Ramón Laureano Likely Out For Season
The Padres are likely to be without left fielder Ramón Laureano for the remainder of the season. He underwent labrum surgery on his right hip on Friday, relays Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The team hasn’t officially ruled him out for the year but noted that this injury typically requires a 4-5 month recovery. San Diego transferred him to the 60-day injured list this evening.
Laureano first had an issue with his right hip five years ago. He missed a few weeks in June 2021 with a hip strain while still playing in Oakland. Laureano had managed to play through any subsequent discomfort but evidently found the current issue too serious to avoid surgery.
There’s a decent chance this will mark the end of his Padres tenure. San Diego acquired Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn in a package deal from the Orioles at last summer’s trade deadline. O’Hearn was a rental, while the Padres had a $6.5MM club option on Laureano that looked like a bargain. He was one of the team’s best hitters after the trade, batting .269/.323/.489 over 50 games until a broken right index finger ended his season.
[Related: The Padres’ Problems Are Mounting]
It remained an easy call for San Diego to exercise the option and plug Laureano into the Opening Day lineup as their left fielder. He got out to a quick start, batting .288 with four homers and nine extra-base knocks through his first 19 games. It seems the hip became increasingly problematic in the back half of April. Laureano would hit .147 with three homers over his next 34 contests before going on the injured list on Tuesday.
Left field now becomes yet another issue for an already woeful offense. The Padres have been the lowest-scoring team in MLB. Over the past month, they have an unfathomably poor .191/.270/.325 team batting line. A diminished version of Laureano was a big part of that, but nearly the entire lineup has struggled. Ty France, Gavin Sheets and Fernando Tatis Jr. have been above-average hitters in the last 30 days. Everyone else who is still on the roster has been at least 34 percent worse than league average, by measure of wRC+, over that stretch.
That includes fourth outfielder Bryce Johnson, who’s in the starting lineup for the second straight night. The 30-year-old Johnson ran an inflated batting average on balls in play to some small sample success last season. That hasn’t carried over this year. The Padres called up 25-year-old Jase Bowen earlier in the week; he’s 1-8 with five strikeouts in his first three career games.
Manager Craig Stammen said left field will feature a combination of Sheets, Johnson, Bowen and light-hitting utility player Samad Taylor (link via Kevin Acee of The Union-Tribune). Sheets is already an everyday player between the corner outfield, first base, and designated hitter. He probably shouldn’t play the outfield, but the Padres have no choice but to keep him and France in the lineup to get any kind of offense.
Jackson Merrill is locked in as the everyday center fielder and hopefully beginning to break out of his season-long rut. Tatis is moving between right field and second base. If the Padres remain in the hunt for a Wild Card spot into July, they’ll need to find a way to add multiple bats. Left field will probably be the priority in that search. Mickey Moniak, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell and Jacob Young are speculative outfield trade candidates who could be available closer to the deadline.
Laureano will hit free agency at the end of the season. He’ll almost certainly be looking at a one-year reclamation contract for his age-32 campaign. He’d have been well positioned for two or three years if he’d stayed healthy and hit at anything close to last season’s level, making this a particularly frustrating injury for him personally.
Tarik Skubal To Begin Rehab Assignment, Could Be Reinstated After One Start
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch provided reporters with some updates on injured players today. Most notably, Hinch says that ace Tarik Skubal will make a rehab appearance on Sunday. That will take place with High-A West Michigan instead of Triple-A due to the weather forecast. If all goes well, he could rejoin the big league club after that. Hinch also said that infielder Trey Sweeney underwent season-ending arthroscopic right shoulder surgery. Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group and Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic were among those to pass along the info.
It’s a remarkable turnaround timeline for Skubal, who just underwent surgery to remove a loose body in his elbow a month ago. A procedure like that would normally come with a timeline about three months, if not more.
Skubal was the first MLB player to have surgery performed with a tool called a NanoNeedle, which some are now calling a SkubalScope. Basically, it’s like other arthroscopes but smaller. The reduced size and smaller incision theoretically leads to less pain and swelling, which hopefully leads to a quicker recovery time.
