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Diamondbacks Trade Jose Castillo To Mets

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The Mets acquired lefty reliever José Castillo from the Diamondbacks for cash, the teams announced. New York designated righty Kevin Herget for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster. Arizona had designated Castillo for assignment on Monday.

Castillo has technically appeared in five MLB seasons, though all but eight of his appearances came with the Padres during his 2018 rookie season. He turned in a 3.29 ERA over 38 1/3 innings that year but was subsequently set back by injury.

The 29-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Snakes in November. It marked his second consecutive season in the Arizona organization. He had spent all of last year with their Triple-A team in Reno, though he lost the first half of that season to injury. The Diamondbacks assigned him back to Reno to begin this season. He struck out seven while tossing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball and was called up at the beginning of May.

The 6’6″ southpaw only spent a couple weeks in Torey Lovullo’s bullpen. He didn’t pitch well, allowing eight runs on 10 hits (including a trio of home runs) over 6 1/3 frames. Arizona bumped him out of the bullpen when Kendall Graveman returned from injury. Castillo is out of options, so they needed to designate him for assignment to take him off the MLB roster.

That out-of-options status means the Mets are prepared to give Castillo at least some time in their big league bullpen. They’ve been forced to scour the lefty relief market after losing Danny Young and A.J. Minter to season-ending injuries. They called up Génesis Cabrera from Triple-A Syracuse. He’s the only southpaw in Carlos Mendoza’s relief corps. Cabrera has managed five innings of one-run ball over four outings, but he had walked nearly 15% of opposing hitters in Triple-A before the promotion.

The Mets will need to remove someone from the major league bullpen once Castillo reports to the team. Dedniel Núñez is the obvious candidate, since he still has a couple options remaining. Cabrera is out of options, so the Mets would need to designate him for assignment if they wanted to use Castillo as their only left-hander.

Herget relinquishes his spot on the 40-man roster. The Mets claimed the 34-year-old off waivers from Milwaukee early last offseason. He only spent one day on the MLB roster, allowing two runs on three hits in one inning. He has otherwise been working out of the bullpen at Syracuse. Herget has only allowed five runs over 15 2/3 innings, but that came with a pedestrian 13:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He had a much stronger 32.4% strikeout rate over 38 appearances with Milwaukee’s top farm team a year ago.

The Mets will likely place Herget on waivers within the next few days. He has been outrighted twice in his career and would have the right to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.

Rangers Release Adrian Houser

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Righty Adrian Houser was granted his release from his minor league contract with the Rangers, the team announced. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reports that Texas hopes to bring him back (presumably on a fresh minor league deal), but he’ll have the opportunity to explore other offers.

Houser signed with the Rangers during the offseason. He has worked out of the rotation at Triple-A Round Rock, tallying 39 1/3 innings across nine appearances. While his 5.03 earned run average is pedestrian, that’s not all that uncommon in the Pacific Coast League. Houser has stronger peripherals. He’s striking out a decent 22.8% of opponents while running an excellent 57.3% grounder rate.

Ground balls are Houser’s speciality. He has gotten grounders at a near-52% clip over parts of eight seasons in the majors. That was up in the 58-59% range during his best seasons with Milwaukee but has been down to a more normal 46-48% mark over the past few years. That caught up to him last year, as he allowed 5.84 earned runs per nine across 69 1/3 frames with the Mets. Houser had begun the season in New York’s rotation but was kicked to the bullpen after seven starts.

His results in relief were much better. Houser carried an ERA north of 8.00 as a starting pitcher but turned in a 3.28 mark across 35 2/3 relief innings. Texas seemingly preferred him as rotation depth, though it stands to reason he could find interest from other clubs as both a starter and reliever.

Orioles Notes: Kittredge, Cowser, Reilly

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Back in January, the O’s signed reliever Andrew Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM deal. They haven’t yet received any return on that investment but that may soon change, since he’s currently on a rehab assignment.

“All good news with how he’s throwing the baseball and how he feels,” said manager Brandon Hyde, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. “I think he throws again this weekend and then he’ll do a back-to-back and maybe another one. We’ll see how it goes.”

Kittredge required a left knee debridement procedure in March and has been on the 15-day injured list all year so far. He’s now made four rehab appearances, the last three being scoreless Triple-A outings. Based on Hyde’s comments, it seems he’ll get into a few more games and should join the Baltimore bullpen after that.

The righty had a 2.80 earned run average in 70 2/3 innings with the Cardinals last year. His 23% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate were all solid figures. If he can get back to that level of performance, he’ll be a nice upgrade to the relief corps. However, it might require a tough decision on who goes out. The only members of the bullpen who are optionable are the high-leverage arms: Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin. That could put pressure on a struggling pitcher like Cionel Pérez or Charlie Morton, who both have ERAs north of 8.00.

Regardless of that decision, it’s possible that Kittredge could eventually emerge as a trade candidate this summer, if he performs well after being reinstated from the IL. The O’s are now 15-27 and will have to engineer a big winning streak to avoid being deadline sellers. Kittredge’s deal contains a $9MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout.

Kubatko also relayed a minor update on outfielder Colton Cowser, saying that he did some “light outfield work” yesterday. He suffered a broken thumb just a few days into the season, an injury which came with a timeline of six to eight weeks.

He was subsequently transferred to the 60-day IL, so he’s not eligible to return until late May, though that doesn’t seem likely even though it’s been over six weeks now. He will presumably need to ramp up his activities further before even beginning a rehab assignment. Kubatko notes that the injured thumb is still wrapped in a brace. For now, the Orioles will continue with the outfield mix consisting largely of Cedric Mullins, Ramón Laureano, Tyler O’Neill and Heston Kjerstad.

The club also announced to reporters, including Kubatko, that pitching prospect Patrick Reilly had UCL surgery yesterday. The O’s didn’t provide a timeline for Reilly but he’ll surely be sidelined into the middle of the 2026 season.

Acquired from the Pirates last summer in a deal which sent Billy Cook the other way, Reilly has been with Double-A Bowie since the deal. He has logged 41 innings for the Baysox with a 3.29 ERA. For his entire minor league career, he now has 139 2/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA, 30.1% strikeout rate and 12.3% walk rate.

Coming into 2025, Baseball America ranked him the #16 prospect in the Orioles’ system while FanGraphs had him at #25. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December of 2026 if not protected before then, but he’ll spend most of the intervening time rehabbing from this surgery.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Huascar Ynoa Signs With Mexican League’s Leones De Yucatán

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The Mexican League’s Leones De Yucatán announced that they have signed right-hander Huascar Ynoa. He had signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins in the offseason but he was released last month, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

Ynoa, turning 27 this month, didn’t have a good tenure with the Twins. He made five Triple-A appearance but allowed five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. He issued seven walks and hit a batter while only recording one strikeout. That poor performance seemingly led to his release. Now that he’s signing in Mexico, it seems he didn’t get much interest from the other affiliated clubs.

However, he is still relatively young and put up some good numbers a few years ago. With Atlanta in 2021, he tossed 91 innings with a 4.05 earned run average. His 26.9% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate were all better than average.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to build off that solid season in subsequent years. In 2022, he had two bad starts to begin the year and spent most of the season in Triple-A, putting up a 5.68 ERA at Gwinnett. He required Tommy John surgery in September of that year, which wiped out his entire 2023. Last year, he missed more time due to a stress reaction in his elbow. He logged only 29 2/3 innings in the minors with a 6.37 ERA. He was non-tendered by Atlanta, which led to his minor league deal with the Twins.

After missing most of the 2023-24 seasons, it’s perhaps not shocking that Ynoa showed some rust to start this year. Ideally, the Leones can give him some time to get back into a groove and rediscover his previous form. If that comes to pass, he would likely have MLB clubs calling him up again.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

White Sox Claim Vinny Capra

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The White Sox announced that they have claimed infielder/outfielder Vinny Capra off waivers from the Brewers. He had been designated for assignment by Milwaukee last week. The Sox opened a 40-man spot recently by designating Gage Workman for assignment, so no corresponding move will be necessary there. Capra is out of options, so the Sox will need to open active roster space once he reports to the club.

