The Guardians’ Surprising Pitching Need
When it comes to pitching development, Cleveland has been a model organization for years. The Guardians have churned out quality starter after quality starter. Among the names they've either drafted or acquired as a prospect and developed into a true big leaguer are Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Shane Bieber, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, Cal Quantrill, Danny Salazar and Triston McKenzie. Journeyman Ben Lively turned his career around in Cleveland recently. Matthew Boyd parlayed eight strong starts with the '24 Guardians into a two-year deal with the Cubs and looks completely revitalized.
Not all of those arms have sustained their success, of course. Injuries and general pitcher attrition hit the Guardians, just like any other club. Salazar, McKenzie and plenty of others in the past decade have run into health troubles that derailed their careers. Bieber's 2024 lasted only two starts before Tommy John surgery, and he was traded to the Blue Jays in July before making it back to a big league mound in Cleveland (albeit in a deal netting a pretty strong pitching prospect, Khal Stephen). Daniel Espino went from the sport's top pitching prospect to the poster boy for the "What if..." crowd after a series of significant injuries -- including two shoulder surgeries -- blew up his promising career. He's still with the organization but hasn't pitched in a game since 2022 (when he tossed only 18 1/3 innings).
The Guardians have had similar success in the bullpen, churning out names like Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, Trevor Stephan, Hunter Gaddis, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Sam Hentges, James Karinchak and more. As with the starters -- even more so, in fact -- injuries and attrition have whittled away at the group, but Cleveland has generally been able to bank on piecing together a strong relief corps while rarely investing significant money to do so.
Over the past decade, Cleveland starters rank second in the majors in innings pitched and are tied for fifth in ERA. The rotation has been so good that Cleveland relievers have pitched the fewest innings of any team in the game. Their relievers, unsurprisingly, lead MLB in earned run average in that span.
We've come to take for granted that the Guardians will just produce a good pitching staff even when they lack clear name value. Almost as if by magic, they seemingly pluck strong pitching performances from thin air. That hasn't quite been the case in 2025, however, and there's reason to wonder whether they can get back on track in 2026.
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
NPB’s Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams
7:34pm: Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that Okamoto and Imai are indeed both expected to be posted this offseason.
12:24pm: Every offseason, a handful of high-profile players from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization in South Korea either reach true free agency or are made available to MLB teams by way of the posting system. We already know that slugging third baseman Munetaka Murakami (NPB’s Yakult Swallows) and steady right-hander Kona Takahashi (NPB’s Seibu Lions) will be posted this winter. Breakout infielder Sung Mun Song (KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes) is hoping to be posted for big league clubs as well. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports this morning that Yomiuri Giants third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and Seibu Lions righty Tatsuya Imai are also hoping to be posted by their clubs and make the jump to Major League Baseball.
The hope of being posted is notable, but that also does not guarantee either player will be available to North American clubs this winter. Yakyu Cosmopolitan — a terrific source for English-speaking fans with an interest in Japanese baseball — points out that NPB’s Giants are a typically anti-posting club who rarely make their stars available to MLB teams. Okamoto is the Giants’ captain. The Lions are more amenable to posting players, but they’ve already agreed to post Takahashi. Posting two members of their rotation would be difficult, but YC notes that Imai would be a true free agent after the 2026 season. The Lions could lose him for nothing in the 2026-27 offseason anyhow.
Okamoto turned 29 in June. He’s a six-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner who’s thrice led NPB in home runs. He missed more than three months of the current season after injuring his elbow in a collision at first base, but he’s healthy again and is batting .304/.385/.585 with 11 homers, 13 doubles, a triple and nearly as many walks (10.2%) as strikeouts (11.2%) in 196 plate appearances. Okamoto averaged 34 homers per season from 2018-23, “slipped” to 27 last year, and is now homering at the third-best rate of his career (once every 17.8 plate appearances).
Okamoto has been on the radar of MLB scouts for several years now, but if the Giants are going to post him, this will be the time to do it. Like Imai, he’ll have the requisite nine years of service to become a true free agent after the 2026 season. That hasn’t stopped the Yomiuri club from holding onto stars in the past. However, if Okamoto is set on eventually making a move to North America, the Giants’ decision boils down to posting him now and reaping a notable sum via the posting system or allowing him to walk with no compensation next winter.