Based on how things have gone for Skubal, the theory appears to be holding true, at least so far. He began throwing less just over a week after going the procedure. Less than three weeks after going under the knife, he threw a three-inning sim game. If the next steps go smoothly, he could be back with the Tigers less than six weeks from the operation.
Though it’s a great development for Skubal, the impacts are potentially broader than that. Cutting the recovery time in half for a common injury could have all kinds of positive ramifications for the pitchers and the sport. Though of course, it still remains to be seen if all will go according to plan in the next few weeks. It’s also unclear if all pitchers will be this lucky. Blake Snell underwent surgery in the middle of May, using the NanoNeedle, to remove multiple loose bodies from his elbow. The Dodgers quickly put him on the 60-day injured list, so that club expects Snell’s timeline to be at least two months.
Time will tell on whether the medical aspect is a game-changer or not. For now, it’s huge for baseball and the 2026 season. The Tigers were 18-17 and tied with the Guardians atop the American League Central when news of Skubal’s surgery was revealed. Since then, they have gone into a bad slump and fallen to 25-38, with the Angels the only A.L. club with a worse record.
Thanks to widespread struggles among A.L. clubs, the playoff race is still wide open. The Tigers are only 5.5 games back of the Athletics and Rangers, who are tied for the last Wild Card spot with records of 30-32. Getting Skubal back into the rotation so quickly will be a big boost to the Tigers as they try to climb back into the mix.
If Detroit can’t gain ground in that race, then Skubal will be the most talked-about player ahead of the trade deadline. There have already been whispers about Skubal trade possibilities for a long time, since he is an impending free agent and doesn’t seem likely to sign an extension. An offseason trade never made much sense from the team’s perspective since they have been in win-now mode for a few years, though their recent skid has made the possibility seem much more realistic.
Combine all those factors and Skubal should be in the spotlight in the coming weeks and months. Him coming back healthy and pitching like his old self will obviously be important. The club’s record will also be closely watched by fans in Detroit and elsewhere.
Given the magnitude of the decision, the front office will presumably try to delay picking a lane as long as possible. If Detroit gets into playoff position or falls further back, the choice will become easier. If they stay a few games out of a playoff spot, that’s a much tougher call. The Tigers know well that a lot can happen in a short amount of time. In 2024, Detroit was 10 games out of a playoff spot in the middle of August but got red hot to make it in. Last year, the Tigers had a 15.5-game lead on the Guardians in July but saw Cleveland storm back to take the division.
In addition to Skubal, the Tigers have Casey Mize, Justin Verlander, Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson on the IL. Olson is done for the season due to shoulder surgery. Jobe had Tommy John surgery a year ago and could perhaps be a factor in a few months. Verlander is dealing with hip inflammation and Mize a groin strain. Verlander made a five-inning rehab start on Tuesday, so he and Skubal could both be back soon. Mize could be a bit behind them, potentially starting a rehab assignment soon.
The Tigers are currently running a four-man rotation consisting of Framber Valdez, Keider Montero, Jack Flaherty and Troy Melton, with Ty Madden and Enmanuel De Jesus in multi-inning relief roles.
If everyone stays healthy while Skubal, Verlander and Mize get back in the mix, it could lead to some tricky decisions about that group. Flaherty has the highest earned run average of the bunch at 5.31. He hasn’t been helped by a .333 batting average on balls in play and 64.1% strand rate, so his 4.40 FIP and 4.18 SIERA are much more encouraging. Given his veteran status and hefty salary, it might be tough to move him to the bullpen. Montero, Melton, Madden and De Jesus all have options and could be sent to the minors, if that’s what the club decides.
Sweeney began the season on the 10-day IL due to a shoulder strain. He was moved to the 60-day IL in the second week of April, suggesting the Tigers didn’t expect him back soon. Presumably, he and the club were exploring non-surgical options but hit a wall with those pursuits and 2026 will go down as an entirely lost season for him. He’ll continue to collect big league pay and service time while on the IL.