Capra, 28, has been a good minor league performer in his career but hasn’t really had a chance to carve out a major league career. He has appeared in each of the four most recent major league seasons but has only been sent up to the plate 96 times over those campaigns. He has produced a dismal .105/.170/.163 line in those.

But on the farm, he received 1,287 plate appearances from 2021 to 2024. He drew walks in 11.4% of those while limiting strikeouts to an 18.6% clip. He had a combined .287/.376/.431 line and 118 wRC+ over those seasons. He also stole 25 bases while bouncing around the diamond. He has played every position except first base, though that includes just one inning as a catcher and just a third of an inning on the mound.

The Brewers apparently thought there was a chance of Capra being a useful big league player. They claimed him off waivers from the Pirates in 2023. Coming into 2025, he had exhausted his option years but earned an Opening Day roster spot by hitting .292/.358/.729 in spring training. However, he didn’t carry it over into the regular season, which nudged him off the roster and onto the waiver wire.

The Chicago roster is a bit of a motley crew right now. After losing 121 games last year, they are giving playing time to guys like Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn, with the club hoping those guys can build trade value in the coming months. Meanwhile, guys like Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth are attempting to establish themselves as bonafide major leaguers and form part of the next core. Capra will jump in there and can bounce around to multiple spots. If he can get some plate appearances and produce some offense like he has in the minors, he’ll be a nice pickup for the Sox.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

Poll: American League Playoff Outlook

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We’re now a little over a quarter of the way through the 2025 regular season. With Memorial Day fast approaching, it’s hard for struggling teams to continue arguing that it’s still early. That isn’t to say playoff positions are set in stone, of course; on this day last year, the Mariners and Twins were firmly in playoff position while the eventual AL West champion Astros were in fourth place in the division and seven games under .500.

If the season ended today, the Tigers, Yankees, Mariners, Guardians, Royals, and Twins would be your playoff teams in the American League this year. With four-and-a-half months left in the baseball calendar, which team currently outside of that group has the best chance of breaking their way into the mix?

Here’s a look at a few of the options, listed in order of record entering play today:

Houston Astros (22-20)

Houston’s first season in a post-Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman world has been an uneven one. Jose Altuve does not look like the difference-maker he once was in his age-35 season. He’s hitting .256/.302/.369 (90 wRC+) and has effectively played at replacement level. His batted-ball profile suggests he may even be a bit fortunate to have the modest rate stats he currently possesses. Yordan Alvarez is injured, Yainer Diaz is well-below average at the plate, and neither Christian Walker nor Cam Smith is producing the way Houston hoped.

On the positive side, Isaac Paredes (141 wRC+) and Jeremy Pena (139 wRC+) have both been excellent at the plate. Hunter Brown is looking like an early Cy Young candidate, and the late-inning duo of Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu is one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball. If Alvarez can get healthy and the team can find some outfield help this summer, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Houston make its tenth consecutive postseason.

Texas Rangers (23-21)

Entering the season, the Rangers looked like they had an excellent offense that would be held down by questions about the pitching staff. The reality they’ve faced this year is the opposite: Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, Jake Burger, and Joc Pederson have all been somewhere between disappointing and terrible. Corey Seager has been injured, and Evan Carter started the year in the minors. Josh Jung, Josh Smith, and Wyatt Langford have been the only standout performers in the lineup so far this year.

That’s been offset by phenomenal performances in the rotation despite injuries to Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, and Kumar Rocker. Jacob deGrom is back and striking out a third of batters like it’s 2019, but he’s arguably the #3 starter in a rotation where Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle have sub-2.00 ERAs. Even emergency addition Patrick Corbin is turning back the clock with a 3.35 ERA across seven starts. If the Rangers’ vaunted offense can wake up a bit, it’s easy to imagine the 2023 World Series champs making a run.

