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Ross Stripling Retires

By Leo Morgenstern | May 5, 2025 at 10:25am CDT

Right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling announced his retirement this morning over social media. He signs off after nine big league seasons with the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, and Athletics.

“After 13 seasons and full of tremendous pride and gratitude, it’s time to hang up the cleats. I never could have imagined the experiences and memories I’d be a part of. They exceeded every hope that my younger self could have dreamt for my baseball career,” Stripling wrote. “It never could have been possible without my family and friends. I also want to give a huge thank you to all my coaches and teammates over the years. I had so much love and support along the way, and I’m thankful to everyone that was a part of it in any form or fashion. All of you helped me be the best baseball player I could be. This has been an unbelievable honor, and I feel incredibly lucky to be so fulfilled and content with leaving the game behind. Now, l’m excited to be home and begin the next chapter of life with my amazing family.”

Stripling spent most of his professional career in the Dodgers organization. A fifth-round draft pick in 2012, he worked his way up the system over the next four years, overcoming early-career Tommy John surgery to make his MLB debut as a member of the Opening Day rotation in 2016. Over four and a half big league seasons as both a starter and reliever for the Dodgers, he pitched more than 400 innings with a 3.68 ERA. He was an All-Star in 2018 and pitched for L.A. in the playoffs in 2016, ’17, and ’19, including three appearances in the 2017 World Series. Unfortunately, he struggled in 2020 and was traded ahead of the deadline, but he still earned a World Series ring for his performance with the Dodgers over the first half of the season.

The first season and a half of Stripling’s Blue Jays tenure weren’t anything to write home about, but his 2022 campaign in Toronto was arguably the best of his career. Across 32 games (24 starts), he set career-highs in wins (10) and FanGraphs WAR (3.0) and career-lows in ERA (3.01) and walk rate (3.7%). He would then turn that performance into a two-year $25 million guarantee from the Giants in free agency.

The two years on that contract would prove to be the final seasons of Stripling’s playing career. He pitched poorly for San Francisco in 2023, and much like what happened the last time he struggled so badly, he was eventually shipped out of town. The Giants sent him to the A’s during the 2023-24 offseason, and he had a similarly rough season in Oakland. All told, he pitched to a 5.68 ERA in 44 games (25 starts) over his two years in the Bay Area. While his big league track record helped him land a minor league deal with the Royals this past winter, he was granted his release after failing to make their Opening Day roster.

Stripling finishes his MLB career with a 4.17 ERA in 846 1/3 innings of work. He collected 40 wins, 11 holds, and four saves, while racking up 741 strikeouts. MLBTR congratulates Stripling on a successful major league tenure and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

The Opener: Imanaga, Blue Jays, Padres, Yankees

By Nick Deeds | May 5, 2025 at 8:55am CDT

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

1. Cubs await Imanaga imaging:

The Cubs already lost one ace lefty this year when Justin Steele underwent elbow surgery last month. Now, they’re facing another injury scare for their other top southpaw. Shota Imanaga departed in the sixth inning of his start against the Brewers yesterday due to what was immediately termed by the Cubs a hamstring strain. Imanaga is undergoing tests and imaging ahead of Chicago’s decision regarding a trip to the injured list. With Steele and Javier Assad already on the shelf, a third injury in the rotation would put the team’s depth to the test. Jordan Wicks and top prospect Cade Horton are available at Triple-A, while Chris Flexen could step from his role as a long reliever into the rotation, as Colin Rea did when Steele went down a few weeks ago.

2. Blue Jays 40-man roster moves incoming:

Over the weekend, the Blue Jays reportedly signed a pair of right-handers to major league deals: Spencer Turnbull and Jose Urena. The moves should give Toronto bolstered pitching depth once added to the roster. Both are capable of pitching either in the rotation or out of the bullpen. In the meantime, the Jays will need to officially announce the signings and make the corresponding 40-man roster moves that will come with that announcement. Max Scherzer, Nick Sandlin, and Erik Swanson are all currently on the 15-day injured list, though the timetable for their returns isn’t fully clear. If the Jays don’t want to move any of that trio to the 60-day injured list, they’ll either need to designate someone for assignment or work out some sort of trade that clears 40-man roster space before Turnbull and Urena can officially be brought into the fold.

3. Series Preview: Padres @ Yankees

An interleague series between two teams firmly in the mix for the playoffs this year is set to start this evening, when the Padres head to Yankee Stadium at 7:05pm local time. San Diego right-hander Nick Pivetta has enjoyed a brilliant season so far (1.78 ERA in six starts), though now he’ll be tested by Aaron Judge and the rest of the Yankees lineup while squaring off against Carlos Rodon (3.43 ERA in seven starts). Tuesday’s game is expected to pit former Yankee Michael King (2.09 ERA in seven starts) against Clarke Schmidt (5.52 ERA in three starts) after Schmidt’s start was pushed back over the weekend. The series will close out with Dylan Cease (5.61 ERA in seven starts) against Yankees ace Max Fried (1.01 ERA in seven starts). Cease’s ERA went soaring to 7.98 when the A’s pounced on him for nine runs on April 8, but he’s dropped that earned run average in each of his four subsequent starts. Can he make it five in a row? The 22-11 Padres currently sit a half-game behind the division-leading Dodgers and one game ahead of the third-place Giants. The 19-15 Yankees hold a two-game lead in the American League East.

Rangers Place Leody Taveras On Outright Waivers

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 11:25pm CDT

The Rangers have placed outfielder Leody Taveras on outright waivers, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. Taveras can continue playing for Texas until he is claimed, which differentiates the “outright waiver” process from a more standard designation for assignment. If a claim happens, Taveras’ new team will assume the rest of his 2025 salary, which is roughly $3.8MM remaining of a $4.75MM total.

Taveras entered the season with three years and 124 days of official Major League service time, which plays an important role in his waiver status. Because Taveras has more than three years of service time, should he clear waivers, he can turn down an outright assignment to Triple-A and become a free agent. However, because he has less than five years of MLB service time, becoming a free agent means that Taveras would forego his $3.8MM in remaining salary.

It leaves the outfielder with an interesting decision to make should the situation arise, though another team could make it a moot point by simply claiming Taveras off waivers. Public defensive metrics have been somewhat mixed on Taveras’ performance as a center fielder, though the Outs Above Average metric has been solidly in his corner over his six MLB seasons. Moving him into a corner outfield spot (or having Taveras as a fourth outfielder rather than strictly as a center fielder) would only help make him more of a clear-cut defensive plus.

Taveras has been a below-average hitter over the course of his career, and he has particularly struggled this year by hitting .241/.259/.342 over 82 plate appearances. Taveras has an 84 wRC+ over 1825 career PA in the majors, with a high point of a 100 wRC+ (from a .266/.312/.421 slash line in 554 PA) during the Rangers’ World Series championship season in 2023. The switch-hitter has performed a bit better as a lefty batter than as a righty batter during his career, but even his .241/.291/.387 slash line from the left side of the plate is pretty modest.

Taveras is a Super Two player who has two remaining years of arbitration eligibility, so a new team would also be gaining control over his services through the 2027 season in the event of a claim. There wasn’t much suggestion that the Rangers could non-tender Taveras last winter even in the wake of an uninspiring 2024 season, though there was some trade speculation surrounding Taveras last January. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers again tried to deal Taveras as recently as last week, but found no takers willing to both move players and absorb all of Taveras’ contract.

A waiver claim would allow the Rangers to cleanly part ways with Taveras while moving a bit of extra money off the books. Remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold is one of the Rangers’ chief goals for the season, and with an estimated (as per RosterResource) $237.1MM tax number at the moment, Texas only has a bit of space to spare. Moving Taveras would give the Rangers more breathing room to stay under the tax line while still possibility having some flexibility to add at the deadline.

Kevin Pillar, Dustin Harris, or utilityman Josh Smith could share center field duties if Taveras is indeed on his way out of Texas. For Smith in particular, more time in center field would give the Rangers a way of keeping Smith’s hot bat in what has been an otherwise pretty dismal lineup. Former top prospect Evan Carter could be a candidate to be called up from Triple-A, but Carter is hitting only .221/.333/.416 over 90 PA at Round Rock so far in 2025.

AL East Notes: Swanson, Buehler, Eflin, McDermott

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

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

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

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 10:06pm CDT

Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat

Braves Sign Austin Cox

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 8:27pm CDT

The Braves announced that left-hander Austin Cox has been signed to a Major League contract and assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett. Cox had been in the Royals organization on a minor league deal, but his MLB.com profile page indicates that Triple-A Omaha released him from that contract earlier today.

Cox’s big league resume consists only of 35 2/3 innings of 4.54 ERA ball with Kansas City in 2023, so it is a little surprising to see him land a guaranteed deal. Still, offering a surefire 40-man roster spot isn’t an uncommon tactic if a team wants to outbid others to land a player with limited or even zero MLB experience. The Braves might’ve also had a built-in advantage since Cox is from Macon, Georgia, so he’ll now get to play in his home state.

A fifth-round pick for the Royals in the 2018 draft, Cox is changing organizations for the first time in his pro career. His 2023 debut season in the Show came to an early and unfortunate end after he tore his ACL during a September game, though he was able to make it back to action by mid-April 2024. Cox had a 4.25 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 15.2% walk rate in 55 Triple-A innings last season, and a 3.55 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, and 10.9BB% in 12 2/3 frames with Omaha this year.

