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AJ Smith-Shawver Placed On 15-Day IL With Elbow Strain

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Between games of today’s doubleheader against the Phillies, the Braves placed right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain. Righty Michael Petersen has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Smith-Shawver started the first game the twin bill today but departed in the third inning. There was some initial speculation he had sustained a foot injury since he had been hit by a comebacker in the game, but it’s now clear that it’s a more ominous elbow injury. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the righty felt a pop in his elbow and is now going back to Atlanta for testing. Those tests will reveal more information but manager Brian Snitker says that “it doesn’t look good.”

More concrete information will surely be forthcoming after Smith-Shawver visits with the medical experts but it seems fair to wonder about the worst-case situation in this scenario. The specter of a notable surgery is always looming when a pitcher’s elbow is in the spotlight and the omens seem particularly gloomy in this case. Even if Smith-Shawver can avoid the scalpel, a notable absence of some kind could still be a possibility.

Prior to this injury, Smith-Shawver seemed to be putting a bit of a breakout together. He came into this season with just 29 2/3 innings of major league experience. Before today’s truncated outing, he had added 41 2/3 innings over eight starts this year. He has allowed 3.67 earned runs per nine in those with a 22.7% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate. He seemed to be in the process of establishing himself as a bonafide big league starter but that will be put on hold now, potentially for an extended amount of time.

For the club, they will have to figure out how to fill that rotation spot. Reynaldo López is out due to arthroscopic shoulder surgery and is still a few months away from a potential return. Four spots are currently held by Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes.

Per Bowman, Bryce Elder is likely to come up and take over for Smith-Shawver. Elder has a 4.50 ERA in eight starts for Atlanta this year. They could also kick that decision down the road a bit. They have Sale going in tonight’s game, followed by Holmes, Schwellenbach and Strider in their weekend series against the Red Sox. They are off on Monday and could therefore go back to Sale on regular rest on Tuesday. That would mean Elder wouldn’t be needed until next weekend, though they could also call him up early next week and push everyone back a day.

Assuming Elder holds a rotation spot for a while, the club’s top depth options will likely now be Hurston Waldrep, Nathan Wiles and Davis Daniel. All three of them are on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A.

Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

Mariners Select Casey Lawrence, Designate Blake Hunt

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The Mariners have again selected Casey Lawrence onto the MLB roster. They optioned rookie righty Blas Castaño to Triple-A Tacoma while designating catcher Blake Hunt for assignment in corresponding moves.

This is already the fifth time this season that the Mariners have selected Lawrence’s contract. Each of the previous four was followed by a DFA within five days. One of those DFAs resulted in a waiver claim by Toronto, but Lawrence has otherwise cleared waivers. In each case, he either accepted a minor league assignment or re-signed with Seattle after briefly electing free agency. Lawrence also quickly returned to the M’s after being dropped by Toronto.

The 37-year-old is clearly content with the arrangement. He’s able to collect at least a day or two of MLB pay for each stint on the roster. Lawrence has provided multiple innings as a low-leverage relief option for skipper Dan Wilson. He has turned in a 4.08 ERA with seven strikeouts and one walk across 17 2/3 frames over six appearances. Castaño tossed three innings in mop-up work last night, so he’ll be unavailable for a few days. That led the Mariners to swap him out for Lawrence.

Seattle acquired Hunt from Baltimore in January. The righty-hitting catcher has fanned 29 times in 96 Triple-A plate appearances this season, hitting .231/.271/.407 in 25 games. Hunt has bounced between Seattle’s and Baltimore’s 40-man rosters but has yet to get into a major league game. He’s drawn praise for his power upside but has struggled to reach base against upper level pitching. Hunt is a .232/.284/.413 hitter in just shy of 500 career Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll be traded or, more likely, placed on waivers in the next few days.

Guardians Claim Matt Krook From A’s

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The Guardians have claimed reliever Matt Krook off waivers from the Athletics and optioned him to Triple-A Columbus, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. The southpaw had been designated for assignment by the A’s earlier this week. Cleveland transferred righty Ben Lively to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Lively recently required Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

Krook, 30, joined the A’s on an offseason minor league deal. The former fourth-rounder pitched well for their top affiliate in Las Vegas, turning in a 3.21 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 14 innings. Krook got grounders on more than 65% of the batted balls he allowed. He’s had a tantalizing combination of whiffs and ground-balls throughout his nine years in the minors. That’s been too often negated by well below-average command, as Krook has walked nearly 15% of his professional opponents.

