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Pirates Select Tanner Rainey, Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On Injured List

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The Pirates are selecting the contract of right-hander Tanner Rainey, according to a club announcement. Right-hander Justin Lawrence was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Rainey on the 40-man roster, while Rainey’s active roster spot will come at the expense of infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The veteran utility man is being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain, and the move is retroactive to May 1.

Rainey, 32, signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal back in December after being non-tendered by the Nationals just a couple of weeks prior. Originally drafted in the second round of the 2015 draft by the Reds, Rainey debuted with Cincinnati back in 2018 but was flipped to Washington prior to the 2019 season and has spent the vast majority of his career in the nation’s capital. In parts of six seasons with the Nats, Rainey has generally been a serviceable middle reliever with a 4.49 ERA (94 ERA+) and a 28.5% strikeout rate in his 182 1/3 innings of work.

Those numbers are decent enough, and he even earned some run as the club’s closer while the team was rebuilding in 2022 as he picked up 12 saves, but Rainey’s hefty 14.1% walk rate largely locked him out of the late innings with the club. His performance in 2024, when he pitched to a 4.76 ERA (86 ERA+) with a 5.42 FIP and a 12.6% walk rate against a strikeout rate of just 19.0%, was enough to convince the Nationals to move on from him rather than pay him an arbitration-level salary. Even so, the Pirates were interested enough in his strikeout-heavy profile to bring him into the fold as a potential depth option. He’ll now get a new big league opportunity with his third organization amid a season where the Pirates’ bullpen has largely been in flux.

Meanwhile, Kiner-Falefa exits Pittsburgh’s positional mix after hitting .280/.333/.330 in 109 plate appearances across his first 30 games of the year. The veteran’s lack of power means that line is overall good for a wRC+ of 87, but he’s been getting on base at a solid clip, keeping his strikeouts under control, and playing solid defense as the club’s reular shortstop. The Pirates will need to figure things out at the position without Kiner-Falefa’s steady glove, and that could be easier said than done. It would be a surprise if the Pirates opted to move Oneil Cruz back onto the infield dirt after he’s worked to improve as their everyday center fielder, which could leave the club to rely on Jared Triolo as its everyday shortstop for the time being.

As for Lawrence, it was revealed earlier this week that Lawrence was headed for a second opinion on his elbow injury. The diagnosis from that second opinion has not yet been revealed, but his transfer to the 60-day IL seems to indicate that Pittsburgh brass are expecting a fairly lengthy absence for their right-hander. It’s a frustrating blow to the Pirates’ bullpen, as his 11 1/3 innings of work with the club have been nothing short of fantastic with a 0.79 ERA and a 2.53 FIP. Lawrence was one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the Pirates’ young season so far, and now they’ll need to hope that Rainey or one of their other bullpen arms can similarly surprise and pick up the slack.

Orioles Recall Coby Mayo

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3:27pm: The Orioles have officially announced Mayo’s promotion. As noted by Kubatko, Urias was in fact placed on the 10-day injured list with what the Orioles have termed a “mild” hamstring strain. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Kubatko) that the club expects Urias’s trip to the IL to be a short one, and then he’ll resume a running progression after resting for a couple of days.

1:00pm: The Orioles are bringing infield prospect Coby Mayo back up to the majors. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported that Mayo was on his way to join the team. Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun confirmed that Mayo would indeed be recalled to the active roster.

Mayo, 23, is one of the best prospects in baseball but he has struggled to find playing time in a crowded Baltimore infield. He made his major league debut last year but was optioned back to the minors multiple times and only got 46 plate appearances over 17 games.

He came into camp this year with a shot at earning an Opening Day job but was optioned to the minors in mid-March. Mayo is only really a viable option at the corners. Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn have been sharing first base and the designated hitter spot.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson started the season on the IL but the club decided to go with a rotation of Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías to cover the three infield spots to the left of first base. Henderson was off the IL after missing just seven games. That left Westburg and Urías sharing third while Holliday and Mateo shared second.

Though Mayo expressed some frustration with getting optioned, he has continued mashing in the minors. He already has six home runs and has been drawing walks at a 12.6% pace. He has a .252/.346/.523 line and 130 wRC+ for the year. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has 1,147 minor league plate appearances with a .287/.390/.570 line and 149 wRC+.

