Notes

AL West Notes: Trout, Wesneski, Kirby, Gilbert

By Nick Deeds | May 10, 2025 at 10:58pm CDT

When Angels superstar Mike Trout first went on the injured list just over a week ago due to a bone bruise in his left knee, Trout expressed optimism that he would be able to return after a minimum stay. He’s eligible to be activated on Sunday, but that ultimately will not come to pass. Trout told reporters (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com) that while he’s resumed swinging a bat with no issues, he has yet to begin running.

The good news is, that could change fairly soon. Trout indicated that he’ll be traveling with the Angels to San Diego for their upcoming series against the Padres this week, and there’s “a good chance” that he’ll start running on that road trip. Trout added that the pain he was feeling in his knee that led to the IL stint has now dissipated, and the veteran is encouraged enough by the progress that a return in the somewhat near future seems to be on the table, though an exact timeline won’t be able to be established until Trout resumes running.

Obviously, the face of the Angels franchise returning to the field will be a key factor in whatever hopes the club may have of clawing its way back into the AL playoff picture. A strong start to the 2025 campaign for the Halos has largely been snuffed out at this point, as they own a lackluster 15-22 record and are currently sitting in fifth place in the AL West. Even side from the odds of playoff baseball in Anaheim, however, Trout’s return to action would be reason for celebration for fans all around the game. A slam-dunk Hall of Famer who was on track to become one of the greatest players in history just a few years ago, Trout has appeared in just 295 games since the start of the 2021 season and will be looking to have his first mostly-healthy campaign since 2022 once he returns from the injured list.

More from around the AL West…

Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski went on the injured list yesterday due to discomfort in his right elbow. It’s an ominous diagnosis that resulted in the righty being sent for imaging, but manager Joe Espada told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) this afternoon that while Wesneski’s MRI showed inflammation in his elbow, the club felt that they “couldn’t get a good read of what’s going on.” Espada added that the club’s plan is now to give Wesneski a few more days of rest in hopes that the inflammation will calm down before trying to reassess the situation and decide on next steps. It’s an update that offers little clarity on Wesneski’s path forward, much less a timetable for his return. The right-hander pitched to middling results in six starts for Houston this year after being acquired from the Cubs as part of the Kyle Tucker trade, with a 4.50 ERA in 32 innings of work.
The Mariners are without co-aces George Kirby and Logan Gilbert at the moment. Kirby has yet to pitch this year after beginning the season on the shelf due to shoulder inflammation, while tightness in Gilbert’s forearm shut him down near the end of last month. Seattle GM Justin Hollander told reporters (including Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) yesterday that Kirby would make one more rehab start after today’s outing with Triple-A Tacoma. That would put him in line to be activated at some point during the club’s upcoming road trip, perhaps either against the White Sox or the Astros. Gilbert, meanwhile, is further from a return given that he’s still just playing catch. Hollander did suggest, however, that the righty could resume throwing off the mound in the coming days. Emerson Hancock and Logan Evans are filling in for Kirby and Gilbert in the club’s rotation in the meantime.

Padres Notes: Cronenworth, Cease, King, Suarez

By Mark Polishuk | May 10, 2025 at 3:45pm CDT

The Padres activated Jake Cronenworth from the 10-day injured list yesterday, and the infielder went 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored in Friday’s 13-9 win over the Rockies. Cronenworth ended up missing almost exactly a month of action due to a non-displaced fracture in his right ribs that he suffered after being hit by a pitch.

Since the bone isn’t fully healed, Cronenworth told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that he will wear a padded undershirt for the time being, and he’ll add another layer of padding when he is at the plate. Despite the precaution, Cronenworth said he is feeling good, and might have been able to return from the IL earlier but the team wanted to wait until the bone had healed to the point that a re-aggravation is less likely.

The injury cut short a hot start for Cronenworth, who has a .263/.429/.474 slash line over his first 49 plate appearances of the 2025 season. Some regression is inevitable, but the Padres are certainly hoping he can keep providing at least some level of above-average production, after Cronenworth batted a subpar .236/.318/.385 in 1178 PA in 2023-24.

As San Diego’s lineup gets healthier, Dylan Cease also seems to have avoided any kind of injury after he left his last start with a forearm cramp. While any sort of forearm issue is cause for concern, Cease got through a 90-foot game of catch on Friday (part of his usual between-starts routine) with no issue, so it seems as if the right-hander should be making his next outing. Since the Padres didn’t play this past Thursday, Cease can even have an extra day of rest to fully ensure he is ready for his next scheduled start, on Wednesday against the Angels.

Cease has yet to get fully on track this season, as the righty has posted a 4.91 ERA over eight starts and 40 1/3 innings. There isn’t much of a marked change in Cease’s peripherals from 2024, so his inflated ERA might simply be a case of bad batted-ball luck (a .333 BABIP). The standout number might be that Cease’s signature slider has been “only” a pretty good pitch in 2025, as opposed to when it was arguably the most devastating pitch in the majors in both the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

Getting back to top form is of particular importance to Cease this season, as he’ll be perhaps the top pitcher available in free agency this coming winter if he delivers a strong campaign. Since both Cease and fellow starter Michael King are slated to become free agents, both pitchers were heavily mentioned in trade rumors throughout the offseason and even deep into Spring Training. As it turned out, San Diego ended up retaining both starters, and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that “the Padres would love to keep one of” the duo over the long term.