The right-handed-hitting Okamoto played primarily third base early in his NPB career, but he’s seen significant time at first and has a handful of starts in the outfield corners as well. Okamoto has split his time between the corners this year but was primarily a first baseman in 2024. Sports Info Solutions credited him with the Fielding Bible Award as NPB’s best defender at first base in 2024, and Passan suggests that some MLB teams feel he’s better suited at first than at third.
Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs agrees, labeling Okamoto as a “likely first-base-only defender” in the majors but crediting his plus power and consistent ability to pull the ball with authority. Longenhagen notes that, as is the case with most NPB hitters, there are questions about Okamoto’s ability to hit big league fastballs. The average NPB fastball is around 91 mph, compared to this year’s 94.4 mph average four-seamer in MLB (via Statcast). Longenhagen writes that Okamoto’s numbers against heaters greater than 94 mph “fall off a cliff.” It’s a valid concern, though the counter is always that a hitter could potentially adapt to better velocity when seeing it more frequently. That uncertainty will be baked into eventual price of a free agent contract if Okamoto is posted.
Even if Okamoto is limited to primarily playing first base, he’s a good defender there by all accounts. He has plus power, improving contact skills and draws plenty of walks. Since settling in as a regular in his age-22 season, Okamoto is a .276/.360/.524 hitter with an average of 39 homers per 162 games played. He currently has a career-low strikeout rate and the second-best ISO (slugging minus batting average) of his career. If he’s posted, there will surely be multi-year interest from MLB clubs.
Imai’s possible addition to the market is arguably even more intriguing, given the heavy price teams are willing to pay for prime-aged pitching. The 5’11” righty won’t turn 28 until next May. He’s in the midst of a career-best season, sporting a comical 1.50 ERA with a 28.8% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 143 2/3 innings. Dating back to the 2022 season, Imai boasts a sensational 2.10 earned run average. Passan notes that the right-hander sits 95 mph with his heater and tops out at 99 mph, giving him the sort of power arsenal that’s quite rare in NPB.
An ankle injury held him to nine games back in 2022, but Imai has topped 130 innings in three seasons since and is averaging seven innings per start for a second consecutive season. He’s on pace for back-to-back seasons of more than 170 innings. (Bear in mind that the NPB season is 144 games, not 162 as in MLB, and Japanese pitchers typically only start once per week.) Imai currently ranks seventh in NPB in innings pitched, and the six names ahead of him all have at least one extra start over him. He’s averaged more innings per start than all but one of those pitchers ahead of him on that leaderboard.
Passan writes that he polled more than a dozen scouts and front office executives on the type of contract Imai could command, with estimates ranging from $80MM on the low end to nearly $200MM on the high end. He’ll be three years older than Yoshinobu Yamamoto was when he landed his precedent-setting $325MM contract with the Dodgers but two years younger than Shota Imanaga was when he signed a four-year, $53MM deal that now looks like a bargain for the Cubs (and still will even after Chicago picks up an option to push the deal to $80MM over five years).
If Imai is posted, he’ll join Dustin May and Michael Soroka as free agent starters heading into their age-28 seasons. Imai would have considerably more earning power than either, as big league teams will pay a premium for his power arsenal and the allure of the unknown. Based on Imai’s age, arsenal and recent track record, there’s a chance that he could be the highest-paid pitcher of the entire free agent class this winter — if the Lions eventually choose to make him available.
For those in need of a refresher, the MLB-NPB posting system allows Japanese teams to post their players for all 30 MLB teams at their discretion. Players that are 25 or older and have six-plus years of experience can sign major league contracts for any length and any amount. When a player is posted, that opens a 45-day window for him to negotiate with any and all interested MLB clubs.
