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Rays Place Zach Eflin On Injured List

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The Rays announced a few transactions before this evening’s game against the Red Sox. Zach Eflin landed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to yesterday, with lower back inflammation. Brandon Lowe is back from the 10-day IL to take the vacated roster spot. Tampa Bay also optioned reliever Manuel Rodríguez to Triple-A Durham to open a bullpen spot for Richard Lovelady, who has joined the team after being acquired from the Cubs on Saturday.

Eflin has turned in solid results in 10 turns through the rotation. The right-hander is averaging just under six innings per start and has worked to a 4.12 earned run average. While his 17.9% strikeout rate is on track to be his lowest since 2017, he has compensated by essentially never handing out free passes. Eflin has only walked four batters all season, a 1.6% rate that is the lowest among all pitchers with 50+ innings.

The 30-year-old has been one of Tampa Bay’s more valuable pitchers this year, although his performance is a step down from last year’s work. Eflin had a brilliant first season in St. Petersburg, turning in 177 2/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball to earn a sixth-place finish in AL Cy Young balloting. He did lose a couple weeks early in the ’23 campaign to lower back tightness, though.

Eflin told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (X link) that this year’s back issue feels similar to last season’s minor injury. Eflin suggested he could be back in around two weeks, while manager Kevin Cash indicated it was likely to be a 2-4 week absence. Tampa Bay has off days on Thursday and next Monday, so they could function with a four-man starting staff of Aaron Civale, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell and Tyler Alexander into next week.

Lowe returns after a nearly six-week absence due to an oblique strain. The second baseman is in the cleanup spot against Tanner Houck tonight. Since Lowe landed on the IL, the Rays have rotated Curtis Mead, Amed Rosario and Richie Palacios through the keystone. Mead struggled enough that he has since been optioned to Triple-A. Palacios and Rosario have each hit well in their first seasons in Tampa Bay. They’re each capable of playing multiple positions and should still see fairly regular playing time around the diamond.

In other injury news, the Rays sent Jeffrey Springs to the Florida Complex League on a rehab assignment. The left-hander threw one inning this afternoon in his first game action since he underwent Tommy John surgery last April. Pitchers are typically allotted 30 days on a rehab stint, but returnees from Tommy John are usually allowed more than a month to build back into game shape. Springs could be ready for MLB action by the second half of June.

Rays Select Jacob Waguespack, Option Jacob Lopez

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The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Jacob Waguespack, the team announced Friday. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery performed last April, was moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay also optioned southpaw Jacob Lopez to Triple-A Durham and reassigned non-roster pitchers Brendan McKay and Michael Gomez to minor league camp.

Waguespack’s addition to the 40-man roster and the decision to option Lopez both lend clarity to the Rays’ rotation outlook as they navigate a pectoral injury to starter Taj Bradley. Waguespack can still technically be optioned to Triple-A, but today’s move seems to put him squarely in the running for a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 30-year-old righty has spent the past two seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, primarily working out of the bullpen, and also pitched in the majors with the Blue Jays in 2019-20.

The 95 2/3 innings Waguespack pitched with the Jays represent his entire body of big league work. He worked to a 4.38 ERA with an 18.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate through 78 innings (13 starts, three relief appearances) as a rookie in 2019. The right-hander’s sophomore season saw him torched for 16 runs in 17 2/3 innings (8.15 ERA), though that was in no small part due to a bloated .410 average on balls in play. Waguespack’s strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates were mostly in line with his 2019 levels, and his spike in BABIP came despite a notable drop in his opponents’ average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.

When Bradley went down, each of Waguespack, Lopez and non-roster righty Naoyuki Uwasawa were listed as potential rotation options, alongside swingmen Tyler Alexander and Chris Devenski. Tampa Bay also signed Jake Odorizzi to a minor league deal just this morning, but he’ll need to build up and could require some minor league work to begin the season before he becomes a more viable option in early or mid-April. Even if the plan is to plug Odorizzi into the big league rotation as early as possible, Waguespack could make a couple early starts and, if he shows well, move into the bullpen or else head down to Durham to work out of the rotation there and serve as continued depth.

