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A.J. Minter Could Require Season-Ending Surgery

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The Mets placed lefty A.J. Minter on the 15-day injured list due to a left lat strain this weekend, but he’ll be out far longer than 15 days. Manager Carlos Mendoza tells the Mets beat that Minter’s injury is “pretty significant” and could require surgery (video link via SNY). A final decision on surgery hasn’t been made yet, as Minter is receiving a wave of additional opinions. However, if the lefty does go under the knife, Mendoza acknowledged that the procedure would end his 2025 campaign.

It’s a brutal development for Minter, who spent the offseason rehabbing hip surgery and has been outstanding in his first 11 innings as a Met. The longtime Braves lefty has allowed only two runs on six hits and five walks with 14 strikeouts so far in 2025. That’s good for a huge 31.8% strikeout rate, albeit against a bloated 11.4% walk rate. Minter has kept a strong 48% of his opponents’ batted balls on the ground and turned in an above-average 12.4% swinging-strike rate.

Minter is one of four Mets relievers with a sub-3.00 ERA on the season (and three with a sub-2.00 mark). The Mets have seen closer Edwin Diaz struggle with command issues even as he’s gone 7-for-7 in save opportunities. Righty Ryne Stanek has also struggled with his command. The group of Reed Garrett, Jose Butto and Huascar Brazoban has been sharp thus far, but on the whole the Mets are lacking in established veterans to set up for Diaz.

More generally, the Mets are also light on lefties with Minter’s season now in jeopardy. Danny Young is the only currently healthy left-handed reliever in Mendoza’s bullpen (or on the 40-man roster). Brooks Raley just signed a one-year deal, but he’s still on the mend from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Genesis Cabrera is in Triple-A but is not on the 40-man roster and has not pitched well to begin the season.

Minter’s injury also comes with notable contractual ramifications for the Mets. A healthy version of Minter would surely have turned down the player option he faces at season’s end. He signed a two-year, $22MM deal over the winter even while recovering from hip surgery. If he’d been healthy and pitched anywhere close to his current level, he’d have been a lock to opt back into free agency.

If Minter undergoes season-ending surgery, he’d almost certainly decide to forgo that out opportunity in his contract. Even if he avoids surgery, it seems like he’ll be facing a monthslong absence, which significantly increases the chances of him exercising his $11MM player option. RosterResource already projects the Mets for $206MM of tax obligations in 2026, and that’s before factoring in player options (Minter, Frankie Montas, Pete Alonso), club options (Raley, Drew Smith) or arbitration raises (Francisco Alvarez, David Peterson and Tylor Megill, to name a few).

Blue Jays Activate Daulton Varsho, Option Will Wagner

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The Blue Jays’ starting center fielder is back after a month on the injured list. Toronto announced today that Daulton Varsho has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list, where he’d spent the entire season while finishing off rehab from last September’s surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. The Jays optioned infielder Will Wagner to Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move. On the pitching side of the roster, the Jays activated righty Casey Lawrence (whom they claimed from the Mariners over the weekend) and optioned right-hander Paxton Schultz to Buffalo.

Even with Varsho on the injured list, the Jays have gotten surprisingly strong production from the center field position in their lineup. Toronto center fielders have slashed a combined .311/.392/.478 this season. Each of Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes and George Springer has hit well while manning the position. Left field has been another story, however. Jays left fielders have posted an awful .180/.262/.247 slash overall. Alan Roden, Anthony Santander and Davis Schneider, in particular have struggled when they happen to be plugged into the left field slot in the lineup.

Varsho’s return should install him back in center on a regular basis. The former catcher is one of the spot’s premier outfield defenders, evidenced by gaudy marks of 39 Defensive Runs Saved and 25 Outs Above Average in only 1824 innings at the position. (His marks in the corners are similarly elite.) With Varsho in center and Springer in right on most days, the Blue Jays can turn left field over to a combination of Roden, Lukes, Santander, Straw and Addison Barger.