The Tigers are without Sweeney and Javier Báez in their middle infield group at the moment. Kevin McGonigle is playing both shortstop and third base, with Zack Short covering short when McGonigle is at the hot corner. Gleyber Torres was also on the IL for a while but recently returned to take over second base. Jace Jung, Hao-Yu Lee, Trei Cruz and Gage Workman are on the 40-man but currently on optional assignment. Torres is a free agent at season’s end, so the second base job is up for grabs in 2027.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas,Imagn Images
Aaron Judge Diagnosed With Rib Stress Fracture, Will Be Reevaluated In 4-6 Weeks
June 5: Judge has been officially placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to June 2nd, with Jones recalled as the corresponding move. Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the Jones move earlier today.
June 4: The Yankees will be without the game’s most feared slugger for a couple months. New York announced that Aaron Judge has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in the first rib on his right side. He’ll go for follow-up imaging in four to six weeks to gauge his healing and rehab process.
New York announced that Judge is expected back at some point before the end of the season. It’ll almost certainly not be until August at the earliest. He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list before tomorrow’s series opener with the Red Sox and seems likely to wind up on the 60-day IL at some point.
Judge sat out this week’s series against the Guardians. The Yankees announced he was going for testing on a ribcage injury despite feeling the pain mostly in his right shoulder. Fans had some concern when the team sent Judge to a doctor who specializes in treating thoracic outlet syndrome this afternoon. It seems that was to rule out the nerve condition.
Thoracic outlet syndrome would have been the nightmare outcome. A rib fracture seems unlikely to be a career-altering injury. While it’s not a worst case scenario, it’s clearly not good news. It’ll take until around the All-Star Break for the team to even check into the rib’s healing. He’d need to build up baseball activities and live batting practice sessions from there. An absence of this length is also going to require a rehab assignment to get accustomed to game speed.
Judge has felt an increasing amount of discomfort while hitting over the past few weeks. There was no single play this season that caused the injury. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com notes that Judge actually suffered a stress fracture of the same rib and a partially collapsed lung on a diving catch attempt back in 2019. That wasn’t diagnosed until the following March. The pandemic then shut down the sport for a few months, so that injury didn’t cost him any game time.
This injury has clearly weighed on Judge’s performance. He hit .243/.368/.437 with five home runs in May. That’d be a good few weeks for most hitters but was Judge’s lowest OPS in a month since April 2024. He had an OPS north of 1.000 this April, slugging 12 homers through the season’s first five weeks.
The Yankees are also without Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez. Utility players José Caballero and Max Schuemann have started the last three games in right field. They’ll probably bring Spencer Jones back up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre now that a Judge IL stay is confirmed. Domínguez is taking batting practice and could begin a rehab assignment this week. Stanton told Jon Heyman of The New York Post that he’s hoping to be back from a calf strain in about two weeks.
New York led MLB in scoring in May even without a herculean month from the three-time MVP. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger are having fantastic seasons. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has picked things up after a bad start. Paul Goldschmidt, back in the everyday lineup thanks to the Stanton and Domínguez injuries, is having a resurgent year. The bottom third of the order has been an issue, especially Austin Wells behind the plate, but this should still be an above-average lineup.
It’s clearly not going to be as potent without Judge as the anchor though. It’s unlikely this will dramatically change their deadline trajectory, as Domínguez should be back before too long to hold an outfield spot until Judge returns. It could certainly impact a tight division race, with New York holding a half-game advantage over Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Blue Jays Acquire Simeon Woods Richardson From Twins
The Blue Jays announced they’ve acquired right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson from the Twins for cash considerations. Toronto transferred lefty reliever Joe Mantiply from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Mantiply recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
It’s the second time the Toronto front office has acquired Woods Richardson. The first came as a prospect back in 2019, when the Jays landed him from the Mets as part of the Marcus Stroman deal. Woods Richardson was one of the better pitching prospects in MLB and found himself in another notable deadline trade two years later. Toronto packaged him and then-top prospect Austin Martin to Minnesota in ’21 for José Berríos.
Woods Richardson debuted the following year with one start. He also made one appearance the following season. The former second-round pick held a rotation spot for the better part of the next two years. Woods Richardson was a decent mid-rotation arm, posting a low-4.00s earned run average in consecutive seasons. He combined for a 4.11 ERA with a league average strikeout and walk profile across 245 innings from 2024-25.
