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Diamondbacks Activate Corbin Carroll From 10-Day IL

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Corbin Carroll is returning to the Diamondbacks’ lineup, as the club announced that the outfielder has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.  Utilityman Tim Tawa was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Carroll last played on June 18, when he was hit in the left wrist by a pitch from Blue Jays southpaw Justin Bruihl.  The result was a chip fracture and a trip to the IL that officially began on June 21, though thankfully, it appears as though Carroll dodged the bullet of a more serious injury.  Carroll felt good enough to play in an Arizona Complex League game on Thursday and he took part in a live batting practice session yesterday.

Before he was sidelined, Carroll was enjoying a huge season, and a return to the form he showed in winning NL Rookie of the Year honors in 2023.  The 149 wRC+ Carroll has posted through 323 plate appearances this season is indeed even higher than his 132 wRC+ in 2023, and a big step up from his relatively disappointing 107 wRC+ last year.  Carroll is hitting .255/.341/.573 with 20 homers and a league-best nine triples this season, also contributing strong baserunning and (in the view of the Outs Above Average metric) plus defensive in right field.

Getting Carroll back so quickly is a huge boost to the Diamondbacks, who remain on the outskirts of the playoff race with a 43-45 record.  Arizona is 4.5 games back of the final NL wild card spot with three other teams sitting between the D’Backs and the Padres, who hold that last wild card berth.  The Snakes will have to make up some serious ground in July to more properly get themselves into the hunt, and to potentially avoid a significant selloff at the deadline.

Dodgers Release Luis Garcia

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The Dodgers have released Luis Garcia, according to the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page.  Garcia was designated for assignment last week and (upon clearing waivers) had the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, though L.A. streamlined that process by parting ways with the 38-year-old.

Signed to a minor league contract this past winter, Garcia made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster, and posted a 5.27 ERA over 27 1/3 innings with the club.  The righty’s 4.25 SIERA was more respectable, as Garcia’s sky-high .388 BABIP greatly hampered his grounder-heavy approach.  Bad batted-ball luck notwithstanding, Garcia also hurt himself by allowing a lot of hard contact, and walking batters at a 12.7% rate.  That elevated walk rate was an unwelcome return to the control problems Garcia faced earlier in his career, though he had seemingly harnessed his control by posting a more palatable 7% walk rate from 2021-24.

Garcia missed about a month of the season due to an adductor strain, and made two final appearances for Los Angeles before he was DFA’ed.  The 13-year veteran will now be changing addresses yet again after already pitching for seven different teams at the big league level over his lengthy career.  This long track record figures to get Garcia another look from some team on a minors deal, and the reliever was still posting quality results as recently as the first half of 2024, before the deadline trade that sent Garcia from the Angels to the Red Sox.

If Garcia indeed signs elsewhere, new team would only owe him the MLB minimum salary for any time spent in the majors.  That money would be subtracted from the remainder of Garcia’s $1.5MM salary for the 2025 season, which will be otherwise covered by the Dodgers.

Mets Notes: Butto, Senga, Megill

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The Mets placed right-hander Jose Butto on the 15-day injured list on Friday, with a retroactive placement date of July 1.  Right-hander Chris Devenski was called up from Triple-A to take Butto’s spot on the active roster.  Butto is dealing with an undisclosed illness, and manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including the New York Post’s Mike Puma) that the club expects to activate the righty for the first game back after the All-Star break.

Now in his fourth season in New York, Butto has been used as a full-time reliever for the first time in his MLB career and the bottom-line results have been solid.  He has a 2.47 ERA over 43 2/3 innings and 31 appearances, albeit with a troublesome 11.2% walk rate and a 21.8% strikeout rate that is also below the league average.  Butto’s 4.01 SIERA reflects the sizeable gap between his actual performance and expected performance, though he does have a strong 49.6% grounder rate, and very good chase and whiff rates despite his relative lack of strikeouts.

While Butto’s illness doesn’t appear to be too serious, his absence creates yet another hole in the Mets’ injury-riddled pitching staff.  The Amazins now have 13 different pitchers on their IL, ranging from relatively minor situations like Butto to multiple hurlers who have been out for extended periods of time, or won’t pitch again in 2025.

One of the biggest names on the IL might be nearing a return, as Kodai Senga is slated to pitch for Double-A Binghampton in a rehab outing today.  Senga hasn’t pitched since June 12, when a right hamstring strain cut short a start against the Nationals.  Since it was just a Grade 1 strain, however, the Mets were optimistic that Senga wouldn’t miss too much time, and it is possible Senga might need just the one rehab outing before rejoining the big league rotation.

After injuries sidelined Senga for almost all of the 2024 season, he has returned in good form this year, posting a 1.47 ERA over 13 starts and 73 2/3 innings.  A 4.14 SIERA reveals that Senga isn’t nearly as dominant as his ERA suggests, though his Statcast numbers are generally above average apart a 10.6% walk rate is only in the 17th percentile of all pitchers.  Nonetheless, Senga’s relatively quick return is a huge boost to a Mets rotation that has been short-handed by injuries all season, let alone this second wave of health woes that have hit the staff in the last couple of weeks.

Tylor Megill was one of those most recent absences, as the right-hander hit the 15-day IL in mid-June due to an elbow sprain.  Despite the ominous nature of such injuries, Megill said at the time of the IL placement that he was only dealing with inflammation, and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo wrote yesterday that a recent MRI showed that the inflammation had decreased to the point that Megill can resume throwing.

Since Megill has been shut down for three weeks, he’ll begin with some light work throwing off flat ground today, but the hope is that he won’t take too long to fully ramp up to starting readiness.  Megill has a 3.95 ERA/3.61 SIERA in 68 1/3 innings and 14 starts for New York this season, with an outstanding 29.2% strikeout rate that helps cover for a subpar 10.8% walk rate.

Padres Outright Logan Gillaspie

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TODAY: Gillaspie cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso earlier this week, the Padres announced.  Gillaspie made the start for El Paso in yesterday’s game.

JUNE 30: The Padres announced Monday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Logan Gillaspie from the 15-day injured list. Rather than add the out-of-options righty back to the active roster, San Diego has designated him for assignment.

Gillaspie, 28, has been out since late April due to an oblique injury. He appeared in three games for the Friars in 2025, tossing seven innings and holding opponents to just two runs. He did so with matching 12.9% strikeout and walk rates, however, and gave up quite a bit of loud contact along the way (92.1 mph average exit velocity, 45.5% hard-hit rate).

This is the fourth straight season in which Gillaspie has logged at least some big league time. He’s pitched a total of 44 2/3 MLB frames between the Orioles and Padres, logging a combined 4.63 earned run average with a 14.5% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 35.7% ground-ball rate. Gillaspie has averaged 95.1 mph on his four-seamer in his career (94.7 mph in 2025) and typically pairs the pitch with an 83-84 mph slider, an 87-88 mph changeup and an 82-83 mph curveball (in descending order of use). At least in his brief three-inning look this year, he’d also begun to mix in a cutter that sat 91.5 mph.

Gillaspie has worked exclusively as a reliever ever since reaching High-A. Originally signed by the Brewers as an undrafted free agent, he’s now pitched in in four Triple-A seasons as well, logging a 4.37 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in 129 2/3 innings. The Padres can trade Gillaspie or place him on waivers at any point in the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so his DFA will be resolved within a week’s time. Since Gillaspie has never been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of big league service, he’ll stick with the organization as a depth arm in Triple-A if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

Orioles Outright Matt Bowman, Emmanuel Rivera

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The Orioