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Willson Contreras Issued Six-Game Suspension

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Major League Baseball has announced that Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras has received a six-game suspension and an undisclosed fine in relation to his behavior during last night’s game. Contreras is appealing the suspension, so he can continue playing with the club until that process has been completed.

Contreras got into an argument with the home plate umpire Derek Thomas during last night’s game, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. After getting ejected, Contreras was obviously furious and had to be held back by his fellow Cardinals. While departing the field, he tossed his bat in the general direction of the umpire, though it hit hitting coach Brant Brown instead.

It’s not surprising that Contreras has been suspended, nor is it a shock that he is appealing. It’s quite common for players to appeal when given a suspension. The calendar also gives him a few reasons to want to avoid serving the penalty right away. For one thing, the Cards are still hanging around the playoff race, just 5.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. Appealing the suspension allows him to keep playing as the club tries to stay alive.

Also, rosters expand on September 1st, from 26 to 28. That’s notable in this instance as a team has to play shorthanded when a player is suspended for an on-field infraction such as this. If the suspension were to be served now, the Cards would have to play with a 25-man roster. If it is served in September, then they could play with 27 guys.

The Cards are using Iván Herrera as the designated hitter almost every day, with Contreras at first most of the time. That means Alec Burleson is often in left field, where he’s not a great defender. Whenever Contreras serves his suspension, Burleson could spend more time at first base, which could open more outfield playing time for Nathan Church, José Fermín or Garrett Hampson. It’s also possible that Victor Scott II could be reinstated from the IL when roster expand.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Athletics Select Mason Barnett

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The Athletics announced that left-hander Jacob Lopez has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his left elbow, a move that was reported yesterday. Right-hander Mason Barnett has been selected in a corresponding move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy due to Luis Urías being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Barnett, 24, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. A third-round pick of the Royals in 2022, he was one of three players who came to the A’s as part of last year’s deadline deal which sent Lucas Erceg to Kansas City.

The A’s have given Barnett his first taste of the Triple-A level this year, though the results haven’t been amazing. He has tossed 119 innings over 23 starts and two long relief appearances with a 6.13 earned run average. Part of that might be the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, as his 15.6% home run to fly ball rate is far higher than any other stop in his career. His 22.8% strikeout rate is close to average, though his 11.9% walk rate is a few ticks north of par.

Despite the uninspiring numbers, Baseball America still lists him as the #9 prospect in the system while MLB Pipeline has him in the #11 slot. Both outlets give him a shot at becoming a mid-rotation starter at some point, highlighting his pitch mix. His four-seamer sits in the mid-90s and he also throws a sweeper, curveball and changeup. He was going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and would need a 40-man spot to be protected, so the A’s are giving it to him now.

It’s unclear if the A’s plan on dropping Barnett right into the rotation or perhaps having him begin his career in a long relief role. The Lopez injury does open up a rotation job but the club is off on Thursday and doesn’t play more than six games in a row for the rest of the season. They could run with a four-man rotation of Jeffrey Springs, J.T. Ginn, Osvaldo Bido and Luis Morales along with occasional bullpen games. Guys like Barnett, Joey Estes and Eduarniel Núñez could take on bulk roles. The A’s could also recall arms such as Ken Waldichuk or Mitch Spence with rosters expanding in September.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Orioles To Select Roansy Contreras

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The Orioles will select the contract of right-hander Roansy Contreras prior to tomorrow’s game, interim skipper Tony Mansolino told the team’s beat today (link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). Baltimore hasn’t yet decided whether Contreras will start the game or pitch in a bulk role following an opener, but Mansolino indicated that Contreras will pitch “a good amount” of tomorrow’s game.

Contreras, 25, was a well-regarded prospect in both the Yankees and Pirates systems, going from New York to Pittsburgh as part of the Bucs’ return in the Jameson Taillon swap. He enjoyed a nice debut campaign in 2022, pitching 95 innings of 3.79 ERA ball with a 21.1% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate for Pittsburgh, but Contreras has yet to replicate that success. In 136 2/3 innings from 2023-24, he logged a combined 5.47 earned run average with just an 18.5% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk rate.

The Pirates jettisoned Contreras from the 40-man roster last May, and he’s bounced around the league in journeyman fashion since. The Angels acquired him for cash following that DFA, but Contreras went to the Rangers via waivers at the beginning of the offseason. That set the stage for a tumultuous winter. Contreras was waived five times last winter and went from Texas, to Cincinnati, to Baltimore, back to the Bronx and back to the Orioles before finally clearing waivers at the end of spring training.

