The Opener: Padres, Freeman, Sasaki, Ashcraft
Kade Morris is set to make his Major League debut today when the Athletics right-hander gets the start against the Astros. Morris will take on a Houston lineup boosted by the return of Jose Altuve, who was activated from the 10-day injured list yesterday and went 1-for-4 in the Astros’ 5-1 win over the A’s in the series opener. A Grade 2 oblique strain went Altuve to the IL on May 18, but the second baseman was able to return in less than three weeks’ time.
1. San Diego’s spiral continues
While it might not have been the top story of the night in New York sports, the Mets got a 5-0 win over the Padres on Friday, led by 5 2/3 shutout innings from Christian Scott. The defeat extended the Padres’ losing streak to six games, and San Diego has scored only 26 runs over an 11-game stretch that has seen the club post an ugly 1-10 record. Strong pitching helped San Diego paper over its offensive woes for much of the season, yet the lack of hitting seems to be catching up to the team. The Padres are hitting a collective .215/.289/.356, ranking last in the majors in all three slash categories while also scoring a league-low 235 runs.
2. Freeman finishes it
Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Dodgers a 1-0 win over the Angels on Friday. Since 1920, only five players have collected more walkoff hits in the regular season and postseason than Freeman, who now has 20 career game-ending hits. Perhaps of even greater import for the Dodgers is that Roki Sasaki recorded 10 strikeouts over seven shutout innings, as Sasaki continues to round into form. Sasaki posted a 5.88 ERA over his first 33 2/3 innings and seven starts of the season, but has now delivered a 1.48 ERA over his last four starts and 4 1/3 frames.
3. Braxton battles the Braves
A nice pitching matchup is on tap today in Atlanta, as Spencer Strider leads the Braves against Braxton Ashcraft and the Pirates. While Paul Skenes rightly gets the nod as Pittsburgh’s ace, Ashcraft has been only a step behind with a 2.77 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate over 74 2/3 innings. The second-year starter faces a big test in the league-leading Braves, who improved to 43-21 after Friday’s 6-3 win over the Pirates in the series opener.
Is It Even Worth It For The Mets To Be Sellers?
The Mets' season spiraled out of control far quicker than anyone could have reasonably anticipated. Even those who thought New York's NL club would miss the 2026 postseason probably weren't forecasting a 27-35 record placing them third from the bottom in the league, trailing a rebuilding Nationals club or a $75MM-payroll Marlins team.
Many Mets fans are -- understandably! -- waving the white flag already and calling for the team to be deadline sellers. The Mets, unsurprisingly, aren't in any rush to part with veteran players. No team is pivoting to sellers in early June. The Mets might very well end up in that bucket come late July/early August, but unless they're 10 or more games back at that point, the expected return doesn't necessarily outweigh the faint playoff chances they might still harbor. That's sure to be an unpopular sentiment among a vocal portion of the fan base, but let's take a look at who and what the Mets could reasonably peddle. The list of appealing trade candidates isn't especially compelling (which is a big reason they're in this mess in the first place).
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Rangers, Elias Díaz Agree To Major League Contract
The Rangers are in agreement on a major league deal with veteran catcher Elias Díaz, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The ACES client recently became a free agent after being waived by the Royals.
Texas designated Sam Haggerty for assignment on Friday afternoon, so they have an opening on the 40-man roster. They’ll need to clear an active roster spot once Díaz reports to the team. Texas has a veteran catching tandem of Danny Jansen and Kyle Higashioka.
Higashioka has earned the recent playing time with hits in four straight games, including a home run off Parker Messick in tonight’s 3-2 win over the Guardians. Jansen has had a tough year, batting .171/.277/.309 across 142 plate appearances. He’s a couple months into a two-year, $14.5MM free agent contract. Jansen doesn’t figure to be in jeopardy of losing his roster spot at this point.