The A’s selected his contract a couple weeks ago. Krook got into three games, allowing two runs over 3 1/3 frames. The A’s dropped him from the 40-man roster earlier in the week when they acquired Sean Newcomb in a deal with Boston. They tried to sneak Krook back through waivers, but the Guardians jumped in to add the lefty relief depth.

Krook is in his final option year, so the Guardians can keep him in Columbus for the rest of the season if he sticks on the 40-man. He doesn’t throw hard, averaging around 90 MPH on his sinker, but that hasn’t stopped him from racking up plenty of minor league strikeouts. Tim Herrin and long man Kolby Allard are the southpaws in Stephen Vogt’s bullpen. Erik Sabrowski should be back at some point this summer, but he’s been out all year with elbow inflammation.

Poll: Should The Rangers Shake Up The Lineup?

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The Rangers have had a rough go of it so far in the month of May. They’ve gone just 11-15 on the month entering play today, including an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the White Sox last week, and three of those 11 wins came at the expense of a hapless Rockies club that has still not yet won its tenth game of the season. That’s left the team three games under .500, four games back in the AL Wild Card race, and 4.5 games back of the Mariners in the AL West. Those struggles have come in spite of a rotation so dominant that a fully healthy and effective Jacob deGrom is arguably the #3 starter this year by the results.

To find the culprit of the Rangers’ struggles, one need look no further than the starting lineup. The club’s hitters have posted a collective .219/.281/.354 slash line this year with a wRC+ of 80 that’s better than only that of the Pirates and Rockies. Texas has the lowest on-base percentage in the majors and the fewest runs scored in the AL. Going position-by-position, they have been in the bottom half of the league in wRC+ at almost every position in the majors with below-average production everywhere except third base and left field. Those positions are salvaged by standout performances from Josh Jung and Wyatt Langford, but the rest of the lineup is faltering.

That’s not to say there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, however. Josh Smith remains an above average hitter overall on the year, and perhaps he can shake his current cold stretch (.233/.295/.337 in May) once he’s relieved of the defensive rigors of serving as the club’s everyday shortstop. Smith took that role up in the absence of Corey Seager, who has been his typical excellent self when healthy but has appeared in just 27 games this season due to injuries. Seager’s recent return and the likely impending return of Evan Carter from the injured list leaves the Rangers with some decisions to make about their lineup, as discussed recently by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

Seager’s return yesterday (albeit as a DH) pushed Sam Haggerty out of the lineup, but that leaves no room for Carter unless the club is willing to pull the plug on outfielder Alejandro Osuna despite him having looked good in his first cup of coffee as a big leaguer. Once Carter returns, Grant suggests that it could mean a shift in playing time for second baseman Marcus Semien and/or right fielder Adolis Garcia. Both veterans were key pieces of the club’s 2023 World Series championship but struggled through below-average (99 wRC+ for Semien, 92 for Garcia) seasons last year. 2025 has been far worse for both hitters, with Semien slashing just .173/.260/.224 (42 wRC+) on the year while Garcia has posted a lackluster .208/.256/.371 (74 wRC+) line.

The pair’s expected numbers are better than their current production, leaving the door cracked open to optimism for a rebound, but even those numbers would be good for merely average offensive production. As things stand, neither of those performances are acceptable for a big league regular. With the first two months of the season in the books and other hitters starting to get healthy, the leash for both veterans may be shortening. It’s hard to imagine the Rangers cutting either player (particularly with three years and $72MM left on Semien’s deal after 2025), but some sort of change appears to be necessary.

On paper, using lefty hitters on the club like Smith and Osuna as platoon partners for the righty-swinging Semien and Garcia could make some sense. A look under the hood reveals that may not be as helpful as it might seem, however; Garcia is actually roughly average (99 wRC+) against right-handed pitching this year but has gone just 7-for-48 with one walk and one double against southpaws. Semien, meanwhile, is hitting lefties better than righties but is striking out at a 30.8% clip against southpaws with a 51 wRC+. Whatever advantage he has against opposite-handed pitching is more of a commentary on his struggles against fellow righties than a sign of actual success.