Though he has been doing everything in his power to push for a promotion, the O’s seemed content to wait. Yesterday, general manager Mike Elias spoke on the situation, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. “He’s going to be a big part of this team,” Elias said, though he added that Mayo needed the “right opportunity” or the “right pathway”.

It seems that injuries have finally created that pathway. Westburg landed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week due to a left hamstring strain. Urías was scratched from last night’s game due to right hamstring tightness, leaving Emmanuel Rivera to play third base. With Mayo’s reported recall, perhaps Urías will land on the injured list. Presumably, Mayo will take over at the regular third baseman, with Rivera serving a bench role.

Perhaps that means this will only be a brief promotion. Mayo only hit .098/.196/.098 in his debut last year. If he struggles again this time, he could end up optioned back to Norfolk when Westburg and Urías get healthy, though it’s also possible that he hits enough to stick around. Mountcastle is having an awful year, so perhaps there’s a scenario where his playing time goes to Mayo even with Westburg and Urías on the roster.

Time will tell how that plays out, which will impact Mayo’s future contractual status. He came into this year with 43 days of major league service time, putting him 129 shy of the one-year mark. There are still 148 days remaining in the regular season, meaning Mayo can get over the one-year line if he’s up the rest of the way. That would put him on track to qualify for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030. However, getting optioned back down to the minors later in the year could prevent him from getting over the one-year line and could push those timelines.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Dodgers Recall Hyeseong Kim

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3:00pm: The Dodgers have now made it official. Kim has been recalled with Edman placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 30, due to right ankle inflammation.

11:25am: The Dodgers are recalling infielder Hyeseong Kim, reports Dodgers Daily. Kim will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He is already on the 40-man roster but a corresponding move will be needed to get him onto the active roster.

Kim, 26, was a notable free agent this winter. He had hit .304/.364/.403 over eight season in the KBO while bouncing around to multiple positions, mostly the middle infield. There wasn’t a ton of power there, but he seemed like an intriguing contact-based utility guy.

The Dodgers somewhat surprisingly won the bidding with a three-year, $12.5MM deal. At the time of the signing, they already had a middle infield group consisting of Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, which made it a somewhat curious fit. However, Lux was quickly traded to the Reds, which widened Kim’s path to playing time.

But Kim was optioned to the minors on March 11th, a few days before the Dodgers were travelling to Japan for the Tokyo Series. The middle infield playing time has largely gone to Betts and Edman, with Rojas and Enrique Hernández chipping in occasionally.

Kim has been getting regular playing time at Triple-A, having stepped to the plate 131 times over 28 games. His 7.6% walk rate and 24.4% strikeout rate are both a bit worse than par but he has five home runs, leading to a .252/.328/.470 line and 105 wRC+. He has also stolen 13 bases without getting caught while splitting his time between second base, shortstop and center field.

His promotion might not be entirely about his own Triple-A performance. Edman has missed the club’s last two games due to right ankle discomfort. He has not yet been placed on the injured list but perhaps Kim’s promotion indicates that the Dodgers will make that move today. Edman hasn’t played since Tuesday, so an IL stint could be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could return in a week if he heals up in that time.

If that’s the case, the Dodgers would have Kim, Rojas and Hernandez as options to cover the second base spot. It’s unclear how the playing time would be distributed in that scenario but Kim should have a chance to make his major league debut at some point this week.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Mariners Reinstate Matt Brash From Injured List

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Matt Brash has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. He underwent UCL surgery last year and will be making his first major league appearance since the 2023 season whenever he gets into a game. Right-hander Troy Taylor was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma as the corresponding move.

It’s a little bit of an early birthday present for Brash, who will turn 27 on May 12th. Prior to his recent absence, he was in the process of establishing himself as a potent bullpen weapon for the Mariners. Coming into 2022, the M’s were still using him as a starter. He made his major league debut with five starts early that year but posted a 7.65 earned run average. They optioned him down to the minors and started converting him to relief.

Since then, the results have been excellent. He was recalled in July and tossed 30 2/3 innings out of the bullpen the rest of the way. In that time, he had a 2.35 ERA, 33.9% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate. He added 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the postseason. In 2023, his first full season as a reliever, he logged 70 2/3 innings with a 3.06 ERA, 34.7% strikeout rate and much-improved 9.4% walk rate.

Since getting called up in July of 2022, he has a 2.84 ERA over 101 1/3 innings with a 34.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate. He became a part of the club’s high-leverage group, earning four saves and 33 holds in that time.