That seemingly points to a three-catcher arrangement for the time being. Texas just activated Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford from the injured list to put their lineup pretty close to full strength. Ezequiel Duran can move back from shortstop to second base, pushing Nicky Lopez to a bench role. He and Jansen have five-plus service years and cannot be sent to the minors without their consent. Michael Helman and Justin Foscue each can be optioned. Foscue’s start at designated hitter tonight was his first time in the lineup since May 27.
Díaz will be accustomed to a depth role. He spent more than a month on Kansas City’s roster as a third catcher behind Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen. He started seven of 10 games and tallied 23 plate appearances. Díaz popped a couple home runs and doubles apiece. He’s coming off a .204/.270/.337 season over a much bigger body of work with the Padres.
The 35-year-old is best known for his surprise All-Star Game MVP win as a member of the Rockies back in 2023, but he has been more of a backup over the past few seasons. He has a good arm and has graded as a solid receiving catcher in recent years after struggling with pitch framing early in his career.
Astros Release Rhylan Thomas
The Astros have placed outfielder Rhylan Thomas on release waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Houston designated him for assignment yesterday when they finalized the LaMonte Wade Jr. signing.
A release was basically inevitable as soon as the Astros took Thomas off the 40-man roster. He was placed on the minor league injured list last week. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers. They can be traded, but there wasn’t going to be any trade interest in an injured depth outfielder.
Houston claimed Thomas off waivers from Seattle in early May. They kept him in Triple-A, where he has spent the entire season. He has a modest .253/.304/.307 line over a combined 185 plate appearances between the two AL West affiliates. Thomas’ scant big league experience consists of three games for the Mariners last May. He went 1-8 with a double.
The 29 other teams will have an opportunity to claim Thomas off release waivers. He’ll be a free agent if he clears. Houston would presumably look to bring him back on a minor league deal, assuming he’s not dealing with a major injury.
Tigers Release Bryan Sammons, Dugan Darnell
The Tigers have released left-hander Bryan Sammons and righty Dugan Darnell, according to the transaction trackers at MLB.com. They signed minor league deals with Detroit in the offseason but are now free to sign with any club.
Sammons has been with Triple-A Toledo this year, working as a starter. Two of his ten appearances were officially as a reliever but he tossed at least 4 1/3 innings in both of those. On the whole, he has thrown 41 innings, allowing 4.83 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 19.8% of batters faced, given out walks at an 11.3% pace and induced grounders on 30.8% of balls in play.
It’s possible that the transaction is due to an injury. His last appearance was on May 21st, a game he started but in which he threw only 11 pitches. As seen in this clip of that game from Tigers ML Report, Sammons slips on the mound and is in obvious discomfort.
Now that Sammons is on the open market, he can look for his next opportunity, though his health status will obviously be a factor. His major league track record consists of 27 1/3 innings with the Tigers in 2024. He had a solid 3.62 ERA in that time, though he got some help from a .143 batting average on balls in play and 85.2% strand rate. He was outrighted off the roster after that season and then signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for 2025. He put up a 3.78 ERA for the Marines before re-signing with the Tigers on a minor league deal coming into the 2026 season.
The Tigers have lost Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize to the injured list in the past month. Both pitchers could return fairly soon but they have joined Justin Verlander, Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson on the IL. The Tigers are currently running a four-man rotation consisting of Framber Valdez, Keider Montero, Jack Flaherty and Troy Melton, with Ty Madden and Enmanuel De Jesus in multi-inning relief roles. They have Sawyer Gipson-Long and Jake Miller on optional assignment. They could try to re-sign Sammons for more depth if he’s healthy in the near future but they could also look to other options.
Darnell has spent the entire season on the Triple-A injured list. He was recovering from a labrum procedure on his left hip at the time of signing and wasn’t expected to pitch until at least May. Darnell made his MLB debut last season with nine appearances for the Rockies. He allowed five runs with seven walks and five strikeouts across 11 2/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images
Phillies Re-Sign Bryse Wilson To Minor League Deal
The Phillies re-signed righty Bryse Wilson on a minor league contract. The Pro Edge Sports Management client returns to Triple-A Lehigh Valley just two days after being granted his release from a prior minor league deal. Wilson is back on the bump for the IronPigs this evening.