If neither player makes sense as a candidate for a platoon role, then perhaps the Rangers’ best option would simply be to decrease the playing time of both hitters slightly. A reduction in playing time could be tough to stomach for the veterans, particularly in the case of an iron man like Semien who last played less than 159 games in a full season back in 2017, but it seems clear that something needs to change for the Rangers moving forward. The club could also consider benching either one for the time being to offer a physical breather and mental reset, but Semien’s solid defense at second base would be missed and, as previously mentioned, Garcia has performed decently enough at least against right-handed pitching.

How would MLBTR readers handle the situation? Would you fully bench one of the two struggling veterans, continue sticking with them as regulars in the lineup, or try to work out a timeshare between all of the Rangers’ bats? Have your say in the poll below:

Brewers Outright Joel Payamps

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Right-hander Joel Payamps passed through outright waivers unclaimed and has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville after his recent DFA, the Brewers announced Thursday. Payamps has enough service time to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would require surrendering the rest of this year’s $2.995MM guarantee. As such, he’s overwhelmingly likely to accept the assignment and hope to pitch his way back to Milwaukee in short order.

Prior to the season, few would’ve predicted Payamps would be in a situation like this. The 31-year-old had a solid 2022 season and broke out as a quality, high-leverage reliever with the Brewers in 2023-24. Milwaukee acquired Payamps alongside William Contreras in the heist of a three-team trade sending Esteury Ruiz to the A’s and Sean Murphy to the Braves.

Contreras was the clear headliner there, but Payamps’ contributions in Milwaukee ought not to be overlooked. In his first two full seasons as a Brewer, he pitched 129 2/3 innings with a crisp 2.78 ERA, a 26.1% strikeout rate and a 6.7% walk rate. The right-hander picked up 48 holds and saved nine games along the way as well.

The 2025 season has been a struggle for Payamps. There’s no getting around that issue. He’s pitched 18 1/3 innings and been hammered for 17 runs (8.35 ERA) on 25 hits (three homers) and six walks against just 16 strikeouts. There’s been no velocity dip or radical change to his pitch selection, but Payamps is generating far fewer chases off the plate, far fewer whiffs and allowing a good bit more contact.

Any team could’ve claimed Payamps, who’s controllable through the 2026 season via arbitration, but doing so would’ve meant taking on the remaining $1.98MM in guaranteed money on his contract. Most clubs are pretty stingy about adding guaranteed money via waivers during the season, as they tend to only have a small amount of financial flexibility with regard to the trade deadline (relative to their typical slate of offseason resources, anyhow).

Were Payamps to reject his outright and be available on a minor league deal with a minimal base, he’d surely have a long line of interested teams vying for the right to take a flier on that track record. Instead, his salary pushed him through waivers. He’ll now head to Nashville and look to get back on track. Passing Payamps through waivers like this was the only way Milwaukee could send him to Nashville, since he’s out of minor league options. If he can start missing bats more in line with his past levels, he could return at any point this season.

Payamps is still under club control through 2026, at least. If he spends fewer than 82 more days on the big league roster but is selected back to the majors prior to season’s end, he’d fall shy of five years of service and see his path to free agency pushed back another year. That’s a moot point if he doesn’t pitch well enough to garner another big league look, though, and that’s where his focus will rest for the time being.

Diamondbacks To Option Jordan Lawlar, Sign Ildemaro Vargas

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The Diamondbacks are optioning infielder Jordan Lawlar to Triple-A Reno, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas will be taking Lawlar’s roster spot. Vargas triggered an opt-out from his minor league deal and was released earlier this week. Gambadoro adds that Vargas will be re-signed to a major league deal. Arizona has an open 40-man roster spot at the moment, though it will be full once Vargas is officially added.

Lawlar, 22, earned a promotion to the majors earlier this month. One of the top prospects in the league, he had a monster line of .336/.413/.579 in Triple-A and it was getting harder and harder for the club to justify keeping him in Reno. However, they didn’t really have a great way to get him into the big league lineup. His primary position is shortstop, though he’s also spent some time at second and third base.