The Athletics (22-21)

John Fisher’s aggressive offseason after abandoning Oakland for West Sacramento is paying off in the standings, though it’s mostly been due to young players breaking out. Jacob Wilson is looking like a unicorn in the mold of Luis Arraez. Tyler Soderstrom has emerged as a breakout slugger. Shea Langeliers is in the midst of a career year at the dish.

The pitching is cause for concern, but Gunnar Hoglund has looked good in his first taste of big league action, while both Luis Severino and Mason Miller have peripherals that suggest their results should improve with time. Three of last year’s most productive players — Lawrence Butler, JJ Bleday, and Brent Rooker — have taken steps backward, however. That will limit the club’s potential if they can’t get back on track.

Toronto Blue Jays (22-22)

With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. now in the fold for life, now all the Blue Jays have to do is win with him. The returns on that front are mixed. Veterans like George Springer, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt are doing their best to make everyone forget about their age, but the performances of longer-term pieces like Anthony Santander, Bowden Francis and Jose Berrios are deeply concerning. Jeff Hoffman has been among baseball’s best closers so far and Bo Bichette is an above-average hitter again, but Alejandro Kirk has been pedestrian at the plate and Guerrero’s 131 wRC+, while terrific relative to the rest of the league, represents a major step back from last year’s 165. A healthy and effective return from future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer would go a long way to stabilizing the rotation, but players like Santander and Berrios will need to get going if playoff baseball is to return to Canada this year.

Boston Red Sox (22-23)

After pushing in by adding Garrett Crochet and Bregman this winter, the Red Sox entered the year looking like one of the AL’s best teams. While they haven’t exactly been bad, the season certainly hasn’t worked out that way so far. Crochet and Bregman are both as-advertised or better, and Wilyer Abreu is looking like a bona fide lefty slugger to pair with Rafael Devers.

Kristian Campbell has begun to cool off after a torrid start, however, and the rotation injuries have begun to pile up. It’s anyone’s guess who will be playing first base on any given day. Triston Casas is out for the year. Romy Gonzalez is on the injured list. Devers doesn’t sound keen on another position change. Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are knocking on the door in the minors, and perhaps their eventual debuts will be the spark this team needs to get back into the playoff mix.

The Rest Of The Field

The five teams mentioned above are all within two games of a Wild Card spot, but the rest of the AL can’t be counted out. The Rays will benefit from the eventual returns of players like Ha-Seong Kim and Shane McClanahan, but they need more offense from key pieces like Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, and Junior Caminero. The Orioles should have the lineup to compete, but they have some key bats struggling and will need to figure out their disastrous pitching staff to get back into the race. The Angels have faded after a hot start, but players like Luis Rengifo and Taylor Ward should start hitting eventually. The White Sox still have an abysmal offense, but the rotation has been surprisingly solid with Rule 5 pick Shane Smith in particular looking like a steal.

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Which of the teams outside of the AL playoff picture entering play today do MLBTR readers think stands the best chance of making it into the postseason? Have your say in the poll below:

Twins Option Simeon Woods Richardson, Likely To Promote Zebby Matthews

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1:08pm: The Twins are planning to recall Matthews for what’ll be his first major league look this season, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He’ll likely get the ball for Sunday’s series finale. Nightengale adds an ominous note that Festa’s last start was skipped over due to arm fatigue, although the promising righty is slated to start Saturday’s Triple-A game.

10:21am: The Twins optioned righty Simeon Woods Richardson to Triple-A St. Paul following yesterday’s tough start, per the team. Left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk, who’d been with the team as the 27th man in Minnesota’s doubleheader versus the Orioles, will stay in the big league roster in his place.

Woods Richardson has been a constant in the Twins’ rotation dating back to last April. He’s been solid on the whole, working to a 4.36 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate across 171 1/3 innings, but his recent work has been lackluster. Woods Richardson has lasted fewer than five innings in four of his past five starts. He pitched into the sixth inning and held the Angels to one run back on April 26, but that’s the only time in the past month he’s completed five frames.