When a deal is reached, the MLB team must pay a posting/release fee to the player’s former NPB club. That sum is equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any money thereafter. That sum comes in addition to the contract. Any down-the-road earnings (e.g. club options, performance bonuses, etc.) are also factored in once they become guaranteed. For instance, if Imai were to sign a $125MM contract with an eventual club option for $25MM, his MLB team would owe the Lions an additional $3.75MM (15%) upon exercising that club option.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Greetings all! Bit of an impromptu chat this week since my schedule didn’t really allow for one on Tuesday
Guards Nation
- If the guardians lose Clase and Ortiz, will they free up payroll and if they do, can you envision them using the space to go out and get a high level bat or arm?
Steve Adams
- Ortiz isn’t on a guaranteed contract, so there wouldn’t be any payroll savings. Clase’s contract had a pretty modest $6MM guarantee in 2026. They’d be spared that $6MM and the $2MM buyout on his 2027 option, which counts as guaranteed money).
That’s all if they’re suspended/banned, of course, and we have no good way of knowing that yet. Regardless, an extra $6-8MM of payroll space next year isn’t going to give them any sort of substantial savings or embolden them to sign a big-name free agent.
In general, if you’re hoping for Cleveland to sign marquee free agents, you’re probably setting yourself up for a disappointment. Not trying to sound insulting by any means — that’s just reality.
Kevin
- Chances that Kim will rework deal with Braves to add on one or two more years?
Steve Adams
- I don’t see why he’d sign a one-year extension when his value is at a low point. I expect him to just play out the 2026 season as Atlanta’s everyday shortstop and try again. He’d hit the market ahead of his age-31 season, which is still young enough to land a nice multi-year deal (4-5 years) if he can bounce back in ’26
Braves Release Cal Quantrill, Designate Luke Williams
The Braves announced Thursday that they’ve released right-hander Cal Quantrill and designated infielder/outfielder Luke Williams for assignment. That duo’s roster spots will go to outfielder Jurickson Profar, who’s returning from the paternity list, and righty Daysbel Hernandez, who has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Quantrill’s time with Atlanta will last all of two weeks. The Braves claimed the righty off waivers from the Marlins on Aug. 21, absorbing the remaining $715K on his $3.5MM salary in the process. They’ll end up getting just two starts for that roll of the dice; Quantrill allowed three runs on five hits and five walks in 4 2/3 innings against the Mets on Aug. 23 before being shelled for nine runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Phillies five days later. His Atlanta stint concludes with a grisly 13.50 ERA in eight innings.
It’s been a rough year on the whole for the veteran Quantrill, whose Braves struggles pushed his ERA to 6.04 in 117 2/3 innings. That unsightly endpoint masks what was a decent run midseason. Quantrill struggled immensely in April but posted a 3.55 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate in 14 starts from May 1 through the end of July.
A team in need of innings could sign Quantrill for the final three weeks of the regular season and would only owe him the prorated minimum, but there’s also a chance this will be the end of his season. He’ll be a free agent this winter regardless, but with a 5.39 ERA dating back to 2023, he’ll likely be limited to minor league offers in free agency.
Williams, 29, has been with the Braves since they claimed him off waivers in June 2023, but he’s spent the bulk of his time in Gwinnett. Atlanta has given Williams a total of 94 plate appearances in the majors, during which he’s slashed .153/.215/.212. (He’s also held opponents to four runs in 10 innings of mop-up relief.)
A third-round pick of the Phillies back in 2015, Williams has never hit much in the majors. He’s a career .213/.271/.281 batter in 348 turns at the plate but carries a steadier .259/.338/.406 slash in parts of five Triple-A seasons. Williams has primarily been a third baseman since turning pro but has more than 300 innings at each of the four infield positions and in both outfield corners.
Now that he’s been designated for assignment, Williams will head to outright waivers. Assuming he clears, he’ll be able to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency by virtue of the fact that he’s previously ben outrighted in his career.
Mets To Promote Brandon Sproat
11:45am: The Mets will indeed call up Sproat for his major league debut this weekend, per Chase Ford of MiLB Central. He’ll make his big league debut on Sunday. The Mets will need to open spots on the active and 40-man rosters for Sproat.
9:15am: The Mets have already called up two of the organization’s top three pitching prospects. Nolan McLean has taken the National League by storm, and Jonah Tong looked sharp in his MLB debut last week. The third member of their touted Triple-A trio could soon join them in the majors. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that righty Brandon Sproat is receiving “strong consideration” to make a start for the big league club in the near future.