That marked Contreras’ first time clearing waivers, which meant the O’s were able to stash him as a minor league depth piece. He’s spent all season in Triple-A, where he’s pitched 91 2/3 innings of 3.73 ERA ball with a 17.8% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. Contreras is out of minor league options, so if this proves to be just a one-off appearance, the Orioles will need to designate him for assignment yet again. If he passes through waivers unclaimed this time around, Contreras would be able to reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues in favor of free agency.

Astros Reinstate Yordan Alvarez From Injured List

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Air Yordan is back. The Astros announced today that outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. They had an open 40-man roster spot due to right-hander Shawn Dubin getting designated for assignment earlier this week. The Astros optioned infielder Brice Matthews to Triple-A to open an active roster spot.

The return of Alvarez is potentially a huge boost for the Astros down the stretch, as he is one of the most potent hitters in baseball when he’s at his best. He came into this year with 164 home runs and a .298/.390/.583 slash line, which translates to a 166 wRC+.

He has not been that guy in 2025. He hit .210/.306/.340 through 121 plate appearances before landing on the 15-day IL in early May. The club listed his injury as right hand inflammation. Later that month, it was thought that he was nearing a return but then the club found a fracture in the ring finger of that right hand.

Setbacks with that hand issue prevented him from starting a rehab assignment until a few days ago. He recently played in four Double-A games, stepping to the plate 17 times with no home runs but a huge .467/.529/.733 slash line.

That rehab performance is obviously encouraging but Alvarez will likely remain something of a wild card until he gets back on track at the big league level. Getting peak Alvarez back would obviously be tremendous for the Astros but it’s unclear if that’s possible. Houston is trying to hold off Seattle in the West, currently holding to a lead of 1.5 games, and will obviously welcome all the help it can get.

He is in tonight’s lineup and playing left field, alongside center fielder Jacob Melton and right fielder Jesús Sánchez. Lately, Jose Altuve has been seeing a lot of time in the designated hitter slot and is in there again tonight. It’s possible that guys like Cam Smith, Chas McCormick and Mauricio Dubón see a bit less playing time now. Dubon can also play second and is at the keystone tonight, though Ramón Urías is also a factor there, as well as Altuve.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

Rangers, Dylan Moore Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with utilityman Dylan Moore, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Moore, a client of Klutch Sports, was recently released by the division-rival Mariners.

Moore now returns to the organization that drafted him a decade ago. Texas selected him in the seventh round in 2015 out of the University of Central Florida. He didn’t advance beyond High-A before being traded to Atlanta a year later. Moore spent time in the Braves’ and Brewers’ systems until finally getting an MLB opportunity in Seattle as a minor league free agent.

It proved to be an adept pickup for the M’s front office. Moore played parts of seven seasons in Seattle and was a capable role player for most of that time. He won a Gold Glove in a utility capacity just last year. Moore bounced around the diamond while generally hitting for power against left-handed pitching. He has never been a high average hitter but showed enough of a well-rounded skillset that Seattle signed him to a three-year, $8.875MM extension in Spring Training 2023.

The first two seasons of that deal went well enough. Moore’s bat has absolutely cratered this year, as he’s hitting .193/.263/.359 across 213 plate appearances. He’s batting .149 with 44 strikeouts in 109 plate appearances with the platoon advantage and has gone a staggering 3-63 (.048) with 36 strikeouts in 41 games since the start of June. Seattle could no longer live with that kind of production, even in a bench capacity, while they fight for a playoff spot.

There’s neither much risk nor a huge ceiling on the deal for Texas. Seattle is on the hook for the rest of Moore’s $3.575MM salary. Texas would only pay him the prorated $760K league minimum for time he spends on the MLB roster. Moore will be a free agent at season’s end. He’ll provide an alternative to Ezequiel Duran and Josh Jung for infield playing time if he gets called up. Texas just lost Marcus Semien to what appears to be a season-ending foot fracture. Moore would be playoff eligible if Texas makes a surprise September run.

Phillies Release Joe Ross, Place Jordan Romano On Injured List

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The Phillies announced that they have recalled right-hander Daniel Robert and selected the contract of fellow righty Lou Trivino. In corresponding moves, righty Joe Ross has been released and Jordan Romano has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right middle finger inflammation. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported many of these details prior to the official announcement.

The Phils signed Ross to a one-year, $4MM deal in the offseason. He had missed the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to injuries but had bounced back with a solid 2024 campaign. He tossed 74 innings for the Brewers as a swingman with a 3.77 earned run average.