Rays Select Hector Perez

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Prior to today’s extra-innings victory over the White Sox, the Rays selected the contract of right-hander Hector Perez from Triple-A.  To create space on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, respectively, the Rays optioned righty Cooper Criswell to Triple-A, and moved Jeffrey Springs to the 60-day injured list.  (Springs will miss the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.)

Perez didn’t pitch in today’s game, so he is still waiting for his second career MLB appearance.  The 26-year-old’s resume in the Show consists of one game and 1 2/3 innings of work with the Blue Jays in 2020, and Perez was charged with two earned runs in his lone outing.  Originally an international signing for the Astros in 2014, Perez was part of the trade package Houston sent to Toronto for Roberto Osuna at the 2018 trade deadline, and the Jays then dealt Perez to the Reds during the 2020-21 offseason.

After joining the Orioles a free agent last season, Perez then made his way to Tampa Bay via the minor league version of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft.  Perez has only a 7.71 ERA over seven innings with Triple-A Durham this season, but a lot of the damage came in one particularly poor outing, as the right-hander allowed four runs in one inning to Syracuse on April 18 (his last time on the mound).  Perez does have a whopping 37.1% strikeout rate, whiffing 13 of his 35 batters faced.

Perez has always been pretty good at missing bats during his minor league career, but a lack of control has been a persistent issue.  Walks have been a factor in Perez’s lack of results in the upper minors (4.53 ERA in 204 2/3 Double-A innings, 8.15 ERA in 17 2/3 Triple-A innings), but his walk rate was down to a more palatable 8.6% in the small sample of his 2023 work.  Perez is out of minor league options, so unless he sticks in Tampa’s bullpen, the Rays would have to designate him for assignment and expose him for waivers in order to try and sneak Perez back to the farm system.

Jeffrey Springs Expected To Have Tommy John Surgery

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Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs is expected to have Tommy John surgery, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. That will put an end to his 2023 campaign and cause him to miss the start of the 2024 season as well. Earlier today, the club had placed him on the 15-day injured list with right-hander Taj Bradley recalled to take his place on the roster.

The news comes as a devastating blow to what had previously been a feel-good story. Springs, 30, was a 30th round draft pick of the Rangers and didn’t draw a lot of fanfare as a prospect. He got to the big leagues with Texas in 2018 and 2019, but posted an uninspiring 4.90 ERA through his first 64 1/3 innings. He was traded to the Red Sox but then put up a 7.08 ERA in the shortened 2020 season.

A trade to the Rays seemed to turn things around for him. He made 43 appearances in 2021 with a 3.43 ERA, 35.2% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 34.3% ground ball rate. Last year, the club gradually stretched him out to a starter’s workload over the course of the season. He eventually posted a 2.46 ERA in 135 1/3 innings, striking out 26.2% of batters faced while walking just 5.6% and getting grounders on 40.9% of balls in play. The Rays believed in that breakout enough to give the southpaw a four-year extension with a $31MM guarantee and plenty of incentives.

He was looking to build off that breakout campaign and was off to a strong start here in 2023. He had already tossed 16 innings with a tiny 0.56 ERA, though that will now seemingly go down as the entirety of his work this year. Rehab from Tommy John surgery typically takes 14 months or longer, meaning Springs won’t be an option for the club until midway through 2024 at the earliest.

The Rays had started the season with a strong rotation, even though there were a few injuries of note. Shane Baz had his own Tommy John surgery late last year and will likely miss all of the 2023 season. Tyler Glasnow also suffered an oblique strain in the spring and has yet to make his season debut. But Springs, Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Zach Eflin and Josh Fleming formed a solid front five, helping the Rays jump out to a 13-0 start and a current 14-3 record.

Now the club will have to navigate the rest of the season without Springs. Eflin is also on the injured list but is expected to be back this weekend after a minimum stay. Bradley made his MLB debut in a spot start for the club last week and will now seemingly get a longer audition to stick around.

AL Notes: Urias, Ortiz, Romano, Red Sox, Springs

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Ramon Urias is in concussion protocol after a scary incident in the Orioles’ 7-6 loss to the White Sox today.  Urias was hit in the head by a Kendall Graveman fastball in the seventh inning of the game, but fortunately the infielder was able to leave the field under his own power.  At the very least, Urias certainly doesn’t look like he’ll be playing in Sunday’ game, and it remains to be seen if a stint on the seven-day concussion-related injury list is necessary.  Urias had a single and two walks prior to his HBP today, boosting the Gold Glover’s slash line to a productive .250./.388/.400 over his first 49 plate appearances of the season.