The Diamondbacks have Geraldo Perdomo at short, Eugenio Suárez at third and Ketel Marte at second. Pavin Smith and Randal Grichuk usually platoon in the designated hitter spot. They’re all performing well this year, to varying degrees. Nonetheless, manager Torey Lovullo felt there was a path to get Lawlar into the lineup about four times per week while others rested.

That hasn’t really come to pass. Lawlar was called up on May 12th and has subsequently appeared in eight games. Only six of those were starts. He entered one other game as a pinch hitter and another as a pinch runner. He hasn’t performed well in that sporadic playing time. In 22 plate appearances, he has three walks but nine strikeouts and no hits. Optioning him down therefore makes sense, as there’s not much use in having him scuffle in a part-time role. It’s far better for his long-term outlook to play regularly as he continues his development.

An injury to one of the current infielders would likely result in him making a quick return to the majors. His long-term path to playing time looks stronger since Suárez and Grichuk are impending free agents. With the Diamondbacks five games out of a playoff spot, it’s possible they end up traded this summer, which could get Lawlar another look in the big leagues. First baseman Josh Naylor is also an impending free agent, which could allow Smith to take over that spot in the near future.

For now, Vargas is a more logical bench infielder. A 33-year-old veteran, he has 422 big league games under his belt, having bounced around the field to every position except catcher and center field. He also hits from both sides of the plate. His .246/.289/.354 career batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 75, which is below average production in a vacuum but generally around what a club would expect from a versatile bench piece. He started this year with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal but, as mentioned, opted out a few days ago. Before triggering that opt-out, he hit .261/.330/.397 over 49 games for Reno.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Marlins Plan To Move Xavier Edwards To Second Base

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The Marlins are planning a position shift for one of their most promising young talents. Infielder Xavier Edwards, currently on the injured list due to back strain, will move from shortstop to second base once he returns from the 10-day IL, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Otto Lopez, who’s been filling in at short in Edwards’ absence, will continue to be Miami’s primary shortstop. Edwards begins a rehab assignment today and will play second base for Triple-A Jacksonville.

It’s a sensible change for the Marlins to make. Edwards was the brightest spot in last year’s lineup, hitting .328/.397/.423 in 303 plate appearances as a rookie, but defensive metrics have panned his glovework at short since he first logged an inning at the position last year. Edwards has tallied 949 2/3 innings at shortstop in his young career and been dinged for minus-12 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-17 Outs Above Average and a minus-5.8 Ultimate Zone Rating. Statcast has him at the very bottom of the barrel in terms of infield range, and his arm strength ranks in the 11th percentile of MLB infielders.

The 26-year-old Lopez has seen the lion’s share of playing time at second base dating back to 2024, and he’s ranked as one of the best defensive players not just at second base but in the entire sport during that time. He grades out right alongside second basemen like Andres Gimenez, Brice Turang and Marcus Semien in the eyes of Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. Lopez is tied for the 22nd-best DRS total at any position in MLB since 2024, while Statcast is even more bullish and credits his second base wizardry as a top-three performance in all of baseball, by measure of OAA.

Lopez’s numbers at shortstop haven’t been so gaudy in a tiny sample, but he’s looked comfortable enough and been so good at second base that the Fish understandably are seeing how a flip of their two middle infielders would look. If they can go from the combination of one elite defender and one liability to one good defender and one even average defender up the middle, that might be a preferable arrangement.

A position switch for Edwards shouldn’t come as a major shock when looking at his minor league track record. Originally drafted by the Padres with the No. 38 overall pick in 2018, he played more shortstop than second base in ’18 following that draft but has been used far more frequently at second base in every season since. The Rays, who acquired Edwards and Hunter Renfroe in the 2019 trade sending Jake Cronenworth and Tommy Pham to San Diego, didn’t play Edwards at shortstop at all in 2021 and only gave him 178 innings there in 2022. The Marlins played him at short for all of 34 innings in the minors in 2023, his first full season after being traded over from Tampa Bay.

In many ways, this is a move back to a more natural position for Edwards. He’s always going to be more of a hit-first player anyhow, so his future hinges far more on his offensive output than whatever he’s doing with the glove. Last year’s terrific output never looked fully sustainable, as that batting line was propped up by a .398 average on balls in play despite very poor batted-ball data; Edwards was tied for 352nd among 405 hitters (min. 100 batted ball events) with an 86.1 mph average exit velocity. His EV50 (the average exit velo on the top half of his hardest-hit balls) clocked in at just 95.1 mph — 393rd in that same subset.