Speaking of Barger, he could be in for a larger run at third base now. Wagner, optioned to Triple-A today, has seen significant playing time at third base in a timeshare with Ernie Clement. Neither has hit well. Wagner has taken 68 turns at the plate and produced a .186/.284/.220 slash. His strikeout rate is basically average, and his 11.8% walk rate is excellent, but Wagner hasn’t made especially strong contact and has been quite prone to hitting the ball into the ground.

It’s only 68 plate appearances, but it’s a disappointing follow-up to last year’s .305/.337/.451 debut and this spring’s .256/.341/.410 output. Wagner will surely get future looks in the infield, be it as a regular at third base or in a utility capacity, but for now the second-generation 26-year-old will look to get back on track in the minors.

Toronto third basemen have combined to bat .204/.255/.235 on the young season. The resulting 42 wRC+ is tied with Milwaukee for worst in the majors. The righty-swinging Clement gets the nod at third base tonight versus Red Sox lefty Chris Sale, but with Wagner shipped out it would stand to reason that Barger could get a look as a left-handed complement. Clement is hitting just .219/.261/.266 overall this year, but in 25 plate appearances he’s torched lefties at a .421/.500/.579 clip.

If the Jays want to get creative at third base, they could slide Vladimir Guerrero Jr. over for an occasional look, as they did on 12 occasions last year, but that would only create a hole across the diamond. As it stands, the Jays need one of their in-house infield options to find something at the plate. In addition to the previously mentioned Wagner, Clement and Barger, former top prospect Orelvis Martinez has endured a brutal start in Buffalo, where he’s slashed .154/.247/.292 with a 39.7% strikeout rate in 73 plate appearances. To Martinez’s credit, he’s swinging a better bat of late, going 8-for-29 with a homer and three doubles in his past eight games (.276/.364/.483).

Guardians Select Vince Velasquez

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The Guardians made a series of roster moves today, as relayed by Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. Right-hander Vince Velasquez has been selected to the roster and left-hander Joey Cantillo has been recalled. To make room for those two on the active roster, righty Cody Bolton has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus and righty Paul Sewald lands on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. To open a 40-man spot for Velasquez, righty Shane Bieber has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Sewald departed last night’s game with shoulder inflammation. It’s unclear how long the Guardians expect him to be out of action but this move means it will be at least a couple of weeks. The Guards signed the former closer this winter, a $7MM guarantee on a one-year deal. That was a bet on a bounceback after he posted a 4.31 earned run average in 2024.

The early results have been mixed, with his ERA up to 6.17 in the early going. He has already allowed three home runs in 11 2/3 innings. However, his 31.3% strikeout rate and 4.2% walk rate are both excellent figures. If it weren’t for a .357 batting average on balls in play and a 64.8% strand rate, fewer runs would have crossed the plate, which is why his 4.35 FIP and 2.94 SIERA look far nicer in the small sample. If Sewald is going to get back on track, it will have to wait.

Thanks to a rainout on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday, the Guards are now in a stretch where they play 13 games in 12 days. Yesterday, starter Gavin Williams only lasted two innings against the Twins. The bullpen then had to cover the remaining seven, though position player Will Wilson absorbed two of them. Still, they used four traditional relievers, including Sewald and Bolton, with the latter throwing 40 pitches over his two innings.

The need for fresh arms will get Velasquez back to the majors. He signed a minor league deal with the Guards in February and has been pitching for out of the rotation at Columbus. He had missed the 2024 season due to UCL surgery but had a 4.88 ERA in his career prior to that.

The results haven’t been pretty so far this year, with an ERA of 6.00 through 15 innings and four starts. He has allowed 16 walks and hit one batter while only striking out 11 opponents. Regardless of the quality, Velasquez is at least stretched out and could cover multiple innings if the Guards find themselves in another blowout. He tossed four innings on Thursday and should therefore be able to take on a decent chunk of work out of the bullpen.

If they want to remove him from the roster in the coming days or weeks, he would have to be removed from the 40-man entirely. As a veteran with far more than five years of major league service, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.