A possible promotion for Sproat comes at the same time the Mets have been mulling a minor league stint for struggling righty Kodai Senga, who has a 6.56 ERA over his past eight starts (averaging just 4 1/3 innings per outing in that time).
That’s not as straightforward a decision as it might seem. The five-year, $75MM contract Senga signed when he came to MLB from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball stipulates that he cannot be optioned to the minors without his consent. It’s not expressly clear that the Mets have asked him about to accept an optional assignment, though Mike Puma of the New York Post implied as much yesterday when writing that the organization expects to know whether Senga would approve the move by this weekend. Puma added that one way or another, the organization expects Sproat to make his big league debut before season’s end.
Sproat, 24, was the Mets’ second-round pick in 2023. The former Florida Gators standout has had an up-and-down year in Triple-A. He struggled to an ERA north of 6.00 in April/May before dominating with a combined 2.22 ERA in June and July. Sproat alternated between quality starts and clunkers throughout August. He’s sitting on a 4.24 ERA overall, and he’s punched out 22.1% of his opponents against a 10.6% walk rate. Those numbers look far better if you toss out the first two months of the season; Sproat has a 3.13 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in his past 14 starts. He tossed seven scoreless frames against the Yankees’ top affiliate his last time out, fanning nine hitters against only two walks along the way.
The uneven nature of Sproat’s season, coupled with the influx of talent from this year’s draft, has dropped him down — or even entirely off — most top-100 lists around the industry. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel still lists him 83rd in the game, and Baseball America has Sproat at No. 98. Baseball America notes that his turnaround in Syracuse coincided with increased usage of his curveball, changeup and two-seamer, helping to diversify his repertoire and make him less predictable, as opponents had become too keyed-in on his four-seamer. The 6’3″, 215-pound Sproat is sitting 96.4 mph on that four-seamer this season, and both his changeup and slider draw above-average to plus grades from scouts.
While Sproat’s seemingly inevitable addition to the 40-man roster and his MLB debut will come after Sept. 1, he’ll still be eligible for postseason play. Any player in an organization prior to September is eligible for postseason rosters. Technically, the Mets would need to petition for him to be an injury replacement, but teams make this move every year. At times, we’ve even seen top prospects who weren’t on the 40-man roster at the beginning of September get selected to the roster in October make their MLB debuts in the playoffs (e.g. Shane McClanahan, Adalberto Mondesi, Alex Kirilloff).
Red Sox To Place Jordan Hicks On Injured List
The Red Sox are placing right-hander Jordan Hicks on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder injury, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. Southpaw Chris Murphy will be recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Hicks’ spot in Boston’s bullpen.
Hicks came to the Red Sox alongside Kyle Harrison, Jose Bello and the since-traded (for Dustin May) James Tibbs III in the June blockbuster sending Rafael Devers to the Giants. The veteran righty is in the second season of a four-year, $44MM deal signed with San Francisco in the 2023-24 offseason. The Giants tried Hicks as a starter both last year and this season, but he hasn’t held up in that role. The Sox have been using him in the bullpen, and the results through his first two-plus months have been nightmarish.
In 18 2/3 innings with the Red Sox, Hicks has been crushed for 17 runs (8.20 ERA) on 25 hits and a dozen walks. He’s also plunked four batters and tossed six wild pitches — all while striking out a career-worst 15.5% of his opponents. Manager Alex Cora has still used Hicks in plenty of leverage spots, and the organization was surely hopeful that he could return to his prior standing as a coveted, flamethrowing setup man.
Perhaps that’ll still be the case down the road. The Red Sox have Hicks signed through 2027, and he’ll earn $12MM in each of the next two seasons. It’s important for them to try to get the righty sorted out, but for the time being, he’ll be down for the next two weeks at the very least. This will be the eighth IL stint for Hicks since he landed on the IL in 2019 for a UCL tear and required Tommy John surgery — and the third shoulder-related IL stint dating back to Aug. 2024.
