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Giants’ Erik Miller Diagnosed With UCL Sprain

By Nick Deeds | July 7, 2025 at 9:57pm CDT

July 7: Miller tells Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle that he was diagnosed with a mild UCL sprain. He’ll miss at least five weeks, but there’s no indication that surgery is yet a possibility.

July 5: The Giants announced a pair of roster moves this evening after announcing the return of Matt Chapman earlier in the day. The club placed left-hander Erik Miller on the 15-day injured list due to a left elbow sprain and selected the contract of left-hander Scott Alexander to replace him on the active roster. A 40-man roster spot was already open after the club’s DFA of Sergio Alcantara earlier today.

The loss of Miller is a significant one, as he’s served as San Francisco’s primary late-inning lefty this season. The southpaw has been utterly dominant this season with a sterling 1.50 ERA across 36 appearances, though his 17.2% strikeout rate and 3.92 FIP both suggest there’s plenty of good luck baked into that run prevention number. A look under the hood reveals Miller has managed to strand 89.4% of the baserunners he’s allowed this year, has floated a 15.6% walk rate that would raise eyebrows even with a higher strikeout rate, and that he’s managed to go all season without allowing a home run. None of that feels especially sustainable, and the cracks have begun to show in recent weeks as he’s actually walked more batters than he’s struck out over his last 18 appearances.

Despite all those red flags, the run prevention Miller has provided has been undeniable and will be nearly impossible to replace. Tyler Rogers, Randy Rodriguez, and Camilo Doval have formed a solid late-inning nucleus, but now the Giants will turn to Joey Lucchesi and Alexander as their lefty arms in the bullpen. Lucchesi has a 4.50 ERA in six innings of work, though his six strikeouts in that time are somewhat encouraging. As for Alexander, he pitched to a 6.06 ERA with a 7.01 FIP for the Rockies earlier this year but is now back in the Bay Area after spending two seasons with the Giants and one season in Oakland between 2022 and ’24.

He posted a 3.28 ERA and a 3.43 FIP in 117 appearances during that three-year stretch, and if he can unlock anything close to that production for the Giants this year he’ll be a worthy replacement for Miller in the bullpen who might even end up with more sustainable peripherals. Alexander’s production is carried primarily by high ground ball rates. His career rate entering this year stood at 67.4% and it’s never fallen below 60% in a season. That has changed this year, however, as he’s generated grounders on just 53.4% of batted balls. The Giants are surely hoping that pitching half of his games at Coors Field had an impact on his ability to keep the ball on the ground and that he’ll be able to rediscover his worm-burning ways now that he’s part of their relief corps again.

Dodgers To Activate Tyler Glasnow On Wednesday

By Anthony Franco | July 7, 2025 at 7:50pm CDT

The Dodgers will welcome Tyler Glasnow back on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Sonja Chen). He’ll take the ball opposite veteran southpaw Jose Quintana in the series finale against the Brewers. Glasnow is on the 60-day injured list, meaning the Dodgers will need to create a 40-man roster spot within the next two days.

Glasnow has been out since late April with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. He had made five starts before the injury, surrendering nine runs across 18 innings. Glasnow punched out 23 hitters but issued 11 walks and surrendered four home runs. The Dodgers shut him down for a couple weeks before he built back into game shape. He has been at Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab assignment since June 22. Glasnow allowed eight runs in 8 2/3 innings over three minor league appearances. He struck out eight while throwing 78 pitches in 4 1/3 frames during his final rehab start last Thursday.

The Dodgers will give Glasnow five days rest leading up to his return to the MLB rotation. He’s likely to be limited to a 4-5 inning appearance in his first outing. That’ll be his only appearance before the All-Star Break, so he’ll have plenty of time off before he next toes the rubber. Dustin May, who had initially been scheduled to pitch on Wednesday, will move back to Friday’s series opener in San Francisco.

Los Angeles has used Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani alongside May in the rotation. They recalled Emmet Sheehan to start yesterday against the Astros. Sheehan could be optioned back to OKC to clear an active roster spot for Glasnow. They’ve limited Ohtani to 1-2 inning appearances after his return from elbow surgery. Ben Casparius is capable of working multiple innings out of the bullpen and could pitch behind Ohtani in a piggyback setup.

Giants Re-Sign Logan Porter To Minor League Deal

By Anthony Franco | July 7, 2025 at 6:16pm CDT

The Giants announced that catcher Logan Porter re-signed on a minor league contract. San Francisco had designated him for assignment when they called up Sergio Alcántara to add infield depth as they navigated a few injuries on the dirt. Porter evidently cleared waivers, refused an outright assignment, then signed a new contract.

