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

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

1. Rutschman being monitored:

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

2. Series Preview: Blue Jays @ Rangers

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

3. Arenado, Santana nearing milestone:

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

Padres Looking To Trade For Left Field Help

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No team in baseball has gotten less from the left field position this season than the Padres, whose left fielders have combined for an unimpressive –0.7 bWAR over the team’s first 50 games.  While the trade deadline is over two months away, it isn’t surprising that this glaring weakness is already on the radar, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that “the Padres have begun exploring the trade market for a left fielder.”

The list of internal options got even thinner on Saturday when San Diego placed Jason Heyward on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain.  The severity of Heyward’s strain isn’t yet known, but even a minor oblique issue usually means at least a few weeks of recovery time, which deals another blow to what has already been a rough season for the veteran outfielder.  Heyward is hitting only .176/.223/.271 over 95 plate appearances, and he already missed 10 days of action in April due to an earlier IL stint for left knee inflammation.

Luis Campusano was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move for Heyward, technically giving the Padres three catchers on the roster between Campusano, Elias Diaz, and Martin Maldonado.  However, manager Mike Shildt indicated that Campusano will act as the Padres’ DH against left-handed pitching, and could also get some time as a first baseman.  Either deployment could free up Gavin Sheets to spend more time in left field, and the combination of Sheets, Brandon Lockridge, and utilityman Tyler Wade are expected to handle left field duties until Heyward is healthy or perhaps until a new addition joins the team.

After Jurickson Profar departed in free agency, San Diego signed Heyward and Connor Joe to one-year, $1MM free agent contracts with the idea that the two veterans could form an inexpensive left field platoon.  Those plans went awry due to Heyward’s struggles and the Padres’ preference to give prospect Lockridge more of an extended look at the MLB level, so Joe (who appeared in only seven big league games for the Friars) was dealt to the Reds earlier this month.  Oscar Gonzalez was also released earlier this week so he could sign with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB, as the Padres parted ways with another under-performing outfielder.

Lockridge is hitting just .197/.258/.262 over 68 PA, and rookie Tirso Ornelas also hasn’t done much in limited playing time.  Sheets is enjoying a very nice year at the plate but he is a defensive liability as a regular outfielder, plus regular usage in left field would also create another lineup hole since Sheets would spend less time in the first base/DH mix.

Given that the Friars acquired Luis Arraez from the Marlins in early May 2024, it wouldn’t necessarily be a shock if president of baseball operations A.J. Preller moved sooner rather than later on a significant addition.  That said, the Arraez trade was something of a perfect storm of circumstances, as most out-of-contention teams wait until much closer to the deadline to start unloading their top trade chips.  Landing the left-field equivalent of an established regular like Arraez is also not simple, as the Padres might for now just be looking for more part-time or platoon types.

Since it is only late May, struggling teams like the Orioles or Pirates will likely see how June plays out before moving fully into sell mode.  If Baltimore can’t turn around its shocking disappointing season, such outfielders and impending free agents as Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, or Ramon Laureano could all be of interest to outfield-needy teams like the Padres.  Tommy Pham is having a rough year for the Pirates and might be available earlier, but despite Pham’s struggles, the ex-Padre might get some consideration from his former team.

Looking at teams who are already in clear sell mode, White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi is probably too expensive to merit serious trade consideration unless Chicago eats the majority of Benintendi’s remaining salary.  Mike Tauchman, Michael A. Taylor or Austin Slater also figure to all be available as deadline rentals.  Another early trade with the Marlins might be possible since Jesus Sanchez is readily available, yet Sanchez hasn’t hit much in 2025.  The Rockies figure to be open to moving anyone besides their most prized younger players, though Colorado’s roster doesn’t offer much in the way of a clear upgrade for San Diego.

Dodgers Notes: Sasaki, Glasnow, Phillips

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Royals Reportedly Option Cavan Biggio

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

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

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

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

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

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

Braves Sign Jose Cuas To Minor League Deal

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

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

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

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

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

Yankees Reportedly Interested In Right-Handed Bat, Rotation Help

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dodgers Sign Chris Stratton

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

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

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

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

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

Braves Release Orlando Arcia

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May 25: Atlanta has released Arcia, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The infielder is now a free agent who is free to sign with any club.