Keeping just one (at most) of the starters always seemed like the most logical outcome for the Padres, given how both Cease and King are on pace to command big salaries and San Diego already has a lot of long-term contracts on the books. The logic behind the trade speculation was that the Padres might look to move some salary and address other needs by trading whichever of the two pitchers they felt less confident about signing, but the Friars instead pivoted by keeping not just Cease and King, but most of the other higher-priced players rumored to be on the trade market.

Robert Suarez was one of those players who reportedly received some trade interest, but “no team made a serious play for” his services, Heyman writes. The flame-throwing Suarez racked up 36 saves last season while posting a 2.77 ERA and an above-average walk rate in 65 innings. Some of his other metrics were more middling, however, and Suarez’s age (he turned 34 in March) and his contract status were perhaps obstacles to a deal.

Suarez is owed the remainder of a $10MM salary this season, and is owed $8MM in each of the 2026 and 2027 seasons. However, those final two seasons are actually player options, and at season’s end, Suarez can either simultaneously trigger both options, or opt out entirely to re-enter free agency. Given this uncertain contract status, teams might not have wanted to give up too much for just one year of control if Suarez opted out, or some other teams might have been wary about being on the hook for $26MM to a 34-year-old reliever.

The lack of attractive offers may have made the decision to keep Suarez pretty easy for the Padres, but in any event, the club is surely glad the closer is still on the roster. Suarez has a superb 0.51 ERA in 17 2/3 innings, with a league-high 15 saves and a greatly improved 29.5% strikeout rate. A .154 BABIP is surely contributing to Suarez’s success, but even if Suarez’s 2.87 SIERA is a better reflection of his actual performance, that is still more than solid.

Pirates Notes: Shelton, Haddad, Cherington, Nutting, Valdez

By Mark Polishuk | May 10, 2025 at 9:30am CDT

9:30AM: The 2025 season marked the final year of Shelton’s contract as manager, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The terms of the extension Shelton signed in April 2023 weren’t made public, though the 2023 season was known to be the final year of the four-year contract Shelton initially signed when he was first hired as skipper.

Hiles didn’t mention whether or not any club options were attached to Shelton’s deal beyond 2025, so it seems as though Shelton may have been in a true lame-duck situation heading into this season. This only adds to the perception that Shelton’s managerial tenure was on thin ice, and Hiles noted that it became increasingly clear during the season that Shelton would be replaced. “Numerous members within the Pirates organization, including a few within the clubhouse, privately acknowledged as much to the Post-Gazette in the days leading up to his dismissal,” Hiles writes.

8:45AM: The Pirates’ managerial change naturally drew most of the headlines on Thursday, but in addition to letting go of Derek Shelton, the Bucs also moved on from another member of the coaching staff. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that Pittsburgh parted ways with Radley Haddad, who had been a game-planning and strategy coach with the team since November 2021.

Haddad (who turns 35 tomorrow) is a former minor league player in the Yankees organization who wrapped up his playing career following the 2016 season. He then moved into a new role as the Yankees’ big league bullpen catcher, as well as a coaching assistant. Haddad worked in that capacity until he was hired away by the Pirates following the 2021 campaign.

Between Haddad’s departure and Don Kelly’s promotion from bench coach to manager, the Pirates now have two openings to fill on the staff. It isn’t known if any other coaching changes may yet be in the offing, as the Bucs continue to figure out how to adjust on the fly amidst a disappointing season. Kelly’s managerial debut was at least a success, as the Buccos’ 3-2 win over the Braves last night ended Pittsburgh’s seven-game losing streak, though the club still has only a dismal 13-26 record.

Larger-scale changes don’t appear to be coming at least in the near future, as Pirates owner Robert Nutting told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that GM Ben Cherington and president Travis Williams aren’t going anywhere for the time being. “I think if we make a broad, real restructure of the organization midseason, right now, we will not improve the team for 2025. I don’t think that makes us better,” Nutting said. “I’m not willing to give up on what we expected, which involves a significantly better performance than you’ve seen. I believe we can get to that. I don’t think that blowing everything up 38 games into the year is gonna help us do that. I think that would be distracting. I think that would get us off track. My focus has to be on getting this fixed and getting it fixed as fast as we can.”

Left unsaid was the possibility that Nutting might explore a wider “restructure” down the road if the Pirates don’t start playing better baseball. Cherington was hired in November 2019 to oversee a major rebuilding process that has brought some premium talent onto the roster, yet the Bucs haven’t delivered a single winning season in Cherington’s five-plus years in charge of baseball operations.

The situation has left the Pittsburgh fanbase openly dismayed and it is clear that both Nutting and Cherington share in those frustrations. Cherington took his share of the blame when speaking with reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) on Thursday, acknowledging that “I’m more responsible than anyone” for the Pirates’ struggles.

“Certainly not lost on me that my part of that accountability, if I had done my job perfectly for five years, might not be meeting with you today,” Cherington said. “That’s certainly possible. I own that completely. This is not all on Shelty. And I believe that it became clear to me that this was a choice, however difficult, that we needed to make. I certainly feel accountable going forward.”

Cherington also reiterated that he feels he is still the person to be leading the front office going forward. Likewise, Nutting defended his own continued ownership of the franchise, stating that he feels the team can and will win again under his stewardship, and feels he can elevate the Pirates’ place in the sport as a whole.

“Given all of the challenges broadly in baseball, there’s been a lot of discussion of the economic disparity in the game. We’re never going to use that as an excuse. Never have. Never will. But I think I’m particularly well positioned right now to be able to help influence change in the economics of the game,” Nutting said. “Having been around for 20 years, having gone to owners’ meetings for longer than that, having a very strong relationship with the commissioner’s office, I believe that I’m uniquely well positioned to have a louder voice for Pittsburgh as we’re heading into the next [collective bargaining agreement]. I want to make sure that we don’t lose that position. I don’t think a new owner in Pittsburgh would have the same standing or ability to advocate for the kind of changes that we need.”

Pirates fans can understandably take some skepticism in Nutting’s remarks, and Mackey indeed expressed something of a counterpoint to Nutting’s interview in a follow-up column. The owner has been frequently criticized for a lack of spending since he bought the team in 2007. The Pirates have ranked in the bottom five in Opening Day payrolls in all but three seasons of Nutting’s ownership, and the payroll high-water mark remains the Bucs’ $99.9MM payroll at the start of the 2016 season (which ranked 20th out of 30 teams). As much as Nutting feels his team is at a financial disadvantage against baseball’s bigger markets, the Pirates’ resistance against even moderate spending is an obvious impediment to their desire to become more competitive.

In a bit of on-field news from Friday, the Pirates placed infielder Enmanuel Valdez on the 10-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation, and recalled infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae from Triple-A in the corresponding move. A timeline wasn’t given for Valdez, or whether or not he is expected to miss any time beyond the minimum 10 days.

Acquired in a trade with the Red Sox in December, Valdez has hit .209/.294/.363 over 102 plate appearances for the Buccos this season. Valdez had primarily been a middle infielder with the Sox, but his 26 appearances at first base for the Pirates represent a marked change in his usage, as Valdez’s previous experience at the position consisted of just nine minor league games during his time in the Boston and Houston farm systems.

Since intended first baseman Spencer Horwitz has yet to play this season, the Pirates turned to Endy Rodriguez at first base, and then looked at Valdez as a further backup plan once Rodriguez also hit the 10-day IL. Rodriguez is still a ways away from returning from a right finger laceration, so Jared Triolo and Matt Gorski now stand as the top first-base options in the interim. Horwitz has started a Triple-A rehab assignment and might be a week or so away from his 2025 debut, though Valdez’s injury will leave the Pirates even thinner at the position in the short term.

Red Sox Notes: First Base, Devers, Yoshida

By Steve Adams | May 7, 2025 at 2:49pm CDT

The Red Sox lost first baseman Triston Casas to a season-ending knee injury earlier this week and quickly selected Abraham Toro’s contract to the big league roster. The switch-hitting Toro and righty-swinging Romy Gonzalez appear set to share time at the position for the time being, although the Casas injury immediately prompted speculation about a potential move to first base for Rafael Devers. Manager Alex Cora told the Red Sox beat last night that there’s been no discussion of a role change for the third baseman-turned-DH (link via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic).

“We got these two guys (Gonzalez and Toro) here, Toro starting today,” Cora said prior to last night’s loss. “Romy has done an amazing job in the starts over there so we’ll keep going that way.”

Cora followed up today in an appearance on WEEI radio, repeating that Devers is a DH for the time being but taking a slightly softer stance on the possibility of an eventual position change (link via WEEI’s Tom Carroll).

“We asked him to do something in spring training that, as you guys know, he didn’t agree with in the beginning,” said Cora. “And then little by little, he has embraced it because he knows the quality of the player that we have at third base and where we’re at as a team. … I’m not saying we’ll never have that conversation [about moving to first base], but I think for now, where we’re at, I like Raffy as a DH.”

Within that WEEI appearance, Cora again praised the season that Gonzalez has put together thus far. There’s no denying that the 28-year-old has excelled in the early stages of the 2025 season. He’s hitting .327/.382/.449 in 55 trips to the plate, although that small-sample production is buoyed by a .421 average on balls in play. Gonzalez is averaging 94.1 mph off the bat and has seen 58% of his batted balls depart at 95 mph or more.

It’s a strong profile, but one that is preceded by minimal track record. Gonzalez is in his fifth major league season and entered 2025 as a .242/.271/.387 hitter. He’s always hit lefties well (.281/.329/.465), but right-handers have long been a problem. That hasn’t been the case this year, and Cora’s comments seem to suggest he’ll at least get some runway to prove he’s made some real gains.

Toro, also 28, has a similar track record to that of Gonzalez. He’s a career .220/.285/.352 hitter who’s now seeing action in his seventh MLB campaign. He’s bounced around the league more (Astros, Mariners, Brewers, A’s) and has a strong Triple-A track record but limited success in the majors. Cora noted that Toro “put [together] some good at-bats” in his Red Sox debut yesterday, when he went 1-for-4 with a single.

The combination of Gonzalez and Toro, whether in a traditional platoon or a more selective timeshare, doesn’t feel like a feasible long-term option, but it’s understandable to hear a team’s manager voice confidence in the options he presently has on the roster. That said, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow took a more open-minded stance to the team’s first base void, telling NESN’s Tom Caron prior to the game that the Sox “need to be willing to put all idea and options on the table” and “uncover every rock” to make the team as competitive as possible (hat tip to the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham).

The case for moving Devers to first base is one that we discussed on this morning’s MLBTR podcast episode. MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes also touched on it in today’s mailbag. That switch would open DH at-bats for the return of Masataka Yoshida, or it could help facilitate a big league promotion for Roman Anthony, who is widely ranked as the game’s No. 1 overall prospect. Anthony could join Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu in cycling through the outfield and DH spots. He’s hitting .294/.410/.495 with five homers as a 20-year-old in Triple-A. Dating back to last year, Anthony has slashed .321/.440/.508 in 298 Triple-A plate appearances — all before even turning 21.

The 31-year-old Yoshida, meanwhile, has been out all season while recovering from October surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder. Yoshida spoke with the Red Sox beat yesterday and said through an interpreter that hitting is “no problem” but that he’s still feeling discomfort when throwing (video link via NESN). He received a cortisone injection three days ago and will be shut down from throwing for at least another couple days while that takes effect. The Red Sox have no plans to activate Yoshida until he is able to play in the outfield, per Abraham.

Devers’ move from third base to DH was a major storyline in spring training and led to plenty of hand-wringing early in the season when he went through one of the worst stretches of his career at the plate. That panic looks silly in retrospect, as Devers struggled for all of one week and has hit .292/.404/.508 since the calendar flipped to April. His lack of experience at first base is an obvious consideration in any scenario, but the current tandem of Gonzalez and Toro have relatively limited experience there themselves: 319 innings for Gonzalez and 353 for Toro.

There’s no perfect solution. The Red Sox will likely be getting sub-par defense at first base whichever route they take. Playing Devers there could free up DH at-bats for Yoshida or open a clearer path to get Anthony to the majors. For the time being, they’re sticking with Devers at designated hitter and seeing what they have in Toro and Gonzalez.

Run production has been an issue over the past week as the Red Sox have dropped five of six games, and even looking at the past month (i.e. excluding Devers’ early slump) they’ve been a league-average offense on a rate basis and sit 15th in the majors in runs scored. If Boston’s rotation continues to struggle as it has over the past two weeks (24th in MLB with a 4.76 ERA), or if Gonzalez and Toro play closer to their career levels in the weeks ahead, one would imagine the Sox will more seriously consider changes to get more offensive firepower into the lineup.

Brewers Notes: Peralta, Frelick, McKendry

By Leo Morgenstern | May 5, 2025 at 12:27pm CDT

Freddy Peralta and Sal Frelick have been two bright spots for an underwhelming Brewers team so far in 2025. Peralta ranks among the top five qualified NL starters in both innings pitched (45 1/3) and ERA (2.18). His 2.94 xERA (eighth among NL starters) is similarly impressive, while his 3.57 SIERA and 3.45 FIP suggest he’ll continue to deliver the kind of reliable performance the Brewers have come to expect. Meanwhile, Frelick leads Brewers batters (min. 50 PA) with a 123 wRC+. The wide gap between his .351 wOBA and .319 xwOBA suggests he’s due for some regression, but even so, both of those numbers represent an improvement over his .292 wOBA and .278 xwOBA from 2024. He’s making more contact and hitting the ball harder than he did in his first two seasons. The early results have been a good reminder of why he was once a first-round pick and a consensus top-50 prospect in the game.

So, when both Peralta and Frelick exited early on Sunday, potential injury concerns put a damper on what was otherwise a good day for the Brewers; they beat the Cubs 4-0 to avoid a series sweep at the hands of their division rivals. Perlata exited after his sixth scoreless inning with a sore groin, which manager Pat Murphy later relayed to reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). Thankfully for Milwaukee, Peralta is not particularly concerned, suggesting he left the game out of an abundance of caution, more so than anything else (per McCalvy). That’s not hard to believe, considering his shutdown performance against the team that has boasted the NL’s best offense over the first several weeks of the 2025 season. Peralta needed just 89 pitches to cruise through six frames, striking out seven and walking one. Only one runner reached scoring position against Peralta, and he only got there due to an interference call against first baseman Rhys Hoskins on a pick-off attempt. In short, Peralta was dominant, and the Brewers will hope he can pick up where he left off in his next start. An off-day on Thursday will allow him some extra rest before his next scheduled start against the Rays on Saturday, May 10.