A 28-year-old swingman, Wilson has pitched parts of eight seasons in the big leagues. He hasn’t reached the Majors yet in 2026, spending the entire season with Lehigh Valley. Wilson signed an offseason minor league deal and has started nine of 10 appearances in Triple-A. He has an ugly 7.23 earned run average across 47 1/3 innings. Wilson’s 22.1% strikeout rate and 52.4% ground-ball percentage are more encouraging, as he’s been victimized by opponents batting nearly .400 on balls in play.
The release and quick re-signing are fairly common this time of year. Wilson presumably triggered an opt-out in his previous agreement. Even if his camp knew a big league contract was unlikely, he’d get a couple days to explore his options and potentially renegotiate future opt-out/upward mobility dates into his new deal.
Wilson has pitched nearly 500 MLB innings across four teams. He owns a 4.82 ERA with a modest 16.6% strikeout rate at the highest level. The Phillies are light on Triple-A rotation depth, so Wilson could get a look as a swing option this summer if his minor league results start to align with the peripherals.
Padres Release Nick Castellanos
The Padres announced they’ve released Nick Castellanos. That was all but inevitable after the two-time All-Star was designated for assignment on Wednesday. San Diego also confirmed the previously reported placement of reliever Jeremiah Estrada on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 3, with right knee inflammation. David Morgan is back up from Triple-A El Paso to replace him in the bullpen.
San Diego also reinstated righty Jhony Brito from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to El Paso. Ramón Laureano, who is likely done for the season after undergoing hip surgery, was transferred to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move.
San Diego rolled the dice on Castellanos after he was released by the Phillies going into Spring Training. He had a career-worst .191/.221/.339 showing in 39 games, striking out 34 times in 122 plate appearances (28%). The Padres pulled the plug this week and will use a combination of Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andujar for the majority of the designated hitter work. Sheets will also be pressed into some left field reps because of the Laureano injury.
There was no financial cost for the Padres. Philadelphia is paying Castellanos’ $20MM salary, minus the prorated $780K league minimum for any time he spent on another team’s roster. The Padres paid that but would’ve needed to pay the same amount to anyone they called up from the farm system instead. It’d be the same arrangement if Castellanos finds a big league opportunity with any other team this season, though he’d probably need to accept a minor league deal if he wants to continue playing.
On the pitching side, Brito returns to the roster for the first time since last May’s elbow surgery. He was nearing the end of his rehab window after beginning a minor league assignment in early May. He has made four rehab starts at Double-A, getting up to six innings. He’ll continue his ramp-up with El Paso but could be an option for a rotation that doesn’t have much certainty beyond Michael King and Randy Vásquez. If he spends another 20 days in the minors this year, he’ll be out of options going into 2027.
Angels, Logan Porter Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels are in agreement with catcher Logan Porter on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. The Gaeta Sports Management client had elected free agency this morning after being outrighted by the Giants. He’ll report to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Porter backfills the catching depth after the Halos traded Austin Wynns to the Braves on Thursday. Atlanta selected Wynns onto the MLB roster, so it’s likely his minor league deal contained some kind of upward mobility provision. That left them with Omar Martinez and 28-year-old non-roster catcher Zach Humphreys at the Triple-A level. Martinez is the only healthy catcher on the 40-man aside from the MLB duo of Logan O’Hoppe and Sebastian Rivero.
The 30-year-old Porter spent two days on the Giants’ active roster in early May. They called him up after trading Patrick Bailey to Cleveland, getting him into one game as a pinch-runner after Christian Koss was hit by a pitch. Porter was quickly optioned back to Triple-A, where he hit .241/.292/.362 in 65 plate appearances this season. He’s a .244/.359/.389 batter over five Triple-A campaigns and has appeared in 17 big league contests over parts of three seasons.