Unfortunately, that’s been on pause for over a year. He experienced some arm troubles early in 2024 and eventually went under the knife in May. Now that he’s back, it’ll be a nice boost for the Seattle bullpen. Jackson Kowar is still recovering from his own UCL surgery. Gregory Santos recently underwent knee surgery and was quickly transferred to the 60-day IL, meaning he won’t be coming back anytime soon.

The club’s relievers have a collective 3.69 ERA this year, which puts them just outside the top ten. However, their 18.9% strikeout rate is actually 28th in the league, ahead of just the Cardinals and Marlins. Assuming Brash gets back to his previous strikeout ways, he’ll give them a nice bump in that department. Andrés Muñoz is the Seattle closer but Brash should jump in and take one of the prime setup roles.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Casey Lawrence Reportedly Drawing Interest From Multiple Teams

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Right-hander Casey Lawrence might not be a free agent for long. The 37-year-old elected free agency after the Blue Jays designated him for assignment on Wednesday. However, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that the Blue Jays are “engaged” with Lawrence about a potential reunion. Nicholson-Smith adds that the veteran swing-man is also “believed to be” drawing interest from other clubs.

Lawrence has been a popular recurring character on MLBTR’s front page over the past month. He opened the season in the Mariners organization, pitching 10 innings over three separate stints with the big league club. The first two times the Mariners DFA’d him, he passed through waivers and elected free agency, only to sign new minor league contracts with the team shortly thereafter. The third time, however, the Blue Jays swept in and claimed him off waivers. He would appear in one game for the Jays, giving up three runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings, before they, too, cut ties.

Across parts of five MLB seasons, Lawrence has thrown a total of 136 2/3 innings with a 6.59 ERA and a 4.60 SIERA. He has not pitched more than 15 big league games or 30 big league innings in a season since his rookie campaign eight years ago. While he has continued to work as a starter in the minors, he has not started an MLB contest since April 2017.

Lawrence’s 4.97 ERA in 2025 might somehow be overselling his performance so far, considering seven of the 14 runs he has given up have been unearned. What’s more, he has struck out just five of the 60 batters he has faced. The 87.6-mph average velocity on his sinker makes it one of the slowest (and most hittable) primary fastballs in the game. Nonetheless, he is a low-cost option who is ramped up and ready to throw major league innings for any team that might need them. Evidently, that has been enough for him to draw repeated interest from Seattle and Toronto, and potentially some other teams as well.

The Athletics’ Rebuild Was A Dud; They’re Winning Anyway

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From 2018-21, only four teams in Major League Baseball won more games than the A's. They'd navigated a lean stretch from 2015-17 that saw them rattle off three consecutive last-place finishes in the AL West and come out on the other side with a swiftly acquired/developed core. Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Sean Murphy were top-100 draft picks. Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt and Frankie Montas were key pieces in the returns received for Ben Zobrist, Jeff Samardzija and Josh Reddick/Rich Hill, respectively. Mark Canha was added via the Rule 5 Draft (technically in a trade with the Rockies). Ramon Laureano was acquired from the division-rival Astros for a song.

The staying power of that core, as is ever the case with the low-budget A's, was finite. In early September 2021 -- much to the chagrin of some A's fans; my apologies -- MLBTR looked ahead to the massive slate of arbitration salaries facing the then-Oakland club and wondered whether another broad-reaching teardown was nigh, given the escalating cost of that core.

That rebuild indeed came to pass. Over the next calendar year, each of Olson, Chapman, Manaea, Bassitt, Montas and Lou Trivino were traded for prospects. The following offseason, Murphy, A.J. Puk and Cole Irvin followed. Canha, just like Marcus Semien and Liam Hendriks a year prior, departed for no compensation. Sam Moll went at the 2023 trade deadline.

The plus side seemed to be a bevy of new prospects who could potentially accelerate the rebuild process and help get a contending group back on the field sooner than later. If you'd told A's fans on Opening Day 2022, after that miserable offseason rebuild, that the 2025 club would be an on-the-rise team with an exciting core of hitters, they'd likely have begrudgingly accepted that another rebuild paid dividends.

Except ... that's not really the case. It's true that the A's are winning in 2025 and look more exciting than they have in four years -- but they've reached this point not because of that rebuild but rather in spite of it. Let's take a look back at the rebuild, the missteps along the way, and the manner in which this nucleus came together despite a series of whiffs on the trade market.