At various points in his career, Hicks has looked the part of a quality late-inning option with a chance to step up as one of the game’s elite relievers. He’s averaged better than 100 mph on his sinker in three different seasons and from 2018-21 logged a massive 63% ground-ball rate. Hicks has never missed bats as often as one would expect for someone with this type of velocity, but he’s had three seasons with an ERA in the low-to-mid 3.00s and looked to have turned a corner in 2023. That season, he logged a 3.29 ERA with a career-best 28.4% strikeout rate and an 11.2% walk rate which, at the time, was also a career-best mark for a full season.
Hicks parlayed that impressive year and his uncommon youth in free agency (27 years old) into his current four-year contract. He’ll have another two years to get back on track at Fenway Park, and he’ll still be headed into just his age-31 season when he reaches free agency for a second time after the 2027 campaign.
Shelby Miller Likely Headed For Tommy John Surgery
3:00pm: Miller spoke with the Brewers beat in the dugout today and suggested that a second Tommy John procedure is likely (video link via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The veteran righty effused praise for the Brewers organization and said he’d be on hand to support the club however he can. Asked about the possibility of this being a potential career-ending injury, Miller said there’s “no doubt” in his mind that he can come back — likely in 2027 — and continue to pitch effectively, but that’ll be a conversation he has with his family when he’s further down the road.
Notably, the right-hander acknowledged that surgery was mentioned as a possibility when he was on the injured list with the D-backs. That would have been an internal brace and flexor repair, but a full UCL replacement now seems like it could be on the table. The Brewers surely knew of that possibility at the time of the swap (hence the purely financial cost of acquisition), but that doesn’t make his loss any less impactful.
Fans will want to check out Rosiak’s full five-minute video clip, as Miller provides a wealth of candid quotes on his career, his current mindset, his injury, his time with the Brewers and more.
2:12pm: The Brewers announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Shelby Miller on the 60-day injured list due to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The 34-year-old exited a game earlier this week after telling manager Pat Murphy that he’d felt a “pop” in his elbow, and it seems he’s encountered a worst-case scenario. Milwaukee has selected the contract of righty Joel Payamps to take Miller’s spot on the 40-man roster and in the big league bullpen.
The Brewers haven’t specified whether Miller will undergo Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure, but surgery is the most common outcome when pitchers suffer UCL sprains. If Miller does require Tommy John surgery, it’d be the second time in his career. He also underwent Tommy John surgery back in 2017 while pitching with the Diamondbacks.
Losing Miller is another notable blow for a Milwaukee bullpen that is also without closer Trevor Megill (flexor strain), lefty DL Hall (oblique strain) and righty Grant Anderson (ankle tendinitis). The Brewers acquired Miller at the trade deadline, knowing there were some health risks. He was on the injured list with a forearm strain at the time. Perhaps in a reflection of that uncertainty, Milwaukee effectively purchased Miller rather than sending any prospects to the D-backs; they took on the remainder of Miller’s deal and $2MM of the roughly $7MM still owed to injured starter Jordan Montgomery — a free agent at season’s end.
Miller has pitched 9 2/3 innings with the Brewers and sports an unsightly 5.59 ERA, though that’s a bit misleading. Prior to the outing when he felt that “pop,” he’d pitched in 10 games with the Brewers and held opponents scoreless in eight of them. The main blemish was a three-run hiccup against the Bucs on Aug. 13, but generally, Miller had been strong: a 3.72 ERA with a 14-to-4 K/BB ratio in those 9 2/3 frames. He was tagged for two runs without recording an out in what will go down as his final appearance of the season, however, and he’ll close out the 2025 campaign with a 2.74 ERA, 10 saves and nine holds in 46 innings.
In place of Miller, the Brewers will take another look at the veteran Payamps. The 31-year-old righty was a rock-solid bullpen arm for the Brew Crew in 2023-24, pitching a combined 129 2/3 innings with a 2.78 ERA, a 26.1% strikeout rate, a 6.7% walk rate, a 42.6% ground-ball rate and just 1.04 HR/9. He saved nine games along the way and piled up 48 holds between those two excellent seasons.