As for Bieber, he’s still working his way back from last April’s Tommy John surgery. His 60-day clock is retroactive to when he landed on the 15-day IL at the start of the season. That means he can be reinstated from the IL in late May. That doesn’t seem to be a possibility since he still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Even if he were to start such an assignment today, he would presumably need a month to six weeks to get ready, effectively a delayed Spring Training.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Mets Designate José Ureña For Assignment

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The Mets officially announced their previously-reported deal for left-hander Brooks Raley, with Sean Manaea transferred to the 60-day injured list. Raley, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was promptly placed on the 15-day IL. The Mets also recalled right-hander Kevin Herget to the big league team. Right-hander José Ureña has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move for Herget. Tim Healey of Newsday reported the moves prior to the official announcement.

Ureña, 33, was selected to the club’s roster on Sunday. The Mets had leaned heavily on their bullpen in the prior days. Since Ureña had been pitching out of the Triple-A rotation, he gave them an arm capable of covering multiple innings.

Yesterday, the Mets stomped the Nationals with a 19-5 victory. It was 11-0 after six and a half, when Ureña came in to cover the final three frames. He allowed five earned runs but managed to largely give the bullpen a night off, apart from Max Kranick pitching one inning before Ureña entered.

It took Ureña 68 pitches to get through those three innings, so he might not have been available for a few days. Rather than have him taking up a roster spot while unavailable, the Mets are bringing up a fresh arm in Herget. Since Ureña is a veteran with far more than five years of major league service time, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. He has been bumped off the 40-man entirely and will likely be put on waivers in the coming days.

It’s possible the veteran could garner interest from other clubs who need an innings eater. The Blue Jays just claimed Casey Lawrence, for instance, a somewhat similar veteran capable of tossing multiple relief innings. Ureña has a longer track record than Lawrence, with 951 1/3 career innings with a 4.80 earned run average. If goes unclaimed, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

As for Manaea, this doesn’t change anything about his outlook. The 60-day count is retroactive to his initial placement on the 15-day IL, which was at the start of the season. He can therefore be reinstated by late May, which doesn’t seem to be a realistic possibility. He has been out all year with an oblique strain. He suffered a setback in early April and was to be shut down for another couple of weeks. It’s unclear when he’ll be ready to get into game action as part of a rehab assignment.

Even if he were to start such an assignment right now, he would likely need more than a month to get into game shape anyway as an unofficial spring training. That means this 60-day IL transfer was an inevitable formality.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Orioles Recall Kyle Gibson For Season Debut

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April 29: It’s now official, with Strowd optioned for Gibson’s recall, per a club announcement.

April 28: The Orioles list Kyle Gibson as the probable starter for tomorrow evening’s game against the Yankees. He’ll match up against Carlos Rodón in what will be his season debut. Gibson is already on the 40-man roster but will need to be recalled from High-A Aberdeen after agreeing to be optioned to the minor leagues.

Baltimore signed the veteran righty to a one-year, $5.25MM free agent deal on March 21. Gibson had spent the entire offseason on the open market after the Cardinals declined their $12MM option on his services. He’d thrown side sessions independently but signed too late to get any kind of game action. As with most pitchers who sign in the latter half of March, Gibson consented to a minor league assignment that could serve as a kind of unofficial Spring Training.

The 37-year-old Gibson has made a trio of starts — two at Triple-A Norfolk and his most recent with Aberdeen. That start came on April 20. Gibson reached five innings and 78 pitches. He’ll also be on over a week of rest, so he should be able to take something close to a typical starting workload tomorrow.

It’ll kick off the second O’s stint for Gibson, who absorbed 192 innings with a 4.73 ERA for the club two seasons back. A reliable source of back-of-the-rotation innings, Gibson worked to a 4.24 mark across 169 2/3 frames for St. Louis last year. He’ll slot alongside Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich in Brandon Hyde’s rotation. The O’s lost Zach Eflin to a mild lat strain a few weeks ago, while Grayson Rodriguez is at least a month away amidst elbow and lat injuries. Albert Suárez, who entered the regular season in long relief after battling for the fifth starter role in camp, suffered a subscapularis strain during his first appearance and promptly landed on the 60-day injured list himself.