As for Frelick, the young outfielder was lifted in the top of the fourth inning yesterday after hurting his left knee on a swing two innings prior. “Left knee discomfort” was the initial diagnosis the team offered reporters (including McCalvy), but they were concerned enough to send him for imaging (also per McCalvy). They will presumably know if it’s anything more than just discomfort following an MRI. Even a short stint on the IL for Frelick would be tough for Milwaukee to stomach, given how much he has meant to the team on both sides of the ball. Not only has he been one of the Crew’s best hitters and baserunners, but his glove in the outfield is especially important with Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell on the IL. Defensive metrics like DRS and OAA haven’t been thrilled with Frelick’s performance thus far in 2025, but he is only one year removed from a Gold Glove-winning season. The Brewers’ outfield depth is already being tested, and losing Frelick would make that problem substantially worse.

In another bit of Brewers news, McCalvy reports that they have traded minor league right-hander Evan McKendry to the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations. McKendry, 27, was originally drafted by the Rays in 2019. The Brewers acquired him at the deadline in 2023 in return for catcher Alex Jackson. The righty has a 5.23 ERA and a 5.15 FIP in 36 games (19 starts) and 139 1/3 innings at Triple-A since joining the Brewers organization.

AL East Notes: Swanson, Buehler, Eflin, McDermott

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 10:31pm CDT

Erik Swanson has yet to pitch this season due to a median nerve entrapment in his right arm, but the reliever’s path back to the Blue Jays roster hit a snag in the form of some soreness in his right forearm. The issue prevented Swanson from a planned minor league rehab outing earlier this week, and the good news is that initial tests revealed no structural damage. However, Swanson told The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon and other reporters that more tests are set for Monday, as it hasn’t yet been determined what exactly is causing the forearm discomfort.

Swanson had some bouts with forearm soreness at a few different points in his career, such as in each of the last two Spring Trainings, and also a minor strain that sent him to the injured list for a little over three weeks during the 2020 season when he was pitching with the Mariners. Though the medicals have been clean so far on his current issue, obviously all parties will be cautious in dealing with any forearm-related injury. In the short term, the problem has delayed Swanson’s recovery, and adds more uncertainty over when exactly the reliever will make his 2025 debut.

Brewers Notes: Woodruff, Hall, Ashby, Civale

By Nick Deeds | May 4, 2025 at 12:46pm CDT

It’s been a difficult start to the season in Milwaukee, as the Brewers have posted a lackluster 16-18 record and currently sit five games back of the Cubs in the NL Central. The losses of Willy Adames and Devin Williams this offseason certainly haven’t helped matters, but perhaps the most glaring issue with the club this year has been the starting rotation. Only Marlins and Orioles starters have posted a worse figure than Milwaukee’s 4.94 rotation FIP, and while they’ve outperformed their peripherals so far a 4.02 ERA is still below average and a far cry from the days of Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff helping carry the team to the postseason.

Burnes is long gone, already on his second team since departing Milwaukee prior to the 2024 season, but Woodruff remains in the organization after missing 2024 rehabbing surgery to repair a capsule tear in his shoulder. He’s yet to make his 2025 debut while finishing up his rehab process, but the right-hander’s return to the majors appears to be imminent. As noted by MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Woodruff is expected to make two more rehab starts before he makes his return to the majors: one this coming Tuesday, and one on May 11. At that point, Woodruff will run out of time on his 30-day rehab assignment and need to be reinstated to the big league roster unless he suffers a setback that necessitates the team pulling him back from his rehab assignment.

Woodruff’s return can’t come soon enough, given how talented the right-hander is. One of the best pitchers in the majors since his breakout 2019 season, the right-hander has looked good in four rehab starts this year, with a 2.45 ERA in 18 1/3 innings. His strikeout rate of 21.6% is well below his usual mark, though it’s worth noting that figure has jumped to a much more robust 29.4% since he was promoted to Triple-A, suggesting his stuff is improving as he shakes off the rust from more than a year away from the mound. If Woodruff can offer Milwaukee ace-level production in his age-32 season, it would be a game changer for their chances in the NL Central and give the club an elite 1-2 punch alongside Freddy Peralta.

While no other pitcher in the organization can be expected to offer the sort of elite production Woodruff has posted when at his best, he’s far from the only potential rotation arm on the mend. Southpaw DL Hall began a rehab assignment yesterday and, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is being built up as a starter with an eye towards a return later this month or early next month. Acquired alongside Joey Ortiz in the Burnes trade, the 26-year-old struggled to a 5.02 ERA in 43 innings of work with the Brewers last year but is a former first-round pick with impressive stuff and plenty of potential. If Milwaukee can harness Hall’s arsenal, it would hardly be a surprise to see him emerge as a quality piece as Tobias Myers did last year and Chad Patrick appears to be doing this season.