Infielder Joey Ortiz would be the roster replacement if Urias is sidelined, as MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko was among the reporters who noted that Ortiz was removed from the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk tonight.  Since the Orioles don’t play on Monday, it’s possible the club might not make a roster move prior to Sunday’s game, in order to give Urias more time to recover and undergo further examination in the hopes that an IL stint could be avoided.  Ortiz has yet to make his MLB debut, and is yet another talented youngster from Baltimore’s farm system — both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America included Ortiz near the end of their preseason top-100 prospect lists.

More from around the AL East…

  • Jordan Romano earned a save in painful fashion today, as the Blue Jays closer was hit by a hard Wander Franco comebacker to the mound in the final out of a 5-2 win over the Rays.  The Jays told reporters (including The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath) that Romano suffered a right rib contusion on the play, though x-rays were negative.  After pitching on three of the last four days, Romano was probably already going to be unavailable for Sunday’s game, but it remains to be seen if the closer will have to miss any more time.  Romano has five saves and a 3.86 ERA over seven innings this season, with all three of his runs allowed during a disastrous outing against the Angels last Sunday.
  • With the Red Sox shorthanded in the middle infield, assistant GM Brian O’Halloran told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo that the Sox are “comfortable with the group we have,” though the team is “always looking to find ways to improve the roster. Especially when you have injuries, and significant injuries.  That’s even more heightened.”  Enrique Hernandez has had to move from shortstop to center field to fill in for the injured Adam Duvall, subtracting from a middle infield mix that was already thin with Trevor Story and Adalberto Mondesi on the 60-day IL.  Cotillo notes that it’s pretty early in the season for any significant trade to take place, though a lower-level swap or even a waiver claim could help the Red Sox fill some holes.
  • Jeffrey Springs struggled to a 7.08 ERA over 20 1/3 innings with the Red Sox in 2020, and Springs told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he regretting having “severely underperformed” during his lone season in a Sox uniform.  “I think I put too much pressure on myself there,” Springs said.  “I felt like I had to put up a zero every time and that made it harder on myself.  That’s a bad mentality to have.”  The Sox pivoted by dealing Springs to the Rays as part of a four-player trade during the 2020-21 offseason, yet now that deal is looking like a regret on Boston’s part, as Springs has become the latest pitcher to blossom in Tampa Bay.  Springs has an outstanding 2.53 ERA in 196 innings in a Rays uniform, but his great start to the 2023 season has now been interrupted by ulnar neuritis in his left arm, resulting in what will be a lengthy IL visit.

Jeffrey Springs Expected To Miss Multiple Months With Arm Injury

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Rays southpaw Jeffrey Springs left yesterday’s start with ulnar neuritis in his throwing arm. That indicated some degree of nerve inflammation in the area and the issue is apparently serious. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Springs is expected to miss two months at a minimum.

The club is still seeking further evaluation, but Topkin ominously adds that the issue extends beyond the nerve. It’s not out of the question that surgery could be required, which would obviously extend Springs’ recovery timetable. Even in a best case scenario, Tampa Bay will be without one of its top starters for an extended stretch.

Springs went for an MRI this morning. Specifics on imaging aren’t clear, though manager Kevin Cash acknowledged to reporters before tonight’s game that he’d miss time. Springs will surely land on the 15-day injured list and seems likely to find himself on the 60-day IL at some point.

It’s a brutal development for a Tampa Bay club that has been firing on all cylinders. Springs has played his part in the Rays’ 13-0 start with a brilliant start to the season. He’d allowed only one run in 16 innings, punching out 24 while walking just four. He’d looked on his way to backing up last year’s breakout showing, when he moved from long reliever to key rotation piece after pitching to a 2.46 ERA through 135 1/3 innings.

The Rays are now down another important starter. Tampa Bay will be without Shane Baz for most or all of the year after last summer’s Tommy John surgery. Tyler Glasnow went down with an oblique strain in Spring Training and isn’t expected to return at least until the middle of May. Offseason signee Zach Eflin hit the 15-day injured list with back tightness earlier in the week.

Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen are locked into the rotation. Josh Fleming has operated at the back of the staff and figures to have a long leash given the injuries. The Rays called upon top prospect Taj Bradley for his MLB debut this week. Bradley was optioned back to Triple-A Durham after that start but can be recalled to replace Springs once he lands on the IL. Luis Patiño and Yonny Chirinos are on the 40-man roster as options for the back end.

A potentially serious injury to Springs would be a tough blow from a longer-term perspective as well. The Rays bet on Springs sustaining last year’s breakout, inking him to a $31MM extension over the offseason. He’s under contract through 2026 with a club option for the ’27 campaign.

Jeffrey Springs Removed From Game With Ulnar Neuritis

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Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs was removed from today’s game after a visit from manager Kevin Cash as well as the club’s trainer. The club later announced his injury to reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, describing it as left arm ulnar neuritis. He will undergo further evaluation tomorrow.

Until more testing is done, it will be unclear what kind of an absence Springs is facing. The ulnar nerve is commonly known as the “funny bone” due to the tingling sensation it can create in one’s arm when struck. “Neuritis” means that the nerve is inflamed. Having the diagnosis doesn’t necessarily pinpoint a timeline, as there’s still a range of possible outcomes. On the positive end, the Blue Jays placed Jordan Romano on the injured list in April of 2021 with ulnar neuritis, but he was back after just a 10-day absence.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jacob deGrom had surgery to address ulnar neuritis in September of 2016. That ended his season, which isn’t surprising as it was late in the schedule, but the Mets announced the recovery time as three months. It was a similar situation for Michael Fulmer when he was with the Tigers in 2017. He had surgery to address ulnar neuritis late in that season with the club announcing a recovery timeline of three to four months. Clearly, there’s a wide range of outcomes with this issue. The Rays and Springs will have to examine the severity of his ailment and determine the next steps before even a rough timeline can be mapped out.

However it ultimately plays out, it figures to be a blow to the Rays, as Springs has surprisingly emerged as an excellent starter recently. He had spent most of his career working out of the bullpen until the Rays stretched him out last year. He ultimately tossed 135 1/3 innings over 25 starts and eight relief appearances with a 2.46 ERA. He struck out 26.2% of batters faced against a 5.6% walk rate and 40.9% ground ball rate. The club had enough belief in those results to sign Springs to a four-year, $31MM extension this winter, though he could bump his earnings as high as $65.75MM over five years via a club option and incentives. He had looked strong so far here in 2023, not allowing an earned run over his first two starts, then letting one run cross the plate today before his exit.

The Rays have a strong starting staff, which has helped them jump out to an incredible 13-0 start to their season, as they eventually won today’s contest despite the loss of Springs. But if the lefty has to miss some time, it will further handcuff a rotation that started the season without Shane Baz or Tyler Glasnow and recently placed Zach Eflin on the injured list as well. If Springs joins that group on the IL, they will be down to two strong starters in Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen, while Josh Fleming has had mixed results so far this year. Eflin is expecting a minimum stay on the IL but still has another 10 days before he’s eligible to return, even if that’s true.

The Rays have often used bullpen games in the past but they would be challenged to get through their upcoming schedule with just three starters in McClanahan, Rasmussen and Fleming. They don’t have an off-day until April 20 and then won’t have another until May 15. That means they will likely have to lean on their depth at some point. Prospect Taj Bradley made his major league debut yesterday but was then optioned to Triple-A this morning. He isn’t eligible to return until 15 days from that optioning, though an exception is made when another player is going on the injured list. Luis Patiño and Yonny Chirinos are other options on the 40-man roster.

Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

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The Rays announced they’ve signed left-hander Jeffrey Springs to a four-year contract extension. Springs, who’s represented by Ryan Ware of Alliance Sports Management, will be guaranteed $31MM over the course of the deal but there’s also incentives and a $15MM club option for 2027 with a $750K buyout. If Springs hits all the incentives and Cy Young award escalators and the club picks up the option, he’ll earn $65.75MM over five years.

The exact details of those incentives and escalators aren’t known. Springs will earn a salary of $4MM this year, $5.25MM next year, followed by $10.5MM in each of the following two seasons. Springs was set to reach free agency after 2024, so this could allow the Rays to secure him for three additional seasons, if they end up triggering that option.