Even still, Edwards’ bat has slipped more in 2025 than would have been reasonably expected. He’s batting .263/.337/.292 and has just four extra-base hits in 194 plate appearances. No one should’ve forecast a prospect who hit one home run in the majors last year to clear the fences much, but Edwards ripped a dozen doubles and hustled out five triples in last year’s 303 plate appearances. This type of power outage is still a surprise. He’s maintained a nice walk rate (9.8%) and a 17.5% strikeout rate that’s right in line with last year’s 17.2% mark, but Edwards hasn’t found the gaps in the outfield often enough to eke extra bags out of his elite speed.

There’s still plenty of time to right the ship. Edwards reached one full year of service time in 2024. The Marlins control him for four additional years beyond the current season, and he’ll reach arbitration for the first time in the 2026-27 offseason. He still has a minor league option remaining, if Miami eventually decides that further Triple-A seasoning is required. Lopez is on the same trajectory with regard to arbitration and free agency, but he’s out of minor league options.

When Will The Royals Promote Jac Caglianone?

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The Royals’ offensive struggles aren’t exactly a secret. Kansas City is contending in the American League not because of its lineup but in spite of its lineup. Arguably no contender in MLB has been as anemic at the plate as the Royals, who sport a .246/.301/.361 batting line as a team. The resulting 83 wRC+ (indicating they’ve been 17% worse than average at the plate as a unit, even after weighting for their pitcher-friendly home park) is tied for the fourth-worst in baseball, leading only the Rockies, Pirates and Rangers.

The Royals have hit 33 home runs as a team. Shohei Ohtani has 20 by himself. Cal Raleigh is at 19. There are multiple contending clubs whose top two sluggers alone boast a home run total that’s comparable to the Royals’ teamwide output; Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham have combined for 32 dingers, while Arizona’s Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez are at 31 round-trippers between them. Kansas City’s 33 home runs are seven fewer than the 29th-ranked Pirates’ collective 40 home runs. Every other team in MLB has at least 46 long balls. The Yankees lead MLB with 88.

All of this is taking place at a time when Kansas City is housing perhaps the top slugger in all of minor league baseball in Triple-A. Last year’s No. 6 overall pick, Jac Caglianone, has embarrassed minor league pitching in his first full, pro season. The former Florida Gator decimated Double-A opposition with a .322/.394/.553 batting line and nine homers in 38 games before being promoted to Triple-A. Since joining the Royals’ Omaha affiliate, he’s homered five times in eight games while slashing .343/.351/.800. Overall, Caglianone boasts an almost comical .326/.387/.599 line with 14 home runs, nine doubles, a 9.4% walk rate and a 20.8% strikeout rate in 212 minor league plate appearances.

There are some developmental aspects to consider. Caglianone was a first baseman (and pitcher) in college. He’s dropped the mound work and is focusing solely on the position-player side of his career. Vinnie Pasquantino has him blocked at first base in K.C., so the Royals have been having Caglianone learn the outfield on the fly on a part-time basis. He’s still relatively new to that challenge. Much has been made of Caglianone’s penchant for chasing off the plate, too. He’s made strides in that regard in 2025, but the Royals likely want to avoid a situation where he’s promoted to the majors and expected to be a savior, only to see his approach exploited by top-level pitching that results in the first real adversity of his fledgling professional career.

It’s all understandable, but the Royals’ outfield, in particular, has been the weakest in the majors. Kansas City outfielders have combined to hit just seven home runs this season while slashing an MLB-worst .235/.283/.329 (68 wRC+). They recently made some changes, moving on from Hunter Renfroe in favor of 27-year-old rookie John Rave, but the lack of outfield production only shines a brighter spotlight on what Caglianone is doing in the minors.