Baltimore will need to option a pitcher tomorrow. Kade Strowd, who was called up this afternoon but did not get into their 4-3 win against New York, seems likely to head back to Norfolk.

Braves Designate Ian Anderson For Assignment

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The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve designated righty Ian Anderson for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, who has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett and will start today’s game for Atlanta.

Anderson only just returned to the Braves two days ago, when Atlanta claimed him off waivers from the Angels. He’d landed in Anaheim after the Braves and Halos swapped a pair of struggling, out-of-options pitchers in Anderson and lefty Jose Suarez. The deal didn’t pan out for either party. Anderson was torched for a dozen earned runs in 9 1/3 innings with the Angels. Suarez held opponents to two runs in seven innings but walked more batters (seven) than he struck out (five) and has already passed through waivers unclaimed.

Anderson didn’t get into a game with the Braves in this most recent stint. He hasn’t pitched a big league frame for Atlanta since back in 2022, when he stumbled through 111 2/3 innings with an even 5.00 ERA. The right-hander required Tommy John surgery the following season and went on to miss all of the 2023 season and a notable portion of the 2024 campaign.

Though his overall track record in the majors isn’t all that eye-catching (4.22 ERA in 281 2/3 innings), Anderson is a former No. 3 overall draft pick who ranked among the sport’s top pitching prospects prior to his debut. He made good on that fanfare with 160 2/3 innings of 3.25 ERA ball during his first two seasons, punching out 24.5% of opponents against a 10% walk rate.

Injuries have played a major role in derailing Anderson’s career. He stands as a reminder that while it’s easy to look at Tommy John surgery as commonplace throughout MLB, it’s nonetheless a major surgery from which a return to form is hardly guaranteed.

Anderson’s velocity still hasn’t bounced all the way back following the procedure. He averaged 94.6 mph on his four-seamer back in 2021 but sat at 92.8 mph out of the rotation in the minors last year. He averaged 93.7 mph with the Angels in 2025 despite working in short relief stints. Similarly, his command — never a strong point to begin with — has been shaky. He walked nearly 12% of his Triple-A opponents last year and walked 13.7% of his opponents during his brief Angels tenure.

The Braves will have five days to place Anderson on outright waivers or trade him. Waivers would be another 48-hour process. He’ll be in DFA limbo for a maximum of one week. Anderson doesn’t have minor league options remaining, so any team that trades for him or claims him off waivers will need to plug him directly onto the big league roster.

Twins Notes: Keaschall, Wallner, Lewis, Jeffers

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Top prospect Luke Keaschall provided a spark to a listless Twins lineup upon his initial call to the majors. The 2023 second-rounder has done nothing but hit since moving from Arizona State to pro ball, and the majors were no exception. Through the 22-year-old Keaschall’s first seven games, he hit .368/.538/.526 with more walks (five) than strikeouts (two) in 26 plate appearances. The former Sun Devil also tied a major league record with five stolen bases in his first five MLB games.

Keaschall landed on the injured list after an errant pitch from veteran Kyle Hendricks hit his forearm and resulted in a non-displaced fracture. For the time being, there’s no indication he’ll require surgery, but head trainer Nick Paparesta told the Twins beat last night that Keaschall is likely to miss multiple months nonetheless (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Keaschall will be reevaluated in about one month.

The injury to Keaschall is the latest for a Twins club that has been torched by health troubles this season. Third baseman Royce Lewis has yet to play in a regular-season game. Utilityman Willi Castro is out with an oblique strain. Ace Pablo Lopez missed two weeks with a hamstring strain. Top infield prospect Brooks Lee is healthy now but started on the shelf with a back injury. Relievers Brock Stewart and Michael Tonkin opened the year on the injured list due to hamstring and shoulder strains, respectively. Infielder Jose Miranda struggled early, was optioned to Triple-A, and has since gone on the minor league injured list with a strain in his left hand.