Springs, 30, has had a unique baseball journey. A 30th round draft pick of the Rangers, he drew little fanfare from prospect evaluators in his first few professional seasons. Though he got some rotation work for a few years, the Rangers used him exclusively in relief in 2018 to good results. He tossed 56 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A that year. The 4.13 ERA might not seem very impressive, but it was surely inflated by a .438 batting average on balls in play. He kept his walks down to a reasonable 8.1% level while striking out an incredible 41.7% of batters faced. He got to make his MLB debut that year, throwing 32 innings over 18 appearances with a 3.38 ERA.

He took a step back in 2019, missing a few months with left biceps tendinitis and posting a 6.40 ERA. Texas designated him for assignment going into 2020 and then traded him to the Red Sox for Sam Travis. The change of scenery didn’t help Springs get back on track, as he posted a 7.08 ERA in the shortened 2020 campaign. He was designated for assignment again and then flipped to the Rays alongside Chris Mazza for prospects Ronaldo Hernández and Nick Sogard.

The move to Tampa appears to have been the one Springs needed, as his results have completely turned around since then. He registered a 3.43 ERA over 43 appearances in 2021, striking out 35.2% of batters faced while walking just 7.8% of them. In 2022, he started in the bullpen but the club began stretching him into a starter as the season went along. He responded well to the change, eventually throwing 135 1/3 innings with a 2.46 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 40.9% ground ball rate.

After a few years of floundering and struggling, it’s not a huge surprise that Springs would jump at the chance to lock in some life-changing money here. He reached arbitration for the first time going into 2022 but only made $947.5K, a slight bump over the $700K league minimum. He was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a jump to $3MM this year, though he and the club didn’t come to an agreement prior to the filing deadline earlier this month. He submitted a $3.55MM figure while the Rays filed at $2.7MM. Instead, he’ll make $4MM and lock in some eight-figure salaries for the future.

For the Rays, they clearly believe Springs is capable of continuing as an effective starter, though there’s some risk here. Springs had excellent results in 2022 but it’s still just one season, and it wasn’t even a full one. As mentioned, Springs began the year in the bullpen and wasn’t stretched out until the end of May. He also went on the injured list for a couple of weeks in July due to right lower leg tightness. Concerns aside, the Rays are confident enough in the lefty that they’re willing to take a gamble on him.

For a low-spending team like the Rays, extensions are an important part of having talent on the roster. Since they don’t usually shop at the top of the free agent market, they need to keep guys around by locking them up before they get closer to the open market and increase their earning power. In recent years, they’ve given extensions to players like Kevin Kiermaier, Blake Snell, Brandon Lowe, Wander Franco, Manuel Margot and Tyler Glasnow, with Springs now joining them on that list.

This won’t have a huge impact on the club’s 2023 payroll but will add some decent commitments to 2025 and 2026. The club now has three players locked into the former season with Franco and Zach Eflin on the books there, along with a club option for Lowe. In exchange for putting that money on the table, the Rays now have arguably the most rotation stability they’ve had in years. Recent seasons have seen them rely on bullpen games and openers to get through a season but they now have Springs, Glasnow, Eflin, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan, with depth options like Yonny Chirinos, Luis Patiño and Josh Fleming. Most of that group are still in their pre-arbitration years, giving the club years of affordable control. None of them are slated for free agency after this year and Glasnow is now the only one set to hit the open market after 2024. The club also has one of the top pitching prospects in the sport in Taj Bradley, who finished last year at Triple-A and could make his debut this year.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the deal and many of the details. Joel Sherman of the New York Post was the first with the year-to-year salary breakdown.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Requested Salary Figures For 33 Players Who Didn’t Reach Agreements By Arbitration-Filing Deadline

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January 13 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange salary figures in advance of possible hearings, and as usual, the large majority of players worked out one-year agreements (or extensions) for their 2023 salaries.  MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker detailed these agreements, though there is still quite a bit of unfinished business, as 33 players still don’t have their deals settled, and thus their 2023 salaries could be determined by an arbiter.