He has been in the Philadelphia bullpen all year, apart from a brief IL stint due to back spasms, often providing the club with more than a single frame. On the whole, he has thrown 51 innings over 37 appearances with a 5.12 ERA. His 7.9% walk rate and 45.5% ground ball rate are decent figures but his 17.1% strikeout rate has been subpar.

The length provided by Ross has occasionally been useful in sparing the rest of the bullpen from greater wear and tear but that should be less of a concern going forward. On September 1st, rosters expand from 26 to 28, which will allow teams to carry 14 pitchers instead of the usual maximum of 13.

By cutting Ross today, the Phils are giving him a chance to land somewhere else. Given his salary and unimpressive results this year, he will likely clear waivers, if he hasn’t already. That will leave the Phils on the hook for the majority of what is still to be paid out. Any other club could sign Ross and would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. If he signs somewhere else before September 1st, even on a minor league deal, he would be postseason eligible with that club.

Romano was also signed to a one-year deal this offseason, his coming with an $8.5MM guarantee. His results have been far worse than Ross’s, as he has an 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. That has many Philly fans clamoring for him to be cut but there’s more reason for optimism under the hood with Romano, despite the awful ERA.

His 25.1% strikeout rate this year isn’t as good as his previous benchmark but is still above average, while his 9.1% walk rate is near par. He’s been undercut by an extremely unfortunate 49% strand rate. ERA estimators such as his 3.62 SIERA suggest he has deserved far better than his ERA. Perhaps he will get a chance to course correct, depending on how long this finger issue lasts.

As part of these moves, Trivino gets back to the big leagues. He was released by the Dodgers about a month ago and then landed a minor league deal with the Phils. Since then, he has tossed seven scoreless Triple-A innings.

His big league work hasn’t been amazing this year. Between the Giants and Dodgers, he has thrown 38 2/3 innings with a 4.42 ERA, 17.2% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 35.6% ground ball rate. His larger body of work is better but he missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons due to injury and hasn’t fully bounced back. He came into this year with a 3.86 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 47.4% ground ball rate in 284 2/3 career innings.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

Nathan Eovaldi Likely Out For Season Due To Rotator Cuff Strain

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Nathan Eovaldi has a rotator cuff strain and is likely done for the season. President of baseball operations Chris Young relayed the news to reporters, including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com.

The All-Star righty had been listed as the probable starter for tomorrow’s game against the Angels. There was no previous indication he was dealing with an injury. Eovaldi had reeled off seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts against the Guardians on Friday. It’s not clear whether he pitched through discomfort toward the end of that appearance or suffered the injury during a between starts throwing session. In either case, he’s headed for the injured list.

It’s the latest blow in a Rangers season that has unraveled. They bought at the deadline. They’d played at a 16-9 pace in July to pull within a few games of a Wild Card spot. Their impressive run differential and seemingly positive trend convinced the front office to push in prospect capital for Merrill Kelly, Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe. They’ve followed up with their worst month of the season.

Texas has played at a 9-14 pace in August to fall below .500. They swept Cleveland over the weekend, more or less driving a nail into the Guardians’ season, but were shut out in last night’s series opener against the Angels. They’ve also lost Evan Carter (wrist fracture), Marcus Semien (foot fracture) and Eovaldi to what may all be season-ending injuries. Overcoming those hits to erase a 5.5 game postseason deficit in the final month seems very unlikely.

Eovaldi has had a brilliant year when healthy. He carries a career-best 1.73 earned run average while working nearly six inning per start. He has earned a quality start in 14 of his 22 appearances. Eovaldi has fanned 26% of batters faced while showing his typical elite command. The only black marks  have been injuries. He was limited to one appearance in June by elbow inflammation and will miss all of September with the shoulder issue. Eovaldi has turned in a 2.67 ERA or better in every other month.

This was the first season of his three-year, $75MM contract. Texas has both Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom signed for another two guaranteed years. They’ll go into next season with as much upside as any 1-2 punch in MLB. With both pitchers in their mid-late 30s, however, it’s difficult to count on them to stay healthy. That makes it all the more disappointing that the Rangers have seemingly squandered a season of fantastic production from both veterans.

Eovaldi’s injury comes a few days before the Rangers need to decide whether to wave the white flag and place a number of players on waivers. They could try to dump the salaries of a handful of players (Merrill Kelly, most notably) in an effort to get below the $241MM luxury tax line. Players need to be in an organization by September 1 in order to be playoff eligible, so they’d be much likelier to get claimed if their waivers resolve before the end of August. Waivers take 48 hours to process, meaning players need to land on the wire no later than Friday to be playoff eligible with a claiming team. Texas plays two more against the Angels and is off on Thursday before making that call.