The three most recent starts for Woods Richardson have been particularly problematic. Beyond their abbreviated nature, he’s been tagged for a combined 10 runs and seen his command suffer considerably. Since the calendar flipped to May, Woods Richardson has pitched 13 1/3 innings and allowed 10 runs (6.75 ERA) on 15 hits (four homers) and eight walks. He’s walked 13.6% of his opponents against an ugly 15.3% strikeout rate and served up four of his eight home runs during that span.

A team optioning its fifth starter isn’t always headline news, but Woods Richardson’s demotion is a bit more notable given both a relatively lengthy run in starting five and the presence of two high-end young starters with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate: right-handers David Festa and Zebby Matthews. Both ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects prior to their respective MLB debuts last year. Matthews is still prospect-eligible and sits at the No. 46 spot on Baseball America’s recently updated top-100 list.

Festa, 25, was hit hard in his first two big league starts last year but settled in with a 3.81 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in his final 11 major league turns down the stretch. He started three games for the Twins earlier in 2025, pitching 13 innings with a pristine 1.38 ERA. Over his past 14 MLB starts, the 6’6″, 185-pound righty — nicknamed the “Slim Reaper” — carries a 3.34 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Since being sent back to Triple-A last month, he’s tossed 11 2/3 innings and held opponents to three runs (2.31 ERA) on six hits and no walks with 14 punchouts.

Not to be outdone, the 24-year-old Matthews has started seven games in Triple-A this year and logged a sparkling 1.93 earned run average. The 6’5″, 225-pound righty has set down 28.1% of his opponents on strikes and walked a sharp 6.7% of his opponents. Matthews’ 2024 debut was the inverse of Festa’s first MLB look; he was terrific through three starts before being trounced for nine runs by the Blue Jays on Aug. 31. In his final six starts, he pitched just 22 2/3 innings and was tagged for 23 runs.

Both Festa and Matthews have the makings of potential long-term rotation pieces for the Twins. That’s not to say Woods Richardson won’t get another chance. He’s still only 24 himself and won’t turn 25 until September. This is also Woods Richardson’s final option year, so the Twins will need to find a role for him heading into the 2026 season. Righty Chris Paddack is a free agent at season’s end, and injuries can arise at any time to create further opportunities, of course.

For the time being, the Twins have Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Paddack starting games. Festa, Matthews and Woods Richardson are all on the 40-man roster and in the mix for the last rotation job, though it seems Woods Richardson is shifting to the back of the line for the short term, at the very least.

The Twins will start Paddack today (2.51 ERA, 20.2 K%, 7.8 BB% over his past six starts) and then go to Ryan (2.74 ERA) and Lopez (2.77 ERA) against the Brewers on Friday and Saturday, respectively. They’ll need to bring up another starter for Sunday’s series finale in Milwaukee, as Ober would only be on three days’ rest. They could also push Ryan and Lopez back a day, as Matthews is slated to start tomorrow and Festa would also be on full rest if summoned for Friday’s game.

Tony Kemp Announces Retirement

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Veteran infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp has announced his retirement via social media (X link, Instagram link).

“After 12 years of professional baseball and nine seasons in the big leagues, I’ve decided to hang up the spikes,” Kemp wrote. In a lengthy farewell, he went on to thank his parents, his wife, his brother, Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, all of the organizations for which he suited up in the majors (Astros, Cubs, A’s, Orioles) and all of the training staffs who incredibly helped him avoid spending even one day of his career on the injured list. The 5’6″ Kemp also offered a heartfelt message for “undersized” ballplayers everywhere:

“To the undersized ballplayer: I see you, I hear you, and I understand you. With all of the metrics and data in the game of baseball today, there is still one measurement they can’t compute: your heart. Continue to play the game the right way and respect it. The game will reward you, I promise. Leave no doubt and give everything you have like someone is watching you play baseball for the first time. I’m rooting for you all.”