Most of those injuries have been relatively minor in nature. Keaschall is the most significant injury, but slugging corner outfielder Matt Wallner is also looking at a lengthy absence. Via Hayes, Paparesta added that Wallner is dealing with a moderate to severe strain of his hamstring. Wallner only first began light jogging on a treadmill yesterday, two weeks after his initial injury. He’ll be reevaluated next week, but it seems likely that the injury will sideline him well into May, if not longer.

Wallner, 27, is hardly a household name but has emerged as the Twins’ top power threat. The Twin Cities native, selected 39th overall in 2019, floundered through a catastrophically poor start to his 2024 season but mashed for the final three months after being recalled from Triple-A. In 228 plate appearances following last year’s recall, Wallner hit .282/.386/.559 with a dozen homers, 16 doubles and a triple.

A sky-high .410 average on balls in play and an ugly 34% strikeout rate point to plenty of regression in batting average for Wallner, but he draws enough walks and makes enough hard contact that he could be a productive overall hitter even if his average dips into league average territory (.241) or a bit lower. Between last year’s torrid finish and this year’s hot start, Wallner boasts a .278/.383/.540 line (164 wRC+) in 295 plate appearances. He’s walked in more than 10% of those trips to the plate and posted eye-popping batted-ball metrics: 92.4 mph average exit velocity, 16.1% barrel rate, 52.3% hard-hit rate.

With Keaschall and Wallner out for extended periods and injuries at multiple other positions, the Twins have turned to the DFA market to add some depth on the bench. Jonah Bride and Kody Clemens came over in cash swaps with the Marlins and Phillies, respectively, after both were designated for assignment. Both are out of minor league options, so it could be a short stay for one of them on the roster, particularly once Lewis returns. He’s played two Triple-A rehab games already and gone 3-for-6 with a double. A return next week wouldn’t be a surprise.

The Twins could opt to preserve their depth by instead optioning Lee or Edouard Julien so they can get regular at-bats in Triple-A. The ultimate move will come down to health and production among the current infield group. It’s a more straightforward scenario in the outfield, where Harrison Bader — signed to be an oft-used fourth outfielder — will see regular run alongside Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach.

In general, the Twins’ lineup has begun to emerge from a dormant state. Facing clubs with poor pitching staffs like the White Sox and Angels surely plays a role, but Minnesota is hitting .276/.359/.432 as a team over the past two weeks. Unsurprisingly, they’ve gone 8-4 in that time. They’re still three games under .500, but the lineup is meshing and Lewis’ looming return creates reason for more optimism.

Part of that resurgence has been a blistering hot streak from catcher Ryan Jeffers. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote last week that manager Rocco Baldelli is moving away from the largely even split in playing time between Jeffers and veteran Christian Vazquez. Jeffers is seeing an uptick in at-bats and will shoulder a larger portion of the catching workload. So far, it’s paying off. Jeffers is hitting .308/.426/.538 during this Twins hot streak; that looks more closely in line with the 27-year-old’s terrific 2023 season and strong start to 2024.

A slow finish last year dampened Jeffers’ numbers, but he’s a .247/.331/.449 hitter (120 wRC+) in 885 plate appearances dating back to ’23. Jeffers tells Matthew Leach of MLB.com that he feels some mechanical changes he’s incorporated in recent years have reached the point where he no longer even needs to think about them.

The move away from Vazquez is understandable, particularly at a time when the lineup was struggling. The 34-year-old remains a premier defensive catcher but has limped out of the gate with a .139/.200/.250 output in 14 games and 40 plate appearances. He’s in the final season of a three-year, $30MM contract that hasn’t panned out as the Twins hoped, but Vazquez’s glove is strong enough that he can hold a backup role even with a .218/.261/.318 slash in 710 plate appearances as a Twin. Jeffers, meanwhile, is in his second of three arbitration seasons and can be controlled through 2026.