Payamps got out to a miserable start in 2025, however, allowing 17 runs in his first 18 1/3 innings of work. The Brewers designated him for assignment and placed him on waivers. His $2.995MM salary made it easy to pass him through outright waivers, and Payamps has shown signs of righting the ship with Milwaukee’s top affiliate in Nashville. His numbers are somewhat skewed thanks to a six-run meltdown in his third-most-recent appearance, on Aug. 23, but Payamps carried a tidy 3.04 ERA into that outing and has bounced back with a pair of perfect frames during which he punched out five of his six opponents.
Overall, Payamps has a 4.73 ERA in 26 2/3 innings, with a disproportionate amount of the damage against him coming in that Aug. 23 hiccup. He’s posted a sharp 30-to-6 K/BB ratio with Nashville and allowed only two home runs. If he’s back to his 2023-24 form, or even 80-90% of the way there, Payamps could be an impactful bullpen addition for the final few weeks of the regular season — and perhaps even into the postseason if he shows well enough.
Nationals Claim Sauryn Lao, Designate Darren Baker For Assignment
The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Sauryn Lao off waivers from the Mariners. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Infielder/outfielder Darren Baker was designated for assignment in a corresponding roster move.
The 26-year-old Lao made his major league debut with Seattle this summer but has only pitched 3 1/3 innings in the bigs. He’s allowed three runs with a 4-to-1 K/BB ratio in that tiny sample of work but has otherwise spent the season in Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s pitched quite well. In 69 innings of relief with the Mariners’ top affiliate, Lao logged a 3.13 ERA with a hearty 25.9% strikeout rate against a 6.7% walk rate.
Originally signed by the Dodgers as an amateur, Lao is a former third baseman who’s still relatively new to pitching. He moved to the mound full-time in 2023 and has shown a quick aptitude for relief work. He’s posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of his three minor league seasons since transitioning to the mound, and he hasn’t shown the type of command troubles that are common for former position players. To the contrary — he’s faced 748 hitters in his three minor league seasons and only walked 51 of them (6.8%).
Lao isn’t a flamethrower but sits at a roughly average 93.5 mph on his four-seamer. He pairs that pitch with a sinker that also sits 93 mph as well as a slider and changeup both in the mid-to-upper 80s. Since he was just selected to a 40-man roster for the first time this year, Lao is in his first minor league option season and will be optionable for two more years. If he can carve out a role for himself in D.C., the Nats can control him all the way through the 2031 season.
Baker, 26, is the son of Hall of Famer and former Nationals skipper Dusty Baker. He made his big league debut as a September call-up with Washington last year, going 7-for-14 with a pair of doubles. He’s spent the past three seasons in Triple-A with the Nats, regularly hitting for average but contributing virtually no power. Baker has only walked at a slightly above-average clip as well, leaving him with an overall .274/.345/.336 batting line in nearly 1300 Triple-A plate appearances. Baker runs well, evidenced by an 83-for-99 showing in stolen base attempts across 309 Triple-A contests.
Defensively, he’s spent the majority of his career at second base, with more than 2500 innings at the position. He’s also logged a bit more than 1000 innings in the outfield — 968 of them coming in left and 58 in center field. Washington selected him in the 10th round of the 2021 draft.
Now that Baker has been designated for assignment, he’ll head to outright waivers. He hasn’t cleared previously and doesn’t have the service time to reject a minor league assignment, so if he goes unclaimed he’ll stick with the Nats as a depth option.
Red Sox To Place Roman Anthony On Injured List
Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony exited yesterday’s game due to soreness in his left oblique. He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list, manager Alex Cora revealed in a radio appearance on WEEI today. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported not long beforehand that Anthony was likely to be placed on the IL and that the Sox would recall utilityman Nick Sogard from Triple-A Worcester to take his spot on the roster.
Cora didn’t provide a timetable for Anthony specifically, speaking instead in general terms while pointing out that oblique strains often take four to six weeks to heal. Obviously, there’s a chance that Anthony’s regular season is over.