May 23: The Braves announced Friday that they’ve designated infielder Orlando Arcia for assignment. His active roster spot will go to returning All-Star Ronald Acuña Jr., whose previously reported reinstatement from the injured list is now official.

Atlanta originally acquired Arcia from the Brewers in a trade sending righties Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka back to Milwaukee. Arcia struggled in 2021, his first partial season with the Braves, but Atlanta nonetheless signed him to a guaranteed two-year, $3MM contract to buy out his final arbitration seasons. A club option for the 2024 campaign extended their window of control over him by one season.

Arcia went on to have a solid showing in a utility capacity in 2022 (.244/.316/.416 in 268 plate appearances), and the Braves ripped up that prior contract to sign him to a new extension in March of 2023. That deal guaranteed Arcia a modest $7.3MM from 2023-25 and tacked on a club option for the 2026 season. At first, it looked like a masterstroke by president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, as Arcia improbably made the All-Star team in 2023 while replacing former franchise shortstop Dansby Swanson, who had signed with the Cubs in free agency. His terrific first half gave way to some second-half doldrums, however, and Arcia has never recovered at the plate.

Arcia’s role as the starting shortstop has been overtaken by light-hitting but slick-fielding Nick Allen this season. Arcia has totaled just 32 plate appearances and gone 6-for-31 with five singles and a double. Dating back to August of that 2023 season, he’s batted a paltry .238/.292/.380 (83 wRC+) with a 20.4% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.

As of this writing, Arcia is still owed $1.376MM of this year’s $2MM salary. His contract contains a $2MM club option with a $1MM buyout, bringing the total owed to him up to $2.376MM. It’s a light enough commitment, with an affordable extra season of club control, that perhaps a team in dire need of infield help would consider taking a flier.

The likelier outcome is that Arcia is simply released, as is the case with most veteran players on guaranteed salaries who hit waivers during the season, although if other clubs have interest in a trade, Atlanta could always offer to cover a portion of the remaining guarantee to further entice potential trade partners. The Braves will have five days to trade Arcia before they’re required to place him on waivers — a 48-hour process — in order to ensure that Arcia’s DFA is resolved within the one-week maximum timeframe. He can, of course, be placed on release waivers or outright waivers at any point prior to that.

Shohei Ohtani Throws Live Batting Practice

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TODAY: Ohtani threw 22 pitches over three batters faced in today’s live BP, according to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other members of the Dodgers beat.  Ohtani stuck to mostly fastballs, with “a couple of sweepers and a splitter,” Chen writes.

MAY 24: Shohei Ohtani will hit a milestone this weekend in his return to pitching. He’s slated to throw live batting practice to teammates before Sunday night’s game at Citi Field (link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It will be his first time throwing to hitters since his 2023 elbow surgery. Ohtani was initially expected to throw BP on Saturday, but the Dodgers pushed that back after last night’s 13-inning game — which also featured an early rain delay — went until 1:00 in the morning on the East Coast.

Ohtani has been throwing bullpen sessions for the past couple months. He got up to 50 pitches last weekend and has thrown his fastball in the mid-90s. Ardaya writes that Ohtani recently began to reintroduce his breaking stuff into those exercises. He’s still not expected to pitch in games until after the All-Star Break.

The Dodgers face a unique ramp-up process with the three-time MVP. He’s working back from his second major elbow operation. That’d have warranted caution even if he were just a pitcher. Every other pitcher would spend multiple weeks on a minor league rehab assignment before returning to an MLB mound. The Dodgers aren’t going to take Ohtani’s bat out of the big league lineup to do that. He required offseason surgery on his non-throwing shoulder after tearing his labrum on a slide during the World Series. They’ll also need to monitor his overall fatigue level as he builds his arm while continuing to hit every day. He has started 49 of their first 51 games at designated hitter.

That all produces a complicated rehab plan that has moved quite slowly. It has now been 20 months since Ohtani underwent the UCL repair that ended his Angels tenure. It hasn’t at all slowed his offensive dominance, of course. He has followed up last year’s unprecedented 50-50 season with a .302/.397/.643 line through 232 plate appearances. He leads the majors with 53 runs and is tied with Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber and Cal Raleigh for the league lead with 17 homers.