[Related: The Royals’ Outfield Drought]

This is playing out at a time when two of the top three arms on their vaunted pitching staff — Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo — are on the injured list. Prospect Noah Cameron has stepped up and dominated in four starts to help offset the loss of those top starters, but losses on the pitching side of the roster are only going to magnify the issues on the other side of the game.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Anne Rogers of MLB.com have both shined some light on a potential timetable for Caglianone’s MLB debut, though it seems clear the plan remains somewhat fluid. Passan reports that the Royals’ Omaha affiliate is just beginning a homestand, but Caglianone could be in line for a big league audition not long after its completion (June 8). Rogers stated in her recent video mailbag with fans that the organization is looking for “sustained success over the next few weeks” before considering a promotion. That generally aligns with Passan’s framing. Rogers adds that the Royals have been reluctant to rush Caglianone but the timeline has “shifted recently” as the major league lineup’s struggles continue.

“The hardest part about this for us is we’re trying to do what’s best for the player,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo acknowledged to Passan before emphasizing the need to make sure Caglianone is as prepared as possible for big league pitching. “…It’s not fair to any player, whether it’s Jac Caglianone or whoever, when a team may be scuffling offensively to try to put it on him and hope he’s going to come save the day.”

Passan points out that for all Caglianone’s dominance, his two-strike approach is still sub-par. He’s chased just under half the pitches off the plate he’s seen in those settings (49.2%), which the Royals presumably fear is a trait that can be picked apart by the best pitchers in the world. Picollo spoke at length with Passan — readers will want to check out the column for full quotes and context — about wanting to see Caglianone face Triple-A pitchers not just multiple times in a game but to square off against them in multiple games. In essence, they want to see how pitchers adjust to Caglianone both within the confines of one individual game and with days or weeks between matchups. Conversely, they want to see how Caglianone reacts to such adjustments. That sort of challenge isn’t possible when he’s only eight Triple-A games under his belt. (Picollo also discussed these challenges with the Kansas City Star’s Sam McDowell earlier in the month, for readers who are intently tracking Caglianone’s development but may have missed that interview.)

It’s a delicate balance to strike, and the Royals’ recent play is forcing the issue. Kansas City won 16 of 18 games from April 20 through May 9. The near inverse has happened in 17 games since, when they’ve played at a 6-11 clip. That slide has coincided with improved play from the division-rival Twins, who’ve leapfrogged the Royals in the standings, and continued strong play from their rivals in Detroit and Cleveland. Kansas City has fallen to seven games back of the Tigers, and they’re now a game back of the Astros, Twins and Guardians, who each hold an American League Wild Card spots with identical 30-25 records.

For those wondering, there don’t seem to be any brazen service time shenanigans at play. The Royals showed as recently as 2022 that they were willing to overlook such things when they broke camp with a then-21-year-old Bobby Witt Jr. as their shortstop. Caglianone has already been down about seven weeks longer than would’ve been necessary to make sure he doesn’t accrue 172 days of MLB service time (i.e. one full year) by traditional means.

Caglianone could still get a year of service based on Rookie of the Year voting, but unless the plan is to hold him down until mid-July, that’s going to be a possibility whenever he gets the call. The top two finishers receive a full year of service, regardless of promotion date, if they were a consensus top prospect in the sport (as Caglianone is). Jacob Wilson has a big head start for the AL favorite, but the rest of the field is pretty well within reach if Caglianone debuts and performs up to his potential.

The Royals run some risk of Caglianone securing four years of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player, but that hasn’t been a concern for them in the past. Each of Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, MJ Melendez, Daniel Lynch IV and Nicky Lopez have been Super Two players for the Royals over the past few years. Maikel Garcia is a slam-dunk Super Two this coming offseason. The timing of Cameron’s recent promotion would put him in line to add to the list, if he sticks in the majors. Super Two status simply hasn’t been a deterrent for the Royals in the past, and it’d be a surprise to see them allow their offense to languish in a win-now season to save money on Caglianone but not extend their window of control over him.

It’s a frustrating waiting game for Royals fans at a time when the team has scored 38 runs over its past 14 games (2.7 runs per game). Any waiting period seems like it’s on the cusp of completion, however, so long as Caglianone remains healthy and doesn’t fall into a strikeout-laden slump as a result of egregious chasing off the plate.

Angels Re-Sign Shaun Anderson To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Shaun Anderson cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Angels, briefly elected free agency and quickly re-signed with the Halos on a new minor league pact, per the transaction logs at MiLB.com.