That included a strong September last year that added optimism about Woods Richardson’s form going into 2026. Things have gone completely off the rails this year instead. Woods Richardson made two strong starts to open the season. He was knocked around over his next seven appearances, allowing almost 10 earned runs per nine innings. Minnesota pushed him to the bullpen for two scoreless outings. He drew back in as a spot starter on May 28 and was blitzed for five runs in 2 2/3 innings by the White Sox.
Minnesota pulled the plug at that point. Woods Richardson is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors, so the Twins designated him for assignment on Saturday. That gave them five days to see if they could line up a trade before exposing him to waivers. They were able to find a trade partner but only for cash.
Woods Richardson is averaging 92.7 mph on his fastball. That’s down marginally from last year’s 93.2 mark but not a dramatic drop. He has scaled up the usage of his splitter while abandoning his changeup and cutting back on his curveball. Nothing has worked this year, but his splitter and slider were both effective offerings last season.
Toronto’s rotation has been decimated by injuries. Berríos and Cody Ponce are done for the year. Shane Bieber remains weeks away from his season debut. Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer are both out of action but on rehab assignments, so they’ll be back soon. Woods Richardson could make a spot start or two in the interim or work out of the bullpen. The Jays are using Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Patrick Corbin as traditional starters and have Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles working mostly in 3-4 inning stints behind an opener.
Woods Richardson is playing for around the league minimum salary. He’ll qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player this winter if he holds his roster spot. He’s under club control for four seasons beyond this one.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic first reported the trade. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images.
Corbin Burnes Suffers Teres Major Strain, Likely Out Until September
Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes has suffered a teres major strain and will be shut down from his throwing progression. Manager Torey Lovullo says Burnes probably won’t be back until September with this setback. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic was among those to relay the news.
The righty underwent Tommy John surgery in June of last year. That procedure normally comes with a recovery period of 14 months or longer, which would have put Burnes in line for a return in August. He was optimistic about beating that, telling reporters in February that he expected he could return around the All-Star break in July. He faced live hitters last week, per Piecoro, but any hope of a July return is now dashed.
It’s an unfortunate development for Burnes and the Diamondbacks, as both parties were hoping he could be a late-season factor. Lovullo didn’t rule him out for the season but he now has an even tighter window to make an impact on the 2026 season.
Arizona will continue with a starting five of Merrill Kelly, Zac Gallen, Michael Soroka, Eduardo Rodriguez and Ryne Nelson. It hasn’t been a great group overall but has been one of the better rotations in the National League over the past month. All aside from Gallen have pitched well of late, but Soroka is the only one missing bats at an average or better rate. Nelson has also worked around one of the highest home run rates in MLB.
It feels fairly tenuous and there’s very little in terms of rotation depth. Prospects Mitch Bratt, Kohl Drake and Dylan Ray are all on the 40-man roster and at Triple-A Reno. None of those three have pitched in MLB, and only Drake (who has an ERA above 8.00) is currently healthy. There’s not much to be done right now beyond hoping the rest of the rotation stays healthy. Arizona is four games above .500 and currently holds the NL’s final Wild Card spot. If they can hang in the postseason picture, adding a starter at the deadline feels like a must.
This also all but ensures what already looked like an obvious call for Burnes not to opt out of the remaining four years and $140MM on his six-year free agent deal. There was an outside chance Burnes could’ve considered that if he made a seamless return from the elbow surgery and dominated in the second half — especially with a dismal free agent class after Tarik Skubal. That’s not going to happen anymore. Gallen and Soroka are impending free agents (the latter after his mutual option is bought out), so the D-Backs will need a healthy Burnes in 2027.
Padres Designate Nick Castellanos For Assignment
The Padres announced that first baseman/outfielder Nick Castellanos has been designated for assignment. Infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor has been selected to take his place on the active and 40-man rosters.
Castellanos, 34, spent many years as a middle-of-the-order threat. Ahead of the 2022 season, the Phillies signed him to a five-year deal worth $100MM. Before that deal had run its course, Castellanos wore out his welcome in Philly. In the 2025 season, he slashed .250/.294/.400 for a wRC+ of 90. Since he’s a poor outfield defender, he was considered to be below replacement level for the year. He also clashed with then-manager Rob Thomson, which didn’t seem to help matters.