Padres Place Michael King On 15-Day Injured List

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The Padres announced that right-hander Michael King has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to May 22) due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  Righty David Morgan was called up from Triple-A El Paso to take King’s spot on the active roster, and earlier today, the Padres also called up left-hander Omar Cruz while right-hander Alek Jacob was optioned to Triple-A.

King was scheduled to start Saturday’s game against the Braves, but he was scratched from the lineup after arriving at the ballpark with a sore shoulder.  The righty “just felt like he slept on it wrong,” manager Mike Shildt told the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee and other media members yesterday, and the discomfort persisted after some pregame testing and weighted-ball tossing.

After another day of evaluation, the decision was clearly made to put King onto the 15-day IL, perhaps just as precaution.  Shildt said yesterday that “we do believe it’s not anything overly serious” and that King perhaps may have been able to pitch Saturday, but the club saw no reason to risk a more serious injury.

The centerpiece of the trade package the Yankees sent to the Padres in the Juan Soto trade, King more than lived up to the hype in his first season in San Diego.  King had already gone from dominant reliever to dominant starter after he was moved into New York’s rotation near the end of the 2023 season, and he continued to elevate his game with a 2.95 ERA over 173 2/3 innings with the Padres last year.  That superlative effort earned King a seventh-place finish in NL Cy Young Award voting, and he has kept up the terrific work this year.

Over 10 starts and 55 2/3 innings in 2025, King has a 2.59 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, and 7.6% walk rate.  Both of the latter figures are improvements over his already strong numbers in 2024, though his whiff rate (28.4%) has declined and King is allowing far more hard contact than he did last year.  These issues notwithstanding, King has continued to look the part of a frontline pitcher, and he has paired with Nick Pivetta to form a big one-two punch at the top of San Diego’s rotation.

Losing King even for 15 days, then, would be a setback for a Padres team that is still missing Yu Darvish to injury.  Darvish threw four innings in a Triple-A rehab start on May 14 but hasn’t pitched since, seemingly adding some fresh doubt over when exactly Darvish will be making his 2025 debut.  Shildt did say two weeks ago that Darvish’s rehab work would be going somewhat by feel rather than a strict throwing progression, as the club was relying on Darvish’s experience and knowledge of his arm to gauge his readiness.

With King and Darvish out, the Padres’ rotation now consists of Pivetta, Dylan Cease, Randy Vasquez, and Stephen Kolek.  Kyle Hart is the only other pitcher who has made any starts for the Padres this year, as he had a 6.00 ERA in five starts and 21 innings for Friars before being optioned to Triple-A in April.  Hart is the likeliest candidate to take King’s spot in the rotation, as Matt Waldron is also on a rehab assignment in his own recovery from an oblique strain.

Yesterday’s impromptu bullpen game saw the Padres use Jacob and three other pitchers, so Jacob was optioned in part to bring some fresh arms into the bullpen.  Cruz is a swingman who has started four of his eight Triple-A appearances this season, and he made his MLB debut earlier in 2025 in the form of two relief outings and 3 2/3 total innings for the Padres.  He might also factor into the rotation plans in some limited capacity with King out, as the Padres will need all hands on deck for a stretch of 26 games in 27 days that starts off on Friday.

With the Friars in need of pitching help, Morgan will get another opportunity to make his MLB debut.  The right-hander’s contract was selected to the big league roster back in late April, but Morgan was optioned to Triple-A a week later without ever getting into a game.  Morgan had never pitched even at the Triple-A level before that unexpected call-up, and after showing up in El Paso earlier this month, he has been hit hard to the tune of a 12.71 ERA over seven appearances and 5 2/3 innings.

Extreme problems with the home run ball have plagued Morgan this year, as he has allowed five homers over 14 1/3 total minor league frames at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.  For comparison, the righty had given up only seven big flies in his 108 1/3 previous minor league innings.  Morgan has displayed excellent control throughout his minor league career, and his good strikeout numbers have spiked to an eye-popping 45.45% over his 14 1/3 innings in 2025.

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