Porter, who turns 30 later this week, signed a minor league deal early in the offseason. He has spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A Sacramento but was called up for a week in June while Patrick Bailey was sidelined by a neck strain. The Giants optioned Porter as soon as Bailey returned but had kept him on the 40-man roster until last week’s DFA.

The righty-hitting Porter went 1-7 with a walk in four MLB games. Those were his first appearances since he played in 11 games for the Royals two years ago. Porter has spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A. He’s a .249/.365/.396 hitter with 29 homers in more than 1000 career plate appearances at that level. That includes a .222/.354/.310 slash over 193 trips to the dish with Sacramento this year.

Bailey and Andrew Knizner are the only catchers on the 40-man roster. Tom Murphy has been on the 60-day injured list all season. Bailey and Knizner will continue as Bob Melvin’s catching duo for the time being. An injury to either player would necessitate selecting another backstop onto the 40-man. Porter would likely be the first man up in that scenario. Sam Huff and Max Stassi are both on the Triple-A injured list.

Dodgers Designate CJ Alexander For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2025 at 5:05pm CDT

The Dodgers announced a series of roster moves today. Outfielder James Outman has been recalled to the big league club and they have also selected the contract of right-hander Julian Fernández. In corresponding active roster moves, left-hander Justin Wrobleski has been optioned while infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernández has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to left elbow inflammation. To open a 40-man spot for Fernandez, infielder/outfielder CJ Alexander has been designated for assignment. The Fernández move was reported earlier today.

There isn’t a lot of information about the injury to Hernández. Per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, manager Dave Roberts says the issue has been around for about a month. It’s Hernández’s non-throwing elbow, which is presumably why he was able to play through it, but the club has decided to give him a breather. With the All-Star break coming up, he might not actually miss many games if it’s a minor issue. Roberts does believe Hernández could be back in there shortly after the break, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

Outman gives the club some extra outfield coverage but the position player mix is a bit thin at the moment, particularly on the infield. Max Muncy is on the injured list and will miss several weeks. Tommy Edman is not in the lineup tonight, seemingly due to a right pinky toe issue, per David Vassegh of SportsNet LA. Outfielder Teoscar Hernández was getting scans on his left foot last night after fouling a ball off himself last night, per Vassegh, and isn’t in the lineup tonight.

In tonight’s lineup, the Dodgers have Freddie Freeman at first, Hyeseong Kim at second, Mookie Betts at shortstop and Miguel Rojas at third. The bench consists of backup catcher Dalton Rushing, outfielder Esteury Ruiz, and then the banged-up Teoscar and Edman. If Edman is unable to play tonight, those four infielders are apparently locked in. If another injury were to pop up, the club would have to get creative and try an outfielder on the dirt. Roberts hopes Edman and Hernández will be available off the bench tonight, per Harris, though that may be hollow optimism.

Alexander was just claimed off waivers a few days ago, seemingly to give the club some extra infield depth, but he hasn’t been recalled today. Instead, he’s been bumped off the 40-man roster and into DFA limbo, likely to return to the waiver wire in the coming days.

He has a small amount of big league experience with the Royals and Athletics, having produced a .160/.160/.160 line in 25 plate appearances. He had a really good performance in the minors last year but hasn’t carried it over into 2025. He slashed .302/.361/.559 for a 130 wRC+ on the farm in 2024, but this year’s minor league line is .236/.335/.429 for a wRC+ of 83.

He is capable of playing any of the four corner spots and can still be optioned to the minors. Perhaps there will be interest from clubs who think he’s capable of getting back to last year’s performance. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Dodgers could retain him as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Neville E. Guard, Imagn Images

Phillies Re-Sign Nabil Crismatt To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2025 at 4:30pm CDT

The Phillies have re-signed right-hander Nabil Crismatt, according to Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. The veteran righty opted out of a separate minor league pact with the Phillies a few days ago.

Crismatt, 30, has been a reliever for much of his minor league career but the Phils have been utilizing him as a starter this year. He made 15 Triple-A starts before opting out of his deal last week, logging 80 1/3 innings with a 3.81 earned run average. He only struck out 16.3% of batters faced but limited walks to a 5.1% clip. His 39.2% ground ball rate was close to par.

Despite those generally solid results, the Phils haven’t needed him at the big league level. Their rotation is one of the best in the big leagues. Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez have been there all year. Ranger Suárez spent about the first month of the season on the injured list but has been healthy for over two months now. Aaron Nola has been on the IL for a while but Taijuan Walker and Mick Abel have gotten the chances to take that spot.