He was still signed through 2026, with a $20MM salary. It was well known throughout the winter that the Phils were looking to move on. In the end, they weren’t able to line up a trade, so Castellanos was released just as camps were opening in February. That left the Phils on the hook for the money. Any other club could sign Castellanos and would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Phillies paid.
The Padres quickly volunteered, signing Castellanos within a few days of his release. It was a low-risk move from a financial perspective but it hasn’t worked out. Castellanos has a .191/.221/.339 line through 122 plate appearances this year. His .228 batting average on balls in play isn’t doing him any favors but his 4.1% walk rate and 27.9% strikeout rate are both a few ticks worse than average, in addition to being worse than his own career numbers. He has good career numbers with the platoon advantage but isn’t hitting pitchers of either handedness this year, with a .182/.206/.303 line against southpaws.
San Diego rolled with Castellanos long enough for him to return to Philadelphia in a new uniform. The Padres kicked off a series at Citizens Bank Park last night, though Castellanos wasn’t put into the game. They have now decided it’s time to move on. He will likely be released again in the coming days.
Time will tell if any other club is willing to give Castellanos a shot. As mentioned, he is having a poor season and was struggling last year as well, though he has been a force at the plate at times. As recently as 2024, he was able to hit 23 home runs and slash .254/.311/.431 for a 104 wRC+. That included a .269/.324/.506 line and 124 wRC+ against lefties. If any club thinks he can get back to that level, he will be cheap.
The Padres will instead turn to Taylor, who they signed to a minor league deal in the winter. He is hitting .319/.406/.500 in Triple-A, leading to a 122 wRC+. That line is buoyed by a .371 batting average on balls in play but Taylor’s 11.7% walk rate and 17.6% strikeout rate are both solid clips.
Taylor has often put up big numbers in the minors but hasn’t yet clicked in very limited big league looks. He has been sent to the plate 83 times over three separate seasons with the Royals and Mariners, hitting just .205/.272/.260 in that time.
Ideally, he can produce some offense resembling his minor league numbers. Even if he can’t, he should be able to provide value in other ways. He is a threat on the bases, for instance. He has nine steals already this year and has been in the 40 to 50 range in many of his minor league seasons. He can also provide a bit of defensive versatility, as he has been playing second base and all three outfield spots this year. In previous seasons, he has played shortstop and third base as well.
The Friars currently have Jake Cronenworth on the injured list, so there’s a hole at second base. They have been using Sung-Mun Song and Fernando Tatis Jr. to cover that spot. They also lost Ramón Laureano to the IL this week, so perhaps they want Tatis to go back to being a regular in the outfield. Song has a .154/.290/.192 line on the year, so perhaps Taylor can take some second base playing time from him. If that pans out, then Tatis can remain in the outfield with Jackson Merrill, Gavin Sheets, Jase Bowen and Bryce Johnson.
Even if Taylor doesn’t work his way into a regular role, he should be a useful as a bench player who can do some pinch-running and defensive replacement work. If he gets squeezed when Cronenworth and Laureano come back, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Astros Activate Josh Hader
2:25pm: The Astros have now officially announced Hader’s reinstatement. Correa was indeed moved to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. They also placed infielder Braden Shewmake on the 10-day IL, retroactive to May 31st, with a right adductor strain. Outfielder Zach Cole was recalled to replace Shewmake.
12:56pm: The Astros announced yesterday that righty Logan VanWey was being optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land. The team didn’t specify a corresponding move, noting that a transaction would be announced Tuesday. Manager Joe Espada now tells SportsTalk 790’s Matt Thomas that closer Josh Hader will be reinstated from the injured list and active for tonight’s game. Hader is on the 60-day IL, so in addition to VanWey’s option, Houston will need to open a 40-man roster spot. That can be achieved simply by transferring Carlos Correa to the 60-day IL following his season-ending ankle surgery, however.
Hader’s 2025 season ended in mid-August due to a capsule strain in his left shoulder. He didn’t end up requiring surgery and was even hopeful of being able to return at some point during a potential postseason run. The Astros wound up falling shy of the playoffs, so we never found out whether he’d have been able to do so.