Patrick Corbin takes the mound opposite Yusei Kikuchi tonight. They’ll probably run a spot starter or bullpen game tomorrow. Kumar Rocker is on optional assignment but hasn’t pitched in a Triple-A game in nearly three weeks as he irons out mechanical issues. Caleb Boushley pitched 2 2/3 frames in the minors on Sunday. That essentially leaves long man Jacob Latz, who last pitched on Wednesday, as the only option on the 40-man roster for a spot start.

Mets To Promote Jonah Tong

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3:03pm: Mets manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed that Tong will be promoted and make his major league debut against the Marlins this Friday, per ESPN’s Jorge Castillo.

2:46pm: The Mets are set to promote top pitching prospect Jonah Tong for his major league debut, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. They’ll need to clear space on both the 40-man and 26-man rosters in order to formally select his contract from Triple-A Syracuse. Tong will be used as a starter, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Tong, 22, has been one of the best pitchers in all of Minor League Baseball in 2025. His stock has soared accordingly, and he’s leapfrogged Syracuse teammate Brandon Sproat as the top yet-to-debut pitching prospect in the Mets organization. He’ll join another ballyhooed young righty, Nolan McLean, in what amounts to a late-season youth movement for a Mets club that has seen veteran starters like Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning struggle and/or miss significant time due to injury.

A seventh-round pick back in 2022, Tong opened the current season in Double-A and posted a video-game-esque 1.59 ERA and 40.8% strikeout rate in 102 innings there. That earned him a bump to Triple-A, where he’s some improved. Tong has tossed 11 2/3 scoreless innings with the Mets’ top affiliate, allowing only eight hits and three walks (6.7%) while punching out 17 of 45 opponents (37.8%).

Tong’s dominant season has catapulted him toward the top of the Mets’ prospect rankings and into the elite tier of leaguewide prospects. Baseball America ranks the 6’1″, 180-pound righty as the sport’s No. 42 overall prospect, and Tong sits 44th at MLB.com. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has Tong up at No. 21 on the updated top-100 list he released earlier this week.

That slight frame, Tong’s arm slot and his usage of a plus changeup invoke some comparisons to former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, though his overall delivery isn’t nearly as violent. Scouting reports on Tong typically cite him sitting 92-94 mph with elite induced vertical break, but he’s averaged 95.7 mph in his pair of Triple-A outings thus far. That previously mentioned changeup, which sits in the mid-80s, has been Tong’s go-to secondary offering and misses bats in droves. He also mixes in a curveball in the upper 70s and a slider that sits 87 mph.

Since he was called up after Aug. 15, Tong cannot accrue 45 days of service time this year and will thus retain his rookie eligibility heading into the 2026 campaign. That will qualify him for MLB’s Prospect Promotion Incentive program, meaning he could net the Mets a compensatory pick if he breaks camp with next year’s team and wins NL Rookie of the Year — or if he finishes top-three in Cy Young or MVP voting in any of his first three full MLB seasons. In terms of club control, the Mets can keep Tong all the way through the 2031 season, and he wouldn’t qualify for arbitration until the 2028-29 offseason.

While Tong is very arguably already one of the best 13 pitchers in the Mets system and thus deserving of a chance to help the team push into the postseason, the late promotion also offers Mets faithful a glimpse at the future. Tong and McLean will have the opportunity to join Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Manaea as rotation arms moving forward. Sproat and former top prospect Christian Scott, who’s on the mend from last summer’s Tommy John surgery, only further add to that impressive crop of pitching.

It’s not yet clear exactly how New York will work all of those arms onto the staff, but that’s an issue for a future day. For the time being, the focus will be on Tong stepping into the heat of a playoff race, looking to continue his meteoric ascent and, ideally, impressing enough to position himself as a core piece in Queens.

Orioles Claim Shawn Dubin, Designate Matt Bowman For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that they have claimed right-hander Shawn Dubin off waivers. The Astros designated him for assignment earlier this week. The O’s also announced that righty Kyle Bradish has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move which was previously reported. To open 40-man spots for those two, the O’s transferred righty Scott Blewett to the 60-day injured list and designated righty Matt Bowman for assignment. Bowman’s DFA opens an active roster spot for Bradish. Dubin is out of options and will also need an active roster spot once he reports to the club.