It’s terrible timing for the Red Sox (not that there’s a “good” time to lose a player of Anthony’s caliber). Boston is 2.5 games back of the division-leading Blue Jays in the American League East. They’re veritable playoff locks by now, but the Red Sox have a real chance of moving to the top of the division and potentially securing a bye through the first round of postseason play. Attempting to do so without Anthony will make that task far more daunting.
Since making his big league debut on June 9, Anthony has been Boston’s best offensive performer. Through 303 plate appearances, he’s hitting .292/.396/.463 with eight homers, 18 doubles, a triple, a 13.2% walk rate and four stolen bases (in five tries). The resulting 138 wRC+ indicates that Anthony has been 38% better than an average hitter at the plate. Among Red Sox hitters, only newcomer Nathaniel Lowe has a better mark, and that comes in a sample of just 41 plate appearances.
Further complicating matters for the Sox is that Anthony will join Wilyer Abreu on the injured list. He’s been out since mid-August with a calf strain and doesn’t appear close to a return. Cora said just last night that Abreu has yet to even resume running (link via the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey). That leaves Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela in two of the three outfield spots, and a rotating cast of characters to mix and match in the third. Masataka Yoshida, Rob Refsnyder, Nate Eaton and the aforementioned Sogard are among the possibilities. Yoshida has played the field just four times this year after offseason shoulder surgery.
It’s possible Anthony heals abnormally quickly and is back on the field before season’s end, but based purely on the history of oblique injuries in recent years, it’s far likelier that he won’t be ready to return until the postseason is underway. The Red Sox will have to hope that they’re still alive when Anthony is cleared to return, and even then, he might need to jump right back into the mix after a lengthy layoff and without the benefit of a true minor league rehab assignment. At the very least, they’ll hope to have Abreu back by that point, but Boston’s outfield look far less formidable now than it did three weeks ago.
Mariners, Guillo Zuñiga Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Guillo Zuñiga, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The former Cardinals and Angels reliever had been with the Phillies on a minor league deal but was granted his release earlier in the week.
Zuñiga, 26, has pitched in the majors in each of the past two seasons, totaling 19 2/3 frames between St. Louis and Anaheim. He’s allowed 11 earned runs (5.03 ERA) on 16 hits and eight walks with a dozen strikeouts. The big 6’5″, 230-pound righty has posted similar numbers in Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2025, logging a 5.14 ERA, a 23.5% strikeout rate and a 10.9% walk rate in 42 innings of relief.
While Zuñiga has yet to find much success in the majors or even in Triple-A, he still has plenty of appealing traits. He’s averaging 96.9 mph on his four-seamer this season in Triple-A and is sporting a 12.3% swinging-strike rate that’s north of the major league average. He’s not inducing enough chases off the plate, but opponents have made contact at a well below average 73.7% clip overall — including a weak 79.5% on pitches within the strike zone.
Opponents also had a hard time making high-impact contact against Zuñiga, evidenced by a tepid 87.7 mph average exit velocity and 32.5% hard-hit rate. This year’s 46.9% grounder rate is a strong mark that’s notably higher than his recent seasons in the upper minors, perhaps due to throwing fewer fastballs and ramping up the usage of his slider and changeup.
The Mariners already have a strong back end of the bullpen. Closer Andrés Muñoz (1.69 ERA) and setup men Matt Brash (1.86), Gabe Speier (2.39), Eduard Bazardo (2.65) and Carlos Vargas (3.66) have all posted strong run-prevention numbers on the season. The other few spots in the ‘pen are a bit in flux, however. Caleb Ferguson has struggled since coming over from the Pirates at the trade deadline. Tayler Saucedo has given up 11 runs in 10 1/3 innings this season. Starter-turned-reliever Emerson Hancock and veteran Luke Jackson were added to the mix when rosters expanded Monday.
Zuñiga won’t necessarily get a look in the majors, but if he impresses in his first few looks over in Tacoma, it’s feasible that he could pitch his way into a big league audition. He didn’t sign with the Mariners until Sept. 2, so he won’t be postseason-eligible even if he does push his way to the big leagues, but he’s a hard-throwing 26-year-old with a minor league option remaining and six additional seasons of club control, so he’s a sensible enough flier — especially for a team with a long track record of converting bargain-bin relief pickups into quality members of the major league bullpen.