The plan for Hader was a mostly normal offseason. General manager Dana Brown said in mid-November that his closer had already thrown off a mound three times. The organization hoped to have the multi-time All-Star back in the Opening Day mix. That might well have been the case based on Hader’s shoulder alone, but he began experiencing biceps pain early in spring training. He was eventually diagnosed with tendinitis, ruled out for Opening Day, and has now missed more than two months of the season.
Hader has pitched well for most of his minor league rehab stint. The 32-year-old breezed through his first seven appearances, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk with 11 punchouts in seven frames. He was roughed up a bit in his final two outings, yielding five runs (three earned) on four hits and a pair of walks without a strikeout. That nudged his minor league ERA up to 4.15, but the bulk of his work between Double-A and Triple-A is reason for encouragement.
It’s worth noting that Hader’s sinker has averaged 93.9 mph in Triple-A — well shy of last year’s 95.5 mph, which was already his lowest mark since 2020. He’s very likely still building up velocity after a long layoff and a pair of fairly notable arm issues, so it’s not a major warning light, but it’ll still be worth keeping an eye on his velocity in the early stages of his return. Hader had no problem missing bats even back in 2017-18, when his sinker was sitting 94.4 mph, but he pushed that average up to 96.4 mph over a four-year period from ’21-’24.
Hader’s return should be a substantial boon for an Astros bullpen that has been pieced together for much of the season. Bryan Abreu was a natural fill-in for Hader in the ninth inning after last year’s dominant performance in a setup role — or so it seemed. Abreu, however, has lost about three miles per hour off his heater this year, dropping from an average of 97.3 mph to 94.8 mph. He stumbled through an abysmal April before getting better results in May, but Abreu’s velocity isn’t any better now than it was in March — and he’s walked nearly 24% of his opponents this season. He doesn’t look close to his former self.
Houston has also seen at least modest steps back from key relievers like Steven Okert and Bryan King. Both have comparable ERAs to last season but with diminished rate stats. Lefty Bennett Sousa, who posted a 2.84 ERA in 50 2/3 frames last year, has pitched 3 1/3 innings this season and is on the injured list due to elbow inflammation.
All of that has conspired to leave Houston relievers with a major league-worst 5.16 ERA on the season. The Astros’ bullpen is tied for the sixth-lowest strikeout rate in baseball (20.5%) and has the third-highest walk rate (12.4%). It’s a major reason the team finds itself seven games under .500. Getting Hader back in the fold should help protect late leads, but he’s only one of several high-end contributors whose absence has helped dig a brutal hole for the ‘Stros to try to escape in the two months leading up to this year’s Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Reds Place Elly De La Cruz On Injured List, Promote Edwin Arroyo
2:12pm: Francona said De La Cruz will probably miss two to four weeks, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.
11:36am: The Reds announced Monday that they’ve placed star shortstop Elly De La Cruz on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right hamstring and recalled top infield prospect Edwin Arroyo from Triple-A Louisville for his major league debut. Cincinnati also selected the contract of lefty Brandon Leibrandt and designated right-hander Yunior Marté for assignment in a corresponding move. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reported that the Reds would place De La Cruz on the IL and promote Arroyo shortly before the formal team announcement.
De La Cruz suffered his hamstring injury in Sunday’s game. Upon driving a ball into the right-center field gap for what looked like an easy double — if not a triple, given his speed — he instead pulled up at first base in obvious pain (video link). A quick visit from the training staff concluded with an early exit from the game. He subsequently underwent an MRI that revealed the strain. Cincinnati has not yet provided a possible timeline for his potential return or revealed the grade of hamstring strain with which De La Cruz has been diagnosed. Manager Terry Francona will likely provide more details prior to tonight’s game against the visiting Royals.
An injury to the 24-year-old De La Cruz is about as impactful an injury absence as possible for Cincinnati. The switch-hitting dynamo was putting together perhaps the best season of his exciting young career, delivering a .280/.346/.509 slash (134 wRC+) with a dozen homers, 13 doubles (14, were it not for this injury), five triples and 10 steals. He’s hitting for power at the highest rate of his career, and after struggling immensely from the right-handed batter’s box through the first three seasons of his career, De La Cruz was having a breakout showing in that regard as well (.299/.342/.642 in 73 plate appearances versus southpaws).