Meanwhile, veteran right-hander Aaron Civale appears to be nearing a rehab assignment of is own, with Hogg suggesting that the soon-to-be 30-year-old hurler is poised to begin a rehab assignment next week. That would seemingly put Civale, who made just one start this season before going on the shelf due to a hamstring strain, behind Hall in terms of preparedness to return, though perhaps after having a full spring training Civale won’t need as long of a rehab stint as the southpaw. The righty posted a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts for the Brewers after being acquired from the Rays last July, and would be a solid addition to the middle of Milwaukee’s rotation upon his return.

While Civale seems all but guaranteed to return to the Brewers rotation when healthy and Hall is at least being stretched out as a starter, the future is murkier for southpaw Aaron Ashby. He’s been sidelined since Spring Training by an oblique injury, and was expected to build up as a starter at that point, but has yet to begin a minor league rehab assignment. Hogg suggests that a return this month isn’t “out of the question” for the southpaw, but such a short window for return would seem to require the Brewers to bring him back into the fold without fully stretching him out. Given that the club has added Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester to its rotation mix since Ashby last pitched, it’s possible that the club is changing gears with the lefty and plans to use him in long relief this season. It’s a role Ashby looked quite good in last year, as he posted a 2.86 ERA and 2.81 FIP despite being limited to just 28 1/3 innings of work.

Yankees Notes: Schmidt, Volpe, Chisholm, Lombard

By Nick Deeds | May 4, 2025 at 10:00am CDT

The Yankees were expected to send right-hander Clarke Schmidt to the mound against the Rays yesterday, but the right-hander wound up scratched from his start. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch notes that Schmidt told reporters that he’s dealing with some soreness in his left side, but fortunately it appears to be fairly minor. Hoch adds that Schmidt even told the Yankees he would be able to take the ball yesterday, but the club opted to scratch him and push his start back to this coming Tuesday. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic notes that, per manager Aaron Boone, Schmidt underwent an MRI that came back clearn, suggesting the issue is a minor one.

That Schmidt’s soreness appears to be fairly manageable is surely a huge relief for New York. With Gerrit Cole out for the year and both Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman currently shelved with injuries of their own, losing Schmidt just three starts into his 2025 season would be a brutal blow for the Yanks. Allan Winans remains in Triple-A as a potential spot starter option, but the club’s depth is largely being used in the rotation already with Carlos Carrasco and Will Warren currently getting regular starts.

Schmidt’s 14 2/3 innings of work so far this year have hardly been inspiring, but it’s worth remembering that he’s just one year removed from posting a sterling 2.85 ERA and 3.58 FIP across 16 starts. That strong performance in 2024 suggested front-half of the rotation potential within Schmidt, and perhaps being careful with the side issue he’s currently dealing with is the best way to tap into as much of that potential as possible in a season where little is working within the club’s rotation aside from Max Fried.

Turning to the other major Yankees injury news from yesterday, Anthony Volpe had a bit of an injury scare in the eighth inning of yesterday’s game. Hoch writes that Volpe heard a “pop” in his left shoulder while attempting to field a grounder.

“It happened quick and it was scary, but after that, I felt OK and I felt like I had my strength,” Volpe said, as relayed by Hoch. “I’ve never really had anything else pop or dislocate or anything like that, so I have nothing to compare it to.”

As Hoch notes, those encouraging early comments can’t necessarily be taken as gospel just days after Volpe’s double play partner Jazz Chisholm Jr. expressed optimism that his injury was a fairly minor one just before being placed on the injured list for what figures to be a four-to-six week absence. An MRI of Chisholm’s oblique revealed three high-grade tears in the area, though fortunately the volume of tears does not appear to have significantly altered Chisholm’s timetable for return as the second baseman still expects to return in that four-to-six week time frame.

Chisholm’s injury is already testing the club’s middle infield depth and forcing a combination of Jorbit Vivas and Pablo Reyes to handle the keystone for the foreseeable future. That makes the idea of an injury for Volpe all the more concerning, but Hoch suggested that the shortstop will likely be sent for an MRI before he’s fully cleared to play again despite the fact that he finished yesterday’s game and already underwent an x-ray that revealed no structural damage. (UPDATE: Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Hoch) this morning that Volpe is day-to-day after the club received “good news” from his MRI exam.)

Even if the Yankees weren’t already suffering from a dearth of infield depth, losing Volpe would be a serious blow given that he’s putting up such encouraging numbers on offense. After Volpe’s first two years saw him post well-below offensive numbers buoyed by Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop, the 24-year-old is actually hitting an impressive .233/.326/.442 with ten doubles, five homers, and a 10.6% walk rate in 33 games. That’s good for a 121 wRC+ so far this year, and Volpe’s excellent batted ball data suggests he may actually be producing less than his underlying performance would suggest he should be. It’s an exciting potential breakout performance for the Yanks, and the fans in the Bronx are surely waiting with bated breath for their potential budding star at shortstop to return to the lineup.