Marlins’ Prospect Thomas White Suffers Capsular Sprain
Marlins top pitching prospect Thomas White has been diagnosed with a capsular sprain in his throwing shoulder, the team announced (relayed by Isaac Azout of Fish On First). It’s a 3-4 month recovery timeline that’ll threaten the remainder of the 2026 season.
Azout also notes that infielder Maximo Acosta underwent surgery last month to address a UCL sprain in his right thumb. Acosta has been on the minor league injured list and last played on May 10. That came with an 8-10 week timeline from the date of the surgery.
White’s loss in the much more significant of the two. The left-hander is Miami’s top prospect, according to Baseball America. He placed even more prominently coming into the season; BA had him behind only Nolan McLean among MLB pitching prospects during their offseason Top 100 ranking. They had him 15th overall and fourth among pitchers in their updated Top 100 earlier in the week.
The 21-year-old lefty is coming off a season in which he turned in a 2.31 ERA with a monster 39% strikeout rate over 21 starts from High-A to Triple-A. Injuries have limited him to seven appearances and 24 2/3 frames this year. There’s no indication surgery will be necessary, but a major shoulder injury clouds his outlook going into the 2027 campaign. It almost certainly delays his big league debut, as White stood a good chance of getting to loanDepot Park this year had he stayed healthy.
Miami has had some rough luck on the injury front with their young pitchers. Robby Snelling, their second-best pitching prospect, made his MLB debut in early May. His elbow gave out during a between starts throwing session and he underwent UCL surgery that’ll sideline him well into next season. They’re also without Eury Pérez for the next couple months with a gracilis strain.
Max Meyer has stayed healthy so far and is pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level. The rest of the rotation has been underwhelming, leaving Miami with a 4.75 ERA from their starters. It’s the third-worst mark in the National League from what was expected to be the team’s strength.
White is not on the 40-man roster and would not be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until the 2027-28 offseason. There’s no incentive for Miami to put him on the roster this year. Acosta does occupy a 40-man spot and could go on the 60-day injured list if the Marlins need space for a corresponding move. That would require paying him the prorated $780K MLB minimum as opposed to the minor league salary he’s making while on the Triple-A injured list.
Acquired from the Rangers in the 2024 Jake Burger deal, Acosta debuted last season and hit .204 in 19 games. He was batting .200 with one home run across 17 Triple-A contests this year. Most evaluators feel he projects as a glove-first depth infielder.
Angels Select Samy Natera
The Angels announced they’ve selected lefty reliever Samy Natera onto the big league roster. He’ll step into the bullpen in place of Shaun Anderson, who has again been designated for assignment.
Natera is up for the first time in his career. The 26-year-old southpaw, a native of Mexico, pitched his college ball at New Mexico State. The Halos drafted him in the 17th round in 2022. Natera spent his first year as a starter, then lost almost of 2024 to injury. Los Angeles moved him to the bullpen a year ago. He showed a high strikeout, high walk profile in Double-A that has carried over at the top minor league level this year.
The 6’4″, 230-pound lefty owns an even 3.00 earned run average across 30 innings this year with Triple-A Salt Lake. He has punched out an excellent 34.4% of opponents but issued walks to more than 14% of batters faced. It’s a typical fastball-slider reliever profile, with Natera averaging 94-95 mph on the heater and sitting in the mid-80s with the breaking ball.
Baseball America has never rated Natera among the top 30 prospects in a weak Halos farm system. However, Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs slotted him 21st in the system last offseason. Gawlowski credits him with a plus slider but noted that a high-effort delivery has given him problems with his control. Natera joins Drew Pomeranz, Brent Suter and Mitch Farris in a rare four-lefty bullpen.
Anderson is off the roster in what has become a familiar routine. The Angels call him up, typically designate him for assignment after an appearance or two, then run him through waivers. He usually elects free agency and immediately re-signs on a minor league deal. His most recent call-up came on Wednesday, but he didn’t make an appearance in that day’s 11-4 blowout win over Colorado. The team was off yesterday. Anderson did get into nine MLB games in March and April, allowing a 5.94 ERA through 16 2/3 innings.