If there’s a silver lining for Reds fans, it’s that the De La Cruz injury serves as a catalyst for the promotion of Arroyo — one of the hottest-hitting prospects in all of Minor League Baseball at the moment. A fellow switch-hitter, Arroyo is just 22 years old but was laying waste to Triple-A pitching with a .323/.383/.562 batting line through an even 250 plate appearances. He’s homered 11 times and added nine doubles, five triples and nine steals. He’s been hitting at a particularly absurd level over the past month: .368/.406/.705.
Originally drafted by the Mariners with the No. 48 overall pick back in 2021, Arroyo was traded to the Reds as part of the deal sending Luis Castillo back to Seattle. He was a consensus top-100 prospect at the time. His stock dipped in subsequent seasons, in no small part due to a shoulder injury that required surgery and wiped out his entire 2024 season. However, Arroyo’s torrid 2026 output has thrust him onto the tail end of the top-100 lists at MLB.com and Baseball America. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel listed him as the top riser in Cincinnati’s system just this morning, noting that Arroyo’s power looks to be back in full force after an understandable dip last year in the return from that shoulder operation. Arroyo hit just three long balls in 120 games last year.
Arroyo has primarily been a shortstop in his professional career, but he’s played some second base and third base in recent seasons as well — likely in recognition that shortstop isn’t going to be opening up in Cincinnati anytime soon, so long as De La Cruz remains healthy. He’ll step into De La Cruz’s shortstop spot for the time being, but if Arroyo hits the ground running, it’s not at all out of the question that he could parlay this initial call to the majors into a more prominent role at third base and/or second base once De La Cruz returns. Neither third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes nor second baseman Matt McLain has hit at all this season — and that’s egregiously true in the case of the former (.142/.195/.225 in 128 plate appearances). Hayes is currently on the injured list a disk injury in his back, continuing a long history of back ailments.
The 33-year-old Leibrandt is the son of former big league pitcher Charlie Leibrandt. He’s pitched in parts of two minor league seasons: the 2020 campaign with Miami and the 2024 season with Cincinnati. He’s allowed nine runs in 15 1/3 major league frames. The younger Leibrandt has been tagged for a 5.23 ERA in 11 Triple-A starts this season, though a disproportionate amount of the damage against him came in his most recent start. Leibrandt logged a solid enough 4.29 ERA through his first 10 starts before being tattooed for six runs in just 1 1/3 innings against the Twins’ Triple-A club last time out.
Injuries have thinned out both the Cincinnati bullpen and rotation. The Reds have Hunter Greene, Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson all on the injured list. Depth starters like Chase Petty, Julian Aguiar and Jose Franco have pitched poorly in Triple-A. The Reds already brought veteran Chris Paddack aboard following his release in Miami; he’s allowed a total of nine runs with eight strikeouts against seven walks across a trio of five-inning starts. In the bullpen, relievers Graham Ashcraft, Emilio Pagan and Pierce Johnson are on the injured list; Ashcraft was recently placed directly on the 60-day IL due to a UCL sprain.
Marté, 31, was just called up last Friday when Ashcraft hit the IL. The journeyman right-hander appeared in one game, faced six batters and allowed five of them to reach. He wound up being charged with four runs in one-third of an inning. Marté has pitched in parts of four MLB seasons, totaling 113 2/3 innings with a 5.94 ERA. He throws hard and can miss bats but has regularly shown shaky command while struggling to limit damage against left-handed hitters in particular. He’ll be traded, placed on waivers or released within the next five days.
White Sox Place Munetaka Murakami On Injured List
TODAY: Murakawmi has a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will miss 4-6 weeks, Venable told SoxMachine’s James Fegan and other reporters. Chicago officially placed Murakami on the 10-day IL today, and selected infielder Jacob Gonzalez (as reported yesterday) to take his spot on the active roster.
MAY 29: The White Sox’s dramatic win tonight over the Tigers didn’t come without a cost. Munetaka Murakami left the game with right hamstring tightness. Manager Will Venable said postgame that while the team was still awaiting testing results, the rookie slugger could miss a couple weeks (relayed by Scott Merkin of MLB.com).