Dubin, 29, isn’t having his best season but has shown promise in the past. He came into the year with 54 1/3 big league innings and a 4.64 earned run average. His 11.6% walk rate was a bit high but he had struck out 24.1% of batters faced and kept balls in play on the ground at a 45.5% clip.

Here in 2025, he has spent time on the IL due to shoulder inflammation and a forearm strain. Around those IL stints, he tossed 25 2/3 innings for the Astros with a 5.61 ERA. His 46.9% ground ball rate was still good and he dropped his walk rate to 7.2% but his strikeout rate also fell to 18.9%. Since he is out of options, he got nudged off Houston’s roster and onto the waiver wire.

He’s a sensible flier for the O’s. They are playing out the string on a lost season. Their bullpen has been stripped down a lot this year. They traded Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Andrew Kittredge ahead of the deadline. Closer Félix Bautista recently underwent shoulder surgery and will be out of action well into 2026. That gives them a lot of roles to fill on the 2026 team.

They can use the remainder of this season to take chances on guys like Dubin to see what happens. He is out of options but could be a long-term piece if he bounces back. His service time is between one and two years, meaning he could be controlled for five seasons beyond this one if he continues to hold onto a roster spot. It’s also possible the O’s try to run him through waivers in the future in order to keep him as a non-roster depth piece.

As for Blewett, he was acquired from Atlanta in a June cash deal. He was placed on the 15-day IL July 13th due to elbow discomfort. This transfer is backdated to that initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in a couple of weeks. That gives him a window to pitch again this season but it’s unclear if that’s possible from a health perspective.

This was Bowman’s fourth stint of the season with the Orioles. He appeared in one game, pitching 1 1/3 innings but allowing a pair of runs. That ballooned his season-long earned run average to an ugly 6.20. Bowman has been solid in Triple-A Norfolk, tossing 26 1/3 innings for the Tides and posting a 4.10 ERA. He’s set down 21.8% of his opponents there on strikes and notched a 5.5% walk rate.

Bowman will be placed on outright waivers or release waivers within the next few days. He’s cleared waivers at multiple points this season and accepted an outright assignment to Norfolk each time, so it seems there’s a strong chance the O’s will hang onto him as a depth arm for the final month or so of the regular season.

Blue Jays Sign Ryan Borucki To Minor League Deal

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The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays, announced that left-hander Ryan Borucki will be active for the club tonight. That suggests that the Jays and Borucki have signed a minor league deal. The southpaw was released by the Pirates last week.

Borucki, now 31, started his career with the Blue Jays. He showed some potential as a rookie starter but some injuries and control issues eventually pushed him to the bullpen. He has since bounced to the rosters of the Mariners, Cubs and Pirates in recent years.

He has occasionally had some success as a big league reliever, with 2023 standing out as a highlight. He gave the Bucs 40 1/3 innings that year with a 2.45 earned run average. His 21.7% strikeout rate was around average but his 46.8% ground ball rate was pretty good and he had an absurdly low 2.6% walk rate.

He hasn’t been quite as impressive since then. He missed most of last year due to left triceps inflammation. He was only able to toss 11 innings with a 7.36 ERA. That was a tiny sample and he still posted solid underlying numbers, including a 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate.

The Pirates re-signed him to a minor league deal with a $1.15MM base salary if he made the major league club. He cracked the Opening Day roster but his results this year have been a bit uninspiring, at least at the surface level. He gave Pittsburgh 30 2/3 innings with a 5.28 ERA. The numbers under the hood were  more encouraging. His 21.4% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate were both near average while his 55% ground ball rate was quite strong. An unfortunate 56.9% strand rate seems to have put some extra runs on his ledger, which is why his 4.32 FIP and 3.81 SIERA look a bit better.

Regardless, the Pirates decided to move on a little over a week ago and no club claimed his salary off waivers. That makes him a sensible depth add for the Jays. The Pirates are on the hook for the majority of what remains of his salary. If the Jays call him up at any point, they would only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for however long he has a roster spot.

The Jays have Brendon Little as their primary lefty out of the bullpen. Behind him, they have had guys like Mason Fluharty and Justin Bruihl moving on and off the roster. Fluharty has had a bigger role for the year overall but he’s currently on optional assignment while Bruihl is currently on the active roster.  Borucki gives the Jays another arm at Triple-A alongside Fluharty, one who doesn’t require an immediate roster spot. By signing this deal before September 1st, Borucki is eligible for Toronto’s postseason roster.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

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