All the injuries piling up for the Yankees in the rotation and around the infield likely have many fans operating with one eye on the July 31 trade deadline. There’s plenty of room for improvement on this Yankees club, but there’s at least one prospect the club is expected to keep out of trade talks this summer as they pursue back-to-back World Series appearances after losing in five games to the Dodgers in last year’s Fall Classic. According to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, that prospect is young infielder George Lombard Jr.

As relayed by Kuty, the club does not expect Lombard to help in the majors this year but nonetheless he’s viewed by some evaluators as the club’s only “untouchable” prospect, with Kuty suggesting that it would require a “Godfather” offer to convince the Yankees to part with the young infielder. Still just 19 until next month, Lombard was the club’s first-rounder back in 2023 and is so far hitting an excellent .329/.496/.488 at the High-A level this year, with a promotion to Double-A at some point in the near future potentially in the cards.

Given that the Yankees (per Kuty) viewed Lombard as untouchable last season, when he slashed just .231/.338/.334 across two levels of A-ball, it’s hardly a shock that they aren’t inclined to trade him now that he appears to have broken out in such a substantial way. Still, with controllable aces like Pablo Lopez already seeing their names swirl in the rumor mill, refusing to part with Lombard could make it difficult for the Yankees to land a top-flight starter this summer in what figures to be a very competitive market for pitching talent.

Twins Notes: Keaschall, Wallner, Lewis, Jeffers

By Steve Adams | April 29, 2025 at 11:25am CDT

Top prospect Luke Keaschall provided a spark to a listless Twins lineup upon his initial call to the majors. The 2023 second-rounder has done nothing but hit since moving from Arizona State to pro ball, and the majors were no exception. Through the 22-year-old Keaschall’s first seven games, he hit .368/.538/.526 with more walks (five) than strikeouts (two) in 26 plate appearances. The former Sun Devil also tied a major league record with five stolen bases in his first five MLB games.

Keaschall landed on the injured list after an errant pitch from veteran Kyle Hendricks hit his forearm and resulted in a non-displaced fracture. For the time being, there’s no indication he’ll require surgery, but head trainer Nick Paparesta told the Twins beat last night that Keaschall is likely to miss multiple months nonetheless (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Keaschall will be reevaluated in about one month.

The injury to Keaschall is the latest for a Twins club that has been torched by health troubles this season. Third baseman Royce Lewis has yet to play in a regular-season game. Utilityman Willi Castro is out with an oblique strain. Ace Pablo Lopez missed two weeks with a hamstring strain. Top infield prospect Brooks Lee is healthy now but started on the shelf with a back injury. Relievers Brock Stewart and Michael Tonkin opened the year on the injured list due to hamstring and shoulder strains, respectively. Infielder Jose Miranda struggled early, was optioned to Triple-A, and has since gone on the minor league injured list with a strain in his left hand.

Most of those injuries have been relatively minor in nature. Keaschall is the most significant injury, but slugging corner outfielder Matt Wallner is also looking at a lengthy absence. Via Hayes, Paparesta added that Wallner is dealing with a moderate to severe strain of his hamstring. Wallner only first began light jogging on a treadmill yesterday, two weeks after his initial injury. He’ll be reevaluated next week, but it seems likely that the injury will sideline him well into May, if not longer.

Wallner, 27, is hardly a household name but has emerged as the Twins’ top power threat. The Twin Cities native, selected 39th overall in 2019, floundered through a catastrophically poor start to his 2024 season but mashed for the final three months after being recalled from Triple-A. In 228 plate appearances following last year’s recall, Wallner hit .282/.386/.559 with a dozen homers, 16 doubles and a triple.

A sky-high .410 average on balls in play and an ugly 34% strikeout rate point to plenty of regression in batting average for Wallner, but he draws enough walks and makes enough hard contact that he could be a productive overall hitter even if his average dips into league average territory (.241) or a bit lower. Between last year’s torrid finish and this year’s hot start, Wallner boasts a .278/.383/.540 line (164 wRC+) in 295 plate appearances. He’s walked in more than 10% of those trips to the plate and posted eye-popping batted-ball metrics: 92.4 mph average exit velocity, 16.1% barrel rate, 52.3% hard-hit rate.

With Keaschall and Wallner out for extended periods and injuries at multiple other positions, the Twins have turned to the DFA market to add some depth on the bench. Jonah Bride and Kody Clemens came over in cash swaps with the Marlins and Phillies, respectively, after both were designated for assignment. Both are out of minor league options, so it could be a short stay for one of them on the roster, particularly once Lewis returns. He’s played two Triple-A rehab games already and gone 3-for-6 with a double. A return next week wouldn’t be a surprise.

The Twins could opt to preserve their depth by instead optioning Lee or Edouard Julien so they can get regular at-bats in Triple-A. The ultimate move will come down to health and production among the current infield group. It’s a more straightforward scenario in the outfield, where Harrison Bader — signed to be an oft-used fourth outfielder — will see regular run alongside Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach.