Kemp, 33, was the Astros’ fifth-round pick out of Vanderbilt back in 2013. He was in the big leagues three years later, appearing in 59 games and hitting .217/.296/.325 in a small sample of 136 plate appearances. Kemp received a fleeting cup of coffee with the 2017 Astros (39 plate appearances) but landed his first real look in the majors in 2018. He totaled 97 games and 295 plate appearances for Houston that year and delivered a nice .263/.351/.392 batting line (110 wRC+) with a strong 10.8% walk rate against a tiny 14.9% strikeout rate.

The following season, Kemp turned in a decent performance through 66 games with Houston before being flipped to the Cubs in a deadline deal that brought catcher Martin Maldonado to the Astros. He struggled in a short 44-game tenure with the Cubs, who traded him to the A’s in an offseason deal netting them first baseman Alfonso Rivas III.

It proved to be a terrific move by the Athletics. Kemp delivered the best work of his career in green and gold, spending four seasons with the A’s and playing quite well for the first three. From 2020-22, he posted a .252/.341/.361 slash (105 wRC+) with savvy baserunning and quality defense at both second base and in left field. Kemp never hit for much power, but during that three-year peak with the A’s he drew walks at a 10.5% clip and flashed continually plus bat-to-ball skills, fanning in only 12.5% of his plate appearances.

The 2023 season was a tough one, as Kemp hit just .209/.303/.304 in 417 turns at the plate. Oakland cut him loose that offseason. Kemp went on to sign minor league deals with the Reds, Orioles and Twins. He briefly appeared in the majors with Baltimore last season, getting into five games but going hitless in 10 plate appearances.

Kemp spent a dozen years in pro ball, saw MLB time in nine seasons with four teams, and will retire with a .237/.324/.351 batting line in 739 MLB games and 2247 plate appearances. He picked up more than six years of big league service and, per Baseball-Reference, secured more than $8.5MM in career earnings (in addition to his $250K signing bonus out of the draft). Kemp was a popular teammate and a fan favorite based on his self-described “grinder mentality” on the diamond. Congrats to Tony on a successful career, and best wishes in whatever steps lie ahead.

Dodgers Notes: Rushing, Sasaki, Snell, Glasnow

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The Dodgers have gotten top catching prospect Dalton Rushing looks at first base and in the corner outfield to expand his defensive portfolio, but Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports that at least for the time being, Rushing will serve only as a catcher in the majors. The 24-year-old is set to make his MLB debut tonight when catching a bullpen game, and the plan is for him to catch twice a week while also participating in daily game-planning meetings, catching bullpen sessions and serving as a true understudy to veteran backstop Will Smith.

Rushing, the No. 40 overall draft pick in 2022, has torched Triple-A pitching dating back to 2024. He’s tallied 301 plate appearances there and turned in a .289/.409/.512 batting line, taking walks in more than 15% of his plate appearances along the way. Perhaps down the road, Rushing could see time at other positions if his bat again forces the team’s hand, but manager Dave Roberts likened today’s promotion to that of Smith several years ago.

“We did it with Will before his rookie year (when we) brought him up in September to get assimilated with how we do things on the game-planning stuff,” said the skipper. “In one sense, to not take at-bats every day, you could see some downside. But I think that having (him) here in this environment, around our pitchers, around our coaches … I think just net sum was more positive.”

Rushing will likely get the nod behind the dish tonight in a bullpen game that would have gone to right-hander Roki Sasaki were it not for a trip to the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder impingement. ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez writes that Sasaki’s shoulder discomfort began earlier this month. The right-hander himself described the issue as not necessarily painful, but limited mobility in his shoulder. Even in the absence of strict pain, sub-optimal range of motion in the shoulder is an obvious detriment to any pitcher’s ability on the mound.

The onset of the discomfort appears particularly evident when looking at Sasaki’s game log. He averaged 96.4 mph on his heater through his first six starts of the season but sat at 94.8 mph in each of his two most recent turns. His splitter had a similar drop, going from 85.2 mph on average to 84 mph. Even prior to his recent velo dip, Sasaki wasn’t throwing as hard as he did in Japan. Still, the results in those two most recent outings weren’t pretty — eight runs on 11 hits and four walks with only four strikeouts in nine innings pitched — and the Dodgers will now give that ailing shoulder a break.