Crismatt decided to see what other opportunities were available to him but has circled back to the Phils. On the one hand, he gets the consistency of staying with the club he’s been with all year, but his path to the big leagues remains blocked. Even if another injury or two develops, the Phils could look to make deadline acquisitions and they also have prospect Andrew Painter making Triple-A starts. Coming up and taking a relief role is perhaps possible but the Phils seems likely to bolster the relief corps at the deadline.

Regardless, Crismatt will presumably do his best for the IronPigs and see what happens. He has thrown 177 big league innings over the previous five seasons with a 3.71 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 50.3% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Billy McKinney Elects Free Agency

By Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2025 at 3:55pm CDT

3:55pm: McKinney has elected free agency, per an announcement from the Rangers.

3:06pm: The Rangers have sent outfielder Billy McKinney outright to Triple-A Round Rock, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency but the log doesn’t indicate whether or not he will do so.

McKinney, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers at the end of May after being released from a minor league deal with the Mets. Texas added him to the roster but his stint in the majors was predictably brief. He was added to give the club an extra outfielder while Evan Carter was on the bereavement list. Carter returned three days later and McKinney was bumped back off the roster. As he’s out of options, McKinney had to be bumped off the 40-man, not just the active roster.

In that short window, McKinney got into two games and stepped to the plate eight times, recording one single, one walk and one strikeout. He now has a career batting line of .208/.283/.384 in 951 plate appearances dating back to his 2018 debut, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 79.

His minor league production this year was enticing but also nothing new for him. He slashed .295/.433/.487 for a 136 wRC+ in 24 games for the Express before being called up. Dating back to 2018, the year he first made it to the big leagues, he has a combined .259/.364/.471 line and 116 wRC+ on the farm. That had led to plenty of big league chances, with McKinney having spent time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Yankees again, Pirates and then the Rangers.

He hasn’t been able to translate his big league chances into much success, which has led to him exhausting his option years, thus propelling him into journeyman status. If he elects free agency this week, he can see what other opportunities are out there for him. If he decides to report to Round Rock, he could hope for big league playing time later in the year. An injury could pop up at any time and Adolis García is a plausible deadline trade candidate.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Astros Recall Kenedy Corona For Major League Debut

By Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2025 at 2:50pm CDT

The Astros have recalled outfielder Kenedy Corona. He takes the active roster spot of first baseman Christian Walker, who has been placed on the paternity list. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was among those to relay the moves. Video of Corona celebrating his promotion with his minor league teammates was shared by Águilas del Zulia, his Venezuelan winter league club, yesterday. McTaggart adds that right-hander Jordan Weems, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and elected free agency.

Corona, now 25, was originally signed by the Mets out of Venezuela as an international amateur. He was sent to the Astros in the December 2019 trade which sent outfielder Jake Marisnick to Queens. The minor leagues were cancelled in 2020 but Corona then went on to have a solid three-year run after that. From 2021 to 2023, he got into 281 minor league games, climbing to Double-A in the process. He hit 43 home runs and stole 79 bases, slashing .260/.339/.450 for a 110 wRC+.

He was eligible for the 2023 Rule 5 draft, but the Astros didn’t want him to get away, so they gave him a 40-man roster spot. Since then, his offense has seemingly hit a wall. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has a combined batting line of .220/.314/.316, which translates to a 78 wRC+. However, he is considered a great defender and swiped another 35 bags in that time.

Jake Meyers is banged up at the moment. He left yesterday’s game with some calf tightness, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Perhaps he will need to sit out another day or two, which could leave the Astros a bit thin in the outfield, especially with Chas McCormick, Yordan Alvarez, Pedro León and Jacob Melton all on the injured list.

The active mix consists of Cam Smith, Cooper Hummel and Taylor Trammell, as well as Meyers. Infielders Zack Short and Shay Whitcomb have some limited outfield experience. Houston had Jose Altuve in left field earlier in the year but he has mostly been back at second base for the past few weeks to cover for the Brendan Rodgers injury. Mauricio Dubón is also capable of playing the outfield but is currently playing a lot of shortstop with Jeremy Peña is on the injured list.

Put it all together and it makes sense for the club to use Walker’s spot for an extra outfielder for a few days while Meyers is hurt. Perhaps Corona will only be up for a few days while Walker is on the paternity list, but he’ll get a chance to make his major league debut whenever he is put into a game.

Weems, 32, has signed minor league deals with Atlanta and Houston this year. Getting released from the first one allowed him to land the second one. He got a brief stint in the majors with Houston, allowing two earned runs in three innings. He is out of options, so the Astros bumped him off the 40-man roster when adding a fresh arm to the active roster.

Players with three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to elect free agency. Weems qualified on both counts. He has exercised his right and will see what opportunities are out there for him. Since he cleared waivers, he will likely be limited to minor league offers.