In general, the Twins’ lineup has begun to emerge from a dormant state. Facing clubs with poor pitching staffs like the White Sox and Angels surely plays a role, but Minnesota is hitting .276/.359/.432 as a team over the past two weeks. Unsurprisingly, they’ve gone 8-4 in that time. They’re still three games under .500, but the lineup is meshing and Lewis’ looming return creates reason for more optimism.

Part of that resurgence has been a blistering hot streak from catcher Ryan Jeffers. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote last week that manager Rocco Baldelli is moving away from the largely even split in playing time between Jeffers and veteran Christian Vazquez. Jeffers is seeing an uptick in at-bats and will shoulder a larger portion of the catching workload. So far, it’s paying off. Jeffers is hitting .308/.426/.538 during this Twins hot streak; that looks more closely in line with the 27-year-old’s terrific 2023 season and strong start to 2024.

A slow finish last year dampened Jeffers’ numbers, but he’s a .247/.331/.449 hitter (120 wRC+) in 885 plate appearances dating back to ’23. Jeffers tells Matthew Leach of MLB.com that he feels some mechanical changes he’s incorporated in recent years have reached the point where he no longer even needs to think about them.

The move away from Vazquez is understandable, particularly at a time when the lineup was struggling. The 34-year-old remains a premier defensive catcher but has limped out of the gate with a .139/.200/.250 output in 14 games and 40 plate appearances. He’s in the final season of a three-year, $30MM contract that hasn’t panned out as the Twins hoped, but Vazquez’s glove is strong enough that he can hold a backup role even with a .218/.261/.318 slash in 710 plate appearances as a Twin. Jeffers, meanwhile, is in his second of three arbitration seasons and can be controlled through 2026.

Diamondbacks Notes: Lawlar, Marte, Infield

By Darragh McDonald | April 28, 2025 at 3:35pm CDT

Diamondbacks prospect Jordan Lawlar is doing everything he can to push for a major league promotion, as he’s currently mashing in Triple-A. Assuming he eventually cements himself in the majors, the question will be what position he plays.

He came up as a shortstop prospect but the Diamondbacks don’t have much need at that position. Geraldo Perdomo took over regular shortstop duties in 2022. The Diamondbacks are evidently pleased with him there as they recently signed him to an extension that runs through 2029 with a club option for 2030. They could move Perdomo to second or third base, where he has some experience. However, his bat has only been around league average in recent years, as his speed and defense at short are his primary ways of providing value.

That has made it seem like Lawlar would eventually move to second or third. He has always had tremendous offensive numbers in the minors, so his bat should play elsewhere. The Snakes have had Ketel Marte as their regular second baseman for years and he’s signed well into the future as well, which seemingly made third base Lawlar’s best path. However, Bob Nightengale of USA Today says that some scouts think Lawlar will take over at second and bump Marte to first.

There hasn’t been any reporting to suggest that the Snakes do plan on moving Marte to first, but perhaps their usage of Lawlar this year is a tell. With Triple-A Reno, he has 123 innings at second base so far. He has just 36 innings at third base this year and just 95 in his entire minor league career. He has hundreds of innings at shortstop over the years but just 54 in 2025.

It would be an interesting pivot if the club is making it. The Diamondbacks acquired Eugenio Suárez ahead of 2024 to cover the third base position. He was going into the final season of his contract, so it seemed possible that he was simply a stopgap until Lawlar was ready. Suárez struggled badly in the first half of last year but Lawlar spent most of 2024 injured, dealing with thumb and hamstring injuries. He only got into 23 minor league games last year, giving Suárez a chance to get back on track. Suárez destroyed baseballs enough in the second half that the club picked up their $15MM option on him for 2025, instead of going for the $2MM buyout.

Coming into 2025, it was still fair to expect that Suárez would eventually give way to Lawlar. Suárez turns 34 in July and will be a free agent at season’s end. That could still be the plan but the fact that Lawlar is playing a lot of second base is interesting. Marte has had some injury absences in his career and is currently on the injured list with a hamstring strain. He is 31 years old and the club recently extended him through 2031, which would be his age-37 season. Perhaps they believe that moving him to first base would be the best thing for his long-term health.

Right now, Josh Naylor and Pavin Smith are sharing first base and designated hitter duties. Naylor is an impending free agent, so that could provide an opening for Marte to slide into as soon as next year.

This is all still fairly speculative but it’s a notable position for the Snakes to be in. It’s possible that they are simply moving Lawlar around to different positions, experimenting to see how things go. If he seems viable at multiple spots, that will give them more choice for how to proceed next offseason, with both first and third base set to be vacated going into the winter. Another factor could be that LuJames Groover is also one of the club’s top ten prospects and is currently hitting well at Double-A while playing third base regularly.

However it plays out defensively, Lawlar is generating a lot of excitement with his bat. He’s currently sporting a line of .356/.451/.644 with Reno this year. He won’t be able to maintain a .457 batting average on balls in play forever but he has five home runs and a 13% walk rate. He also has 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts through 26 games.

Photo courtesy of Michael Chow, Imagn Images

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