A firm timetable for Sasaki’s absence isn’t yet established. Gonzalez notes that at least for now, Sasaki isn’t expected to receive any kind of injection to treat the shoulder. He’ll be down for a to-be-determined period, but the Dodgers will be back to a five-man rotation in short order, with Clayton Kershaw’s return set for this weekend.

Also on the mend are top starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. Jack Harris of the L.A. Times reports that Snell was throwing in the outfield yesterday and is again moving forward with his throwing program after it was pushed back last week. Gonzalez adds that Glasnow, too, has been cleared to resume throwing. Both former All-Stars will need to progress through several milestones and then head out on a minor league rehab assignment, so a return for either isn’t exactly just around the corner — but it’s nevertheless encouraging to hear that both are trending in the right direction.

The Opener: Astros, Rangers, Bochy, Twins, Dodgers

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Series Preview: Astros @ Rangers

The Astros are headed four hours north to face their intrastate rivals in a four-game series. The first of those games is scheduled for 7:05pm local time this evening and will feature a pair of the league’s best starters: 36-year-old veteran Jacob deGrom, who sports a 2.72 ERA and a 32.6% strikeout rate in eight starts, will be on the bump for the Rangers. The Astros will counter with 26-year-old righty Hunter Brown. Brown has been dominant dating back to last May and has continued his breakout performance into 2025, with a sterling 1.48 ERA and a 32.0% strikeout rate through his first eight starts.

Later in the series, the Astros will send Lance McCullers Jr. to the mound for his third outing since 2022 opposite Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi, who has a 1.78 ERA through nine starts. Righty Ronel Blanco (4.04 ERA) will toe the rubber for Game 3 opposite righty Tyler Mahle (1.47 ERA). The ’Stros haven’t announced who will take on Rangers youngster Jack Leiter (4.34 ERA) in the series finale. Notably, if the Rangers win even one of these games, Bruce Bochy will earn the 2,195th win of his career, pushing him ahead of Sparky Anderson into sole possession of the sixth-most managerial wins in baseball history.

2. Twins go for 11 in a row:

The Twins swept their doubleheader against the Orioles yesterday, which officially took their recent winning streak to ten games — the longest in MLB this season. Minnesota remains in fourth place in the crowded AL Central division at the moment, but their 23-20 record is actually enough to put them in the driver’s seat for the third AL Wild Card spot (one game ahead of the previously mentioned Astros).

If the Twins want to sweep Baltimore and extend their winning streak to 11 games, they’ll need to go through 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano. The storied NPB ace is in the midst of his first season in the majors, and so far he’s excelled with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts despite some shaky peripherals (most notably the fourth-lowest strikeout rate in MLB, at 14.2%). Will the Twins and righty Chris Paddack — who has a 4.76 ERA on the season but a terrific 2.51 mark over his past six turns — be able to overcome him?

3. Rushing time in L.A.:

The Dodgers announced yesterday that they were calling up top catching prospect Dalton Rushing, and it seems likely he’ll make his big league debut tonight against the A’s and righty Osvaldo Bido, with first pitch set for 7:10pm local time in Los Angeles. The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya wrote last night that Rushing is expected to be behind the plate for a bullpen game today. Righty Matt Sauer is in line to open tonight’s game, which would’ve been started by Roki Sasaki were it not for a recent IL placement due to a shoulder impingement.

Rushing, 24, was the 40th overall pick back in 2022 and forced the Dodgers’ hand on a call to the big leagues with a terrific .308/.424/.514 batting line (145 wRC+), five homers, and a huge 15.9% walk rate in 132 plate appearances in Triple-A this year. That came on the heels of similarly excellent production in Triple-A late last season. Overall, he’s a .289/.409/.512 hitter in 68 games and 301 plate appearances at the top minor league level. Virtually every set of prospect rankings around the game has Rushing in the top 40 of the game, with MLB.com lauding him as baseball’s No. 15 prospect. FanGraphs pegged him eighth in the sport heading into the season.

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