The 30-year-old Anderson pitched 10 innings for the Halos prior to his DFA and was tagged for seven runs on 14 hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts. He averaged a pedestrian 92.1 mph on his four-seamer but still notched a hearty 12.2% swinging-strike rate thanks in part to a changeup he’s incorporated into his mix at a career-high rate of usage (23.3%). Anderson entered the season with 152 MLB innings under his belt and had thrown just seven percent changeups in his career (11.5% in 2024). It’s a small sample of innings, but he was also using his changeup more frequently (albeit not to this extent) in Triple-A as well.

Anderson has seen action in parts of six major league seasons and suited up for eight different teams along the way. He’s been hit hard, yielding a 6.11 ERA with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in 162 MLB frames overall, but teams have continued to give him looks based on a solid Triple-A track record and some appealing traits in his pitches. He’s shown good aptitude for generating spin on both his four-seamer and slider throughout his career, and the 6’6″ righty gets excellent extension on his pitches, which can help his lackluster velocity play up.

Anderson was working as a starter in Salt Lake prior to being called up by the Angels. He’d tossed 37 1/3 innings across seven starts and logged a 5.06 ERA, a 17.6% strikeout rate and a 7.6% walk rate in that time. He worked as a multi-inning reliever with the Angels and saw his pitch count climb as high as 51 in one of his appearances with the Angels, on May 11. He’ll now remain with the Halos and again serve as a versatile depth arm who could come to the majors and help in a variety of roles.

The Opener: Doubleheader, Red Sox, Rays, Astros

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day:

1. Doubleheader in Philadelphia:

Yesterday’s game between the Phillies and Braves was postponed, making way for a split doubleheader to occur today. Fans with tickets to yesterday’s game will be able to attend this afternoon’s game, which begins at 1:05pm local time, while the start time of 6:45pm for this evening’s game remains unchanged. It will be a great day for fans of intriguing pitching matchups, as this afternoon’s game will feature standout Atlanta rookie AJ Smith-Shawver (3.67 ERA) pitching opposite Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sanchez (3.17 ERA). That game will only serve as the appetizer, however, with the main course being a clash between the first- and second-place finishers in NL Cy Young award voting last year: Braves lefty Chris Sale (3.36 ERA) and Phillies righty Zack Wheeler (2.42 ERA).

2. What’s next for the Red Sox?

The Red Sox have today off, but after yesterday’s frustrating 6-5 loss to the Brewers they find themselves on a five-game skid in the standings. Boston is 9-15 over its last 24 games and finds itself sliding down the standings, 4.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot and 9.5 games behind the division-leading Yankees. It’s a far cry from the lofty expectations that came with an offseason where the Sox brought Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman into the fold. It’s common for clubs in these situations to take off-days as opportunities to evaluate whether there are changes that need to be made. Top prospect Roman Anthony is continuing to bang on the door at Triple-A, while certain veterans like shortstop Trevor Story and right-hander Liam Hendriks are struggling in their current roles. First base remains an area without a long-term plan since the season-ending injury to Triston Casas (though Abraham Toro has at least popped a trio of homers while filling in). Could changes be on the horizon in some capacity?

3. Series Preview: Rays @ Astros

While the Red Sox figure to spend today licking their wounds after a tough stretch, two of the biggest beneficiaries of Boston’s recent slide will kick off a four-game set that could have notable implications on the AL playoff picture. The Astros are in a three-way tie with the Guardians and Twins for the AL’s three Wild Card spots at the moment, with each club sporting an identical 30-25 record. The Rays, meanwhile, have propelled themselves back into contention with a solid stretch of play recently that’s pushed them to a 28-27 record and just two games back of that trio.

That creates high stakes as the Rays head to Daikin Park in Houston for this weekend’s series, which will kick off at 7:10pm local time with Tampa Bay righty Shane Baz (4.94 ERA) on the mound opposite Houston rookie Ryan Gusto, who sports a 4.53 ERA through 12 appearances (six starts). A much stronger pitching matchup is on the docket tomorrow, when Ryan Pepiot (3.55 ERA) takes the mound for the Rays opposite Framber Valdez (3.39 ERA). Right-hander Zack Littell (3.97 ERA) will take on rookie Colton Gordon (5.52 ERA) in the lefty’s fourth career big league start, and the series will wrap up Sunday with the Rays’ Taj Bradley (4.38 ERA) on the mound opposite Astros ace Hunter Brown (2.00 ERA).

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