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Triston Casas Suffers “Significant Knee Injury”

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Triston Casas suffered a “significant knee injury” during tonight’s win over Minnesota, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive). According to Ian Browne of MLB.com, Casas remains at a local hospital after being taken off the field on a stretcher.

The injury occurred in the second inning. Casas hit a check-swing chopper up the first base line. When Joe Ryan bobbled the ball, Casas lunged to the first base bag in an attempt to beat the throw. He hit the base awkwardly and stumbled over the foot of Minnesota first baseman Ty France. Casas immediately favored his left knee and was down for several minutes before being stretchered off. Romy Gonzalez finished the game at first base.

It’s devastating news for Casas, who is facing a second lengthy absence in as many seasons. He was shelved between late April and the middle of August last year by a lingering rib injury. He hit .241/.337/.462 with 13 homers in 63 games when healthy. Casas has struggled early this season, posting a .182/.277/.303 slash with a trio of homers across 112 trips to the dish. The Red Sox will presumably provide more specifics on the injury and treatment plan in the coming days.

Gonzalez has started seven games at first base this season. He’s the only player other than Casas to log any action there. Gonzalez is a multi-positional infielder who has spent the bulk of his career at second base. He’s hitting reasonably well this season but entered play tonight with a career .245/.277/.388 batting line over 499 plate appearances. It’s unlikely that the Sox would want to rely on him as an everyday first baseman for an extended stretch.

The Sox don’t have an obvious solution in the minors. Nathan Hickey is the primary first baseman at Triple-A Worcester. He’s hitting .262/.300/.429 through his first 22 games of the season. Infielder Abraham Toro is having a much better year for the WooSox, hitting .323/.417/.500 across 115 plate appearances. He has made five starts at first base this year and has 90 career major league innings at the position. He’s likelier to receive a call-up than is Hickey, but he’s more of a second baseman/third baseman with a somewhat similar profile to Gonzalez.

One speculative possibility would be to turn to Rafael Devers, who hasn’t played a single defensive inning all season. Devers has never played a professional inning at first base. He’s obviously familiar with the infield, but Cora made clear at the beginning of the season that the Sox viewed him as a full-time designated hitter for the time being. It seems they want Devers focused exclusively on maintaining an offensive rhythm as the DH rather than getting occasional defensive work after being pushed off third base by the Alex Bregman signing.

That may need to change at some point. Keeping Devers as a full-time DH would essentially block any path to playing time for Masataka Yoshida whenever he’s able to return from a shoulder injury. Yoshida could theoretically play some left field, but that’d require pushing Jarren Duran to center and would only be an option until top outfield prospect Roman Anthony comes up from Triple-A. There’d be more flexibility if the Red Sox were comfortable using Devers at first base.

Brett Phillips Signs With American Association’s Cleburne Railroaders

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Former big leaguer Brett Phillips signed with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association yesterday. The league announced him as a right-handed pitcher, so Phillips is continuing the attempt he began last summer.

The 30-year-old Phillips played in the majors as a depth outfielder between 2017-23. He suited up for five teams and played a little more than half his games as a member of the Rays. Phillips is an elite athlete and plus defensive outfielder, but he never reliably made contact. He hit .187/.272/.347 in just under 1000 big league plate appearances. Phillips made five appearances as a pitcher in blowouts. The results weren’t good, as he allowed nine runs with five walks and zero strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Phillips committed to a new career path with a full-time mound move last year. He reportedly is capable of running his fastball into the mid-90s. The Yankees were intrigued enough by the idea to sign him to a minor league contract last July, but he wasn’t ready for game action. Phillips only made one Low-A appearance.

He failed to retire any of five opponents. He allowed two hits, walked two more, and hit a batter. He uncorked two wild pitches. New York allowed him to become a minor league free agent at the end of the season. Phillips will continue the process in the independent ranks in an effort to pitch his way back to affiliated ball.

Blue Jays Exploring Free Agency For Rotation Depth

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The Blue Jays may soon add some minor league rotation depth. General manager Ross Atkins told reporters (including Mitch Bannon of The Athletic) that the Jays “have a couple of things in the works there that are more on the depth front … via free agency.”