Angels Outright Carl Edwards Jr.

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Veteran righty Carl Edwards Jr. went unclaimed on waivers following his recent DFA and has been assigned outright to the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Edwards has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.

The 33-year-old Edwards signed a minor league deal with the Angels and was summoned to the majors last week. He made two relief appearances and tallied three innings, during which he yielded three runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts. He’s pitched 11 2/3 innings in Triple-A Salt Lake already, allowing only two runs on 14 hits with a 25% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate.

Earlier in his career, Edwards was a top-ranked pitching prospect who eventually became a setup man with the Cubs. From 2016-18, Edwards was a fixture in Chicago’s late-inning mix, pitching 154 1/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a gaudy 34.2% strikeout rate, 54 holds and a pair of saves.

Edwards has slipped into journeyman status since that brief peak. Following his departure from the Cubs, the lanky right-hander has pitched for seven different big league teams — never spending more than two consecutive seasons with any individual club. He’s accumulated only 124 innings since 2019 and posted a 4.28 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate in that time.

If he chooses, Edwards can return to the open market and chat with other clubs about a potential deal. However, the Angels’ bullpen has been a mess this year, with a collective 4.75 ERA that ranks 26th in baseball. The Halos are currently without righty Ben Joyce due to shoulder troubles, and right-hander Robert Stephenson is still on the mend from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Kenley Jansen is the only truly established reliever in the Angels’ bullpen at the moment, though 2024 trade deadline pickup Ryan Zeferjahn, former starter Reid Detmers and 2024 draftee Ryan Johnson have all impressed in small samples thus far. Given the uncertainty in Ron Washington’s relief corps, Edwards may feel there’s a quick path back to the majors if he simply stays put with the Angels.

The Opener: Arraez, Gibson, MLBTR Chat

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As the 2025 regular season continues, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:

1. Arraez to be activated:

Padres infielder Luis Arraez has spent more than a week on the concussion list after a collision at first base led to him being carted off the field in Houston. Per Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase, Arraez is expected to be activated prior to tonight’s home game against the visiting Giants, set for 6:40pm local time. It’s a boon for the Padres’ lineup. While Gavin Sheets has performed well amid a move from DH to first base while covering for Arraez, that left more at-bats for Oscar Gonzalez and Tirso Ornelas, both of whom have looked generally overmatched so far this season. Gonzalez is hitting .256/.273/.279 in 44 plate appearances, and Ornelas has delivered just a .071/.188/.071 slash in a smaller sample of 16 plate appearances (1-for-14 with two walks). An active roster move will be necessary to activate Arraez.

2. Gibson to make season debut:

Five weeks after he signed with the Orioles on a one-year deal, Baltimore is welcoming veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson back into its rotation today. He’s already on the 40-man roster, but a corresponding move to clear room on the active roster for the 37-year-old will still be necessary. Gibson is set to begin the 13th MLB season of his career tonight against the Yankees and southpaw Carlos Rodon, who sports a solid 3.50 ERA through six starts to this point in the year.

Gibson carries a career 4.52 ERA and a 4.68 mark over the past three seasons, but his ability to eat innings and keep his team in games has still made him a valuable back-end starter. That includes his previous stint in Baltimore, when he helped the 2023 club make it to the postseason by acting as a veteran leader in the rotation (33 starts, 192 innings, 4.73 ERA). Now that the Orioles have slid to fifth place in the AL East, will Gibson once again be able to help left them to the postseason?

3. MLBTR chat today:

The month of April is coming to a close. Some expected contenders like those in Atlanta and Baltimore have struggled considerably (though the Braves have now won eight of their past 10). Meanwhile, the Giants stand as the most surprising division leader, currently holding a 19-10 record that ties them with the Dodgers for the NL West lead. There’s still plenty of baseball left to go. If you have questions about which starts to believe in or are already looking towards July’s trade deadline then MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

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