He showed some potential with the Nationals a few years ago. Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he tossed 94 1/3 innings for Washington with a 4.29 earned run average, 25.4% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. But in 2024, his strikeout rate dipped to 17.9% as his walk rate climbed to 12.2%, leading to a 6.70 ERA. He was bumped off Washington’s roster during the season and has mostly been stuck in the minors since then. In his 29 Triple-A innings this year, he has a 4.66 ERA, 21.4% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Outright Kyle Nelson

By Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2025 at 2:07pm CDT

The Diamondbacks have sent left-hander Kyle Nelson outright to Triple-A Reno, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

Nelson, 28, has the right to elect free agency but probably won’t exercise that right. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments. However, if they have less than five years of service, they have to forfeit any remaining salary commitments in order to do so. Nelson is in that three-to-five window. He and the Snakes avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a salary of $825K for this year, a bit above the $760K major league minimum. He presumably wants to keep collecting that salary for the rest of the year and will therefore report to Reno.

A few years ago, the southpaw was a solid piece of the Arizona roster. In 2023, he tossed 56 innings for the Diamondbacks with a 4.18 earned run average. He paired a 28% strikeout rate with a 5.9% walk rate.

Unfortunately, he required surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome early in 2024, which put him on the shelf for most of that season. He’s back on the mound here in 2025 but his results haven’t been great so far. The Snakes have kept him on optional assignment and he has tossed 17 Triple-A innings with an ERA of 8.47. His 14.6% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate at that level are both clear downgrades from his major league work of a few years ago, with diminished velocity as well.

Given the uncertainty there, it’s unsurprising that no club put in a claim. Assuming Nelson accepts his assignment, he’ll try to get back on track with Reno. Perhaps he can regain some velocity and some better results as he moves further away from his surgery. If he’s not added back to the roster by the end of the year, he’ll be able to elect minor league free agency, as is the case for all players with at least three years of service who are removed from a 40-man roster during a season.

Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto, Imagn Images

Dodgers To Select Julian Fernández

By Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2025 at 9:30am CDT

The Dodgers are going to call up right-hander Julian Fernández, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The club will need to make corresponding moves to get the righty onto the active and 40-man rosters.

Fernández, 29, is a flame-throwing right-hander. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He has since thrown 28 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 4.08 earned run average in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has struck out 25.6% of batters faced and given out free passes at an 8% clip. He is strictly a fastball-changeup guy, with the heater averaging 96.9 miles per hour this year and the change at 85.1 mph.

Despite the intriguing stuff, he hasn’t been able to carve out a huge major league career yet. He did rack up two years of big league service time over 2018 and 2019, though that was due to being plucked in the Rule 5 draft and then requiring Tommy John surgery, spending that whole time on the injured list. He made six appearances for the Rockies in 2021, with a 10.80 ERA, which is the extent of his actual big league action thus far.

He was outrighted off Colorado’s roster in 2022 and finished that year with a 6.63 ERA in the minors. He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays in 2023 but posted a 10.61 ERA and was released before the end of May. He then spent 2024 in Mexico and put up an ERA of 1.82 there before landing his deal with the Dodgers for 2025.

Fernández has a couple of options remaining, so he can jump into the club’s ever-changing pitching mix and provide some roster flexibility. The Dodgers currently have 12 pitchers on the injured list and have been trying to improvise solutions as the body count has climbed. The upcoming All-Star break will give them a breather and they will presumably make some moves to shuffle things at the deadline. For now, they’ll add Fernández into the equation to see if he can get some big league hitters out.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

AL Central Notes: Thomas, Ragans, Lynch, Cobb

By Mark Polishuk | July 6, 2025 at 8:59pm CDT

Prior to today’s game, the Guardians placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 5), as Thomas is again dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Infielder Will Wilson was called up from Triple-A to replace Thomas, who is headed to the IL for the third time this season. The first placement was due to a bone bruise in his right wrist, and the last two placements were prompted by Thomas’ recurring foot problems. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt told MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters that Thomas again started to feel discomfort in his foot during Friday’s game, so the team decided to see if the combination of an IL stint and the All-Star break can provide enough time for Thomas to finally heal up.

The injuries have contributed to a brutal .160/.246/.272 slash line over 142 plate appearances for Thomas, though he was starting to heat up a little with an .816 OPS and three homers in last 38 PA. Thomas’ struggles have been emblematic of an ugly offensive year for the Guardians as a whole, and today’s loss to the Tigers extended the Guards’ losing streak to 10 games. It increasingly seems like Cleveland will be sellers at the deadline, yet Thomas’ injuries and lack of production will probably mean the Guards won’t be able to move the impending free agent.

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