Typically, arb hearings take place in February or March, yet there isn’t anything officially preventing a team from still reaching an agreement with a player up until the moment an arbiter makes their ruling.  However, most clubs employ the “file and trial” strategy as a way of putting more pressure on players to accept agreements prior to the figure-exchange deadline.  In short, once the deadline passes, teams head to hearings with no more negotiation about a one-year salary, though clubs are typically still willing to discuss multi-year extensions.

Here are the 33 players who have yet to reach an agreement on their 2023 salaries, as well as the players’ requested salary and the team’s counter-offer.  As always, clubs (and the league as a whole) pay very close attention to arbitration salaries, since any outlier of a number can serve as a precedent in the future, thus raising the bar for both one particular players and perhaps players as a whole.  This is why teams are generally adamant about the “file and trial” tactic and taking the risk of a sometimes-awkward arb hearing, even in cases where there is a relatively small gap between the club’s figure and the player’s figure.

[RELATED: Arbitration projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz]

Nineteen of the 30 teams have at least one unsettled case remaining, with the Rays (by far) leading the way with seven players on pace to reach hearings.  Given that Tampa Bay entered the offseason with an enormous 19-player arbitration class, it perhaps isn’t surprising that the Rays still have a lot of work to do, even after trimming that initial class size with non-tenders and trades.  Teoscar Hernandez’s $16MM is the largest figure submitted by any of the 33 players, while Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette have the largest gap between submitted figures, each with a $2.5MM difference between their hoped-for salaries and the numbers respectively submitted by the Astros and Blue Jays.

The total list (which will be updated as settlements are reached and hearing results become known)….

Injury Notes: Montas, Brantley, Eflin, Springs, Beeks, May

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With the trade deadline approaching, Frankie Montas’ health status is of particular interest to both the Athletics and several other teams around baseball.  The right-hander tossed just one inning on July 3 and hasn’t pitched since, due to shoulder inflammation.  The A’s resisted placing Montas on the 15-day injured list, and it seems as though he could return as early as Thursday, when Oakland opens the second half with a doubleheader against the Tigers.

Montas received a cortisone shot as part of his recovery, and things went “really well” during a bullpen session yesterday, A’s manager Mark Kotsay told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters.  The club will continue to observe Montas over the All-Star break, but for now, it would seem like Montas is on pace to get back onto the mound.  Assuming regular rest, Montas would be on pace to make at least two starts prior to the August 2 deadline, though it’s also possible the Athletics could rest him if a trade is close.

More injury notes from around baseball…

  • Right shoulder discomfort sent Michael Brantley to the 10-day IL back on June 27, but the Astros outfielder still “didn’t feel right” while trying to swing last Thursday, manager Dusty Baker said.  “Right now, he’s in the same spot, no worse….That was the shoulder he got operated on years ago.  He’s still a little sore,” Baker told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters.  Brantley had shoulder surgeries in both 2015 and 2016, which limited him to only 11 games in 2016 and also delayed his return in 2017.  There isn’t yet any sense that this current injury is anywhere near as serious, however, though speculatively, Houston could perhaps look out for outfield help at the deadline should they have any longer-term concerns over Brantley’s health.
  • Zach Eflin threw a simulated game yesterday, but Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that Eflin came out of the session feeling a little sore, and team doctors will examine him tomorrow.  Eflin was placed on the 15-day IL on June 26 due to a right knee bruise, and Eflin is another player with a lengthy surgical history, as the righty underwent knee procedures in both 2016 and 2021.
  • Rays manager Kevin Cash updated reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) about a pair of pitching injuries, noting that Jeffrey Springs is expected to be activated during the Rays’ first series after the All-Star break.  Springs’ placement on the 15-day IL (for tightness in his lower right leg) was retroactive to July 7, so the southpaw looks like he’ll miss just the minimum amount of time.  Cash also thinks Jalen Beeks will miss only 15 days, after Beeks went to the IL just today with a similar leg injury.
  • Dustin May threw two innings of Arizona Complex League action yesterday, marking the first in-game action in his recovery from Tommy John surgery in May 2021.  May’s minor league rehab assignment is expected to last at least a month, the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett writes, but he could be an option for the Dodgers down the stretch.  As president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently told Plunkett and other reporters, “our plan is to build [May] up, have him start for us and then evaluate as we go,” possibly adjusting usage based on the Dodgers’ needs (in the regular season or the playoffs) and May’s health.
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