Despite the rather sizeable improvements in secondary metrics, the Royals still chose to part ways with the 28-year-old Cox. He’ll now get a change of scenery in Atlanta, where the Braves have already had a revolving door of arms log bullpen innings at the MLB level. Should Cox get another look in the majors, he’ll join Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer as the left-handed options in the team’s bullpen.

Giants Designate Lou Trivino, Call Up Kyle Harrison

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 7:57pm CDT

7:57PM: Harrison will be used as a reliever, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

7:08PM: The Giants announced that right-hander Lou Trivino has been designated for assignment. In the corresponding move, southpaw Kyle Harrison has been called up to the Giants’ roster for the first time in 2025. A 40-man roster spot has also been created with Trivino being DFA’ed, though no other transaction appears to be forthcoming to fill that spot.

Trivino threw a scoreless inning of relief in today’ 9-3 win over the Rockies, though his ERA still sits at 5.84 over 12 1/3 frames this season, with below-average strikeout and walk rates. The righty has been tagged for four home runs during his brief sample size of work, and it appears as though the Giants are ready to move on, or are at least comfortable in exposing Trivino to the waiver wire.

Some rust isn’t unusual given Trivino’s long layoff, as a Tommy John surgery and some other arm issues kept him from any MLB action at all during the 2023-24 seasons. Trivino’s only on-field action in the previous two years was 11 minor league innings with the Yankees last year, and some late-season shoulder soreness erased any hope Trivino had of making a late-season return to the Show before 2024 was over. He caught on with San Francisco on a minor league contract during the offseason, and getting selected to the active roster meant that Trivino locked in a $1.5MM guaranteed salary for the 2025 season.

Harrison’s last Triple-A start was on April 30, so he would be lined up to start in the majors as early as tomorrow, if San Francisco opts to remove Landen Roupp from the rotation. Roupp has a 5.10 ERA over six starts and 30 innings this season, and he hasn’t looked sharp in either of his last two outings. Jordan Hicks and his 6.03 ERA could also be a candidate to be moved to the bullpen, though Hicks just pitched on Saturday, making the timing slightly unusual if Harrison is indeed taking Hicks’ rotation spot.

The Giants might also be viewing Harrison as a bullpen candidate, to give the pen a long man and a second left-handed relief option behind Erik Miller. Should Harrison indeed be used as a reliever, he’ll join Hayden Birdsong as a fellow starting candidate being utilized in a bullpen role.

Over 159 Major League innings during the 2023-24 seasons, Harrison has a 4.47 ERA, 22.5% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate. While not standout numbers, Harrison seemed set to have a rotation spot lined up heading into 2025, yet a shoulder impingement that cut his 2024 season short in September ended up lingering into the offseason, thus delaying his usual winter ramp-up work. Between that disruption to Harrison’s routine and a virus that hit him hard during Spring Training, the decision was made to have Harrison begin the season in Triple-A in order to let him get fully ready.

As one of the more highly-touted starting prospects in baseball prior to his first call-up, Harrison is a key part of the Giants’ future, and a pitcher the team naturally hopes can be a long-term cornerstone. That doesn’t necessarily mean Harrison will get another crack in the rotation immediately, but this call-up means that the Giants are eager to see how he further adjusts to take big league hitters.

Colin Poche Elects Free Agency

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 7:33pm CDT

Left-hander Colin Poche has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, as the Nats announced earlier tonight. Washington designated Poche for assignment earlier this week and he cleared waivers, but he had the ability to opt into free agency since he has more than five years of MLB service time.

Poche inked a minor league deal with the Nationals back in February and made the team’s Opening Day roster, but the results weren’t pretty. The southpaw had an 11.42 ERA over 13 games and 8 2/3 innings with D.C., with more walks (12) than strikeouts (10). With that rough month in the books, the Nats decided they’d seen enough, and DFA’ed Poche to make room for another veteran lefty reliever in Andrew Chafin.

While a small sample size, Poche’s struggles are a marked departure from the solid numbers he posted with the Rays from 2022-24. He had a 3.86 ERA over 37 1/3 innings in 2024, but Tampa Bay chose to non-tender Poche rather than pay him $3.4MM in a projected arbitration salary. While the Rays’ always-tight budget was certainly a factor in the decision, Poche’s strikeout rate has been on the decline (21.6% last year), and he spent time on the injured list with both shoulder and back problems in 2024.

The 31-year-old Poche will now search the market for a fresh start and another minor league contract. Despite his poor numbers this year, he seems likely to catch on somewhere given his still-recent success in Tampa, and the ever-present need around baseball for left-handed pitching.

Rangers Fire Offensive Coordinator Donnie Ecker

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 5:35pm CDT

The Rangers announced that offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker has been fired after three-plus seasons in his role. No replacement was named, as the press release announcing the move stated that “the structure of the club’s hitting staff is expected to be addressed in the coming days.”