Murakami tweaked his hamstring in the third inning. He hustled to beat out a potential double play ball and favored his leg after getting through the bag. Venable said postgame they believe there’s a strain and will know more about the severity after tomorrow’s imaging. Miguel Vargas kicked over to first base to finish the game. Colson Montgomery slid from shortstop to third base, while Luisangel Acuña handled short.
It halts a phenomenal start to Murakami’s big league career. He easily leads rookies with 20 home runs, tying him with Yordan Alvarez for second in MLB behind Kyle Schwarber. The strikeout concerns that were oft-mentioned haven’t stopped him from being one of baseball’s most feared sluggers. Murakami is hitting .240/.378/.560 over his first 246 plate appearances.
Vargas hit a two-run, walk-off shot against Drew Anderson with two outs in the tenth inning. That pushed the Sox to a season-high three games above .500. They’re only three games back of the Guardians in the AL Central and currently occupy the second Wild Card spot.
The Sox will reportedly bring up infield prospect Jacob Gonzalez tomorrow as the corresponding move. Vargas seems likely to handle everyday first base duties for a few weeks. Gonzalez and Montgomery would get the majority of the playing time on the left side of the infield. Acuña can pick up occasional middle infield work, while second baseman Chase Meidroth is also able to slide to the other side of the bag.
Eury Pérez To Miss Eight Weeks With Gracilis Strain
The Marlins announced that right-hander Eury Pérez has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 28th, with a right gracilis strain. His recovery will last eight weeks, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Fellow righty Josh Ekness has been recalled to take his roster spot. The Fish also reinstated infielder Leo Jimenez from the seven-day concussion-related IL and optioned infielder Graham Pauley.
Pérez tossed four shutout innings against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday but did not come out for the fifth. As seen in this video from MLB.com, he was stretching in the dugout when he suddenly became visibly overwhelmed with pain. He had to be helped down into the tunnel. After the game, he told De Nicola that his pain was initially a ten out of ten, but had dropped to a seven. He was set to undergo imaging, which apparently found this strain of his gracilis, which is part of the thigh.
It’s the latest blow to the Miami rotation, which has seen its once-vaunted starting depth evaporate. The Marlins felt good enough about their stock of starters that they traded both Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers in the offseason. Those moves allowed the Fish to acquire Owen Caissie and various prospects. The hope was that they would still have plenty of arms. They began the season with Pérez, Sandy Alcantara, Max Meyer, Chris Paddack and Janson Junk in the rotation, with Braxton Garrett, Robby Snelling, Thomas White and others in Triple-A.
In early May, they gave up on Paddack. He was designated for assignment and landed with the Reds. Snelling was called up to take his rotation spot but then Snelling suffered a sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament after just one start in the big leagues. He underwent internal brace surgery and will miss the rest of the year. Garrett was then called up to replace Snelling but Garrett’s two starts resulted in just 4 1/3 innings with seven earned runs allowed. He was optioned back down to the minors after that. White hasn’t been an option because he landed on the minor league IL a couple of weeks ago.
With Pérez now out, the Fish are basically down to Alcantara, Meyer and Junk from their season-opening group. Tyler Phillips, who has been working a multi-inning relief role, made a start on Sunday. He went 3 2/3 innings and is listed as the probable starter for tomorrow’s game, so perhaps he’ll stick in the rotation for now. Meyer is taking the ball tonight and Junk on Sunday, followed by Alcantara on Monday. By Tuesday, they’ll need to figure something else out, whether that’s a spot starter or bullpen game.
Garrett was only optioned nine days ago. Pitchers need to wait 15 days after being optioned before they can be recalled, unless they directly replace someone else going on the IL. Dax Fulton, Ryan Gusto and Bradley Blalock are on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A, though Fulton has a 6.17 ERA in Triple-A this year and Blalock is at 5.44. Gusto has a more palatable 4.01 at Triple-A this year, though he has a 5.61 ERA in his big league career.
Time will tell how the Marlins proceed but it’s a rough situation for them. They are 26-31 on the year, putting them five games back of a playoff spot. There’s still lots of time to climb in the standings but that will be hard to do with the pitching staff so banged up.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images