Toronto has not had a defined fifth starter since Max Scherzer went on the injured list. Easton Lucas got the first look and made four starts. He pitched well through two outings but was hit hard in the next two appearances and optioned to Triple-A. An off day allowed them to operate with a four-man rotation comprising Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis for one turn. They selected Eric Lauer onto the big league roster on Wednesday. He worked four innings behind opener Yariel Rodríguez in his team debut.

Lauer was the only particularly experienced starter working out of the Triple-A rotation. There aren’t going to be huge free agent upgrades available in early May, of course, but it’s understandable that the Jays would look to add some kind of veteran help. Spencer Turnbull went unsigned all offseason but was reportedly throwing for teams last month. Veteran swingman José Ureña elected free agency yesterday after being waived by the Mets. Right-hander Dane Dunning is not a free agent but is likely to land on waivers in the next few days after being designated for assignment by the Rangers.

Lucas, Jake Bloss and Adam Macko are the team’s three minor league starters who occupy 40-man roster spots. Bloss made three MLB starts for the Astros last year. He owns a 5.75 ERA over 20 1/3 innings for Triple-A Buffalo. Macko has yet to make his major league debut and has been out all season rehabbing Spring Training meniscus surgery.

Scherzer’s injured list stint has gone beyond a month. He went on the IL on March 30 after experiencing continued nerve discomfort in his thumb. He’s had a series of cortisone shots in recent weeks. Manager John Schneider told Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet and other reporters that the three-time Cy Young winner completed a high-intensity, two-inning bullpen session on Friday. It remains unclear when he might begin a rehab assignment.

Angels Re-Sign J.D. Davis To Minor League Deal

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Infielder J.D. Davis is returning to the Angels, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a minor league deal, per Sam Blum of The Athletic. He had been designated for assignment by the Halos earlier this week. According to his transactions tracker at MLB.com, he was outrighted to Triple-A but elected free agency. Now it seems he has circled back to the Angels on a fresh pact.

Davis, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Angels in the winter. He hit .297/.357/.486 in ten Triple-A games before getting called up to the big leagues when Yoán Moncada landed on the injured list. The team didn’t use Davis much, sending him to the plate just nine times in almost three weeks on the roster before he was designated for assignment.

The upside with Davis is that he’s capable of providing strong offense. From 2019 to 2023, he hit 63 home runs in 1,804 plate appearances. His 27.4% strikeout rate was high but he walked at a strong 10.2% pace. The overall result was a combined .268/.352/.443 batting line for those years, production which led to a 119 wRC+. He did so while moving between third base, first base and left field, though he was only really close to an average fielder at first.

The past year-plus has been a bit challenging, however. He and the Giants went to an arbitration hearing in the 2023-24 offseason. Davis filed at $6.9MM and the team at $6.5MM, with the arbiter eventually choosing the player’s side. Arbitration salaries determined by a hearing are not fully guaranteed, so the Giants put Davis on waivers and released him after signing Matt Chapman to take over at third base. Davis collected about $1.11MM in termination pay and went to the open market.

He landed a new deal with the Athletics, one that guaranteed him $2.5MM, making up some of the money he lost from the shenanigans with the Giants. However, his tenure in Oakland was interrupted by a right adductor strain. He was later flipped to the Yankees but hit the IL with that club as well, due to an illness. He was eventually cut loose by the Yanks and finished the year on a minor league deal with the Orioles.

He didn’t hit especially well last year around those IL stints, producing a combined .218/.293/.338 line and 86 wRC+. He’s not a strong defender at third and isn’t a threat on the bases, so he doesn’t have much value when he’s not hitting. That’s surely why he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Halos heading into this year. Dating back to the start of 2024, Davis has a .212/.283/.325 line, which isn’t great. However, that’s a fairly small sample of 166 plate appearances while bouncing around to different clubs and battling injuries.

The Angels don’t have much certainty at the infield corners. They have Nolan Schanuel and Luis Rengifo taking the regular playing time at first and third respectively, but neither is having a great season. Rengifo is also capable of playing other positions. Tim Anderson and Kevin Newman are on the roster as bench infielders but Newman is mostly a middle infield guy while Anderson has only ever played up the middle. Newman has also never been a great hitter while Anderson is a few years removed from being productive at the plate. First baseman Niko Kavadas has just 30 games of major league experience.

Davis will head to Salt Lake and try to get into a groove for the first time in a while. As he does that, he’ll provide the Halos with a bit of extra depth at the infield corners and try to earn his way back to the big leagues.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

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