Once a fairly well-regarded pitching prospect, Junk pitched to a 4.74 ERA and a 5.22 FIP in 24 2/3 innings spread across seven appearances (six starts) in the majors during the 2021 and ’22 seasons. Following the 2022 campaign, the Angels traded Junk to Milwaukee as part of the package for outfielder Hunter Renfroe. Junk didn’t get much of an opportunity in the majors with the Brewers either, however, pitching just 15 1/3 innings for the club with a 5.87 ERA and 5.22 FIP between the 2023 and ’24 seasons.

Those struggles in Milwaukee culminated in Junk eventually being bounced around the majors in the second half of last year. Junk was designated for assignment by the Brewers in late July and was claimed briefly by the Astros before being DFA’d once again and finding himself in Oakland. Junk appeared in just one game for the club but surrendered seven runs without recording an out and was eventually outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster in September of last year. He then reached minor league free agency during the offseason and signed a minors pact with the Marlins back in February.

Junk’s time with the Marlins organization has seen him pitch extremely well at Triple-A Jacksonville. In nine appearances (eight starts) for Miami’s affiliate, he’s pitched to a 2.48 ERA with a 22.5% strikeout rate in 45 1/3 innings of work. For a pitcher with a 4.03 career ERA across five seasons at the Triple-A level, it’s a noticeable step forward, and those impressive minor league numbers were clearly enough to get the attention of a Marlins club that’s always looking for extra arms who can pitch in flexible roles. He’ll join the Miami bullpen for the time being, where there should be opportunities for advancement into a late-inning role if he performs well given the club’s lackluster 5.09 bullpen ERA.

As for Bachar, the soon-to-be 30-year-old hurler is in his second season with the big league Marlins. He’s posted a 4.50 ERA in 36 innings of work as an up-and-down reliever for the club to this point, and while that league average (101 ERA+) production is hardly exciting, it’s the sort of effectiveness that should keep him in the conversation for appearances with the rebuilding Marlins going forward. Brantly, meanwhile, heads to the 60-day IL after sustaining a lat strain in April. That’ll keep him out of commission for at least another month, though a trio of Liam Hicks, Agustin Ramirez, and Nick Fortes seem perfectly capable of holding down the fort while Brantly is on the shelf.

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