“After lengthy discussions and deliberations, we feel now is the appropriate time to provide our hitters with a new voice as we pursue goals of winning the division and reaching the postseason,” Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young said in the press release. “We are extremely grateful to Donnie for all that he has accomplished here with the Rangers, including his role in the club’s 2023 World Series championship. We wish him the best.”

The news comes in the aftermath of the Rangers’ 8-1 win over the Mariners today, which marked just the third time this season that Texas had scored eight or more runs in a game. The Rangers entered today’s action ranked near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, and carried a team-wide .224/.280/.357 slash line and 82 wRC+ prior to today’s breakout against Seattle.

Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia are two of the most prominent under-performing regulars, while offseason signing Joc Pederson has a hard-to-fathom 2 wRC+ through his first 91 plate appearances in a Rangers uniform. Infielder Jake Burger was another offseason pickup who has struggled badly, and Texas already optioned him to Triple-A earlier this week. Leody Taveras has usually been a glove-first player anyway, but the Rangers chose to put the outfielder on outright waivers today.

These are a few of the major weak links that undermined a few hot starts within the lineup (i.e. Wyatt Langford, Corey Seager, Josh Smith, Jonah Heim), and more pressingly, a fantastic early showing from the Texas rotation. Even with so little from the offense, the Rangers have still managed an even 18-18 record thanks in large part to the outstanding starting pitching.

As always, it is unfair to point the finger at one particular coach (or coordinator, in this case) for a team’s performance. As Young noted in his own statement, criticism of Ecker’s work should also acknowledge the fact that the Rangers were an offensive powerhouse less than two years ago when Texas won the first World Series title in franchise history. That said, the 2024 Rangers followed up that championship season with a 78-84 record. Inconsistent pitching was the biggest issue last year, yet the offense also slumped to a 95 wRC+, ranking 22nd of 30 teams.

Ecker is only 39 years old, yet he already has a lengthy resume with multiple teams. He was a minor league hitting coach with various Cardinals and Angels affiliates from 2015-18, and he then moved to the big leagues as the Reds’ assistant hitting coach for the 2019 season. Ecker was one of two hitting coaches employed by the Giants in 2020-21 before he came to Texas as both a bench coach and the “offensive coordinator” role that focused on shaping the team’s overall offensive philosophy.

The bench coach duties changed this past offseason, as Ecker became just the offensive coordinator when Luis Urueta was hired as the Rangers’ new bench coach. Will Venable had previously been the Rangers’ associate manager before he was hired to manage the White Sox, so Urueta has apparently taken over the chief lieutenant role behind manager Bruce Bochy. Texas also made a change at hitting coach, as Justin Viele was hired while assistant hitting coach Seth Conner was retained.

As noted by Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, this marks the first time in Bochy’s long managerial career that one of his coaches has ever been replaced during a season. In general, in-season coaching changes have become relatively rarer throughout baseball, since one particular coach is just one of several voices contributing to what has become an increasingly organization-wide approach to game-planning and preparation.

In the most basic sense that a coaching change can shake a team up, results have been mixed over the years. For every instance where a team is sparked by a change (i.e. the Mariners heating up after Dan Wilson was hired as manager and Edgar Martinez was hired as hitting coach last August), you can cite another where a staffing change didn’t get a club back on track.

Since it is also just May 4, it can be argued that we’re also still in “slow start” territory, with still a relatively small sample size of evidence that something is drastically wrong with the Texas offense. Of course, Ecker’s dismissal obviously means the Rangers didn’t feel the same way, given the abrupt and somewhat surprising nature of the firing. It will be intriguing to see how the team responds to the change, and whether or not the Rangers fill Ecker’s role from within the organization or with a new hire.

Nick Ahmed Elects Free Agency

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 3:19pm CDT

Shortstop Nick Ahmed has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the team announced. Texas designated Ahmed for assignment earlier this week.

The Rangers signed Ahmed to a minor league deal during the offseason, released him prior to Opening Day, and then brought him back on a fresh minors contract midway through April. This latter deal paid off with some time on the big league roster, as Ahmed had his contract selected when regular shortstop Corey Seager was on the injured list. Ahmed started three of his five games in a Rangers uniform, with one hit in 10 plate appearances.

With more than 10 years of Major League service time on his resume, Ahmed had more than enough experience to turn down outright assignments in favor of free agency, and he has taken this route multiple times over the last two seasons during past DFAs. After spending his first 10 big league seasons with the Diamondbacks, Ahmed has bounced around to the Giants, Padres, Dodgers, and Rangers since February 2024, getting at least a bit of MLB action with all four of those teams.

The 35-year-old Ahmed might opt to re-sign with Texas again once he checks out the market, or he could seek out another opportunity with a new club. In any case, Ahmed is likely ticketed for a glove-first depth role wherever he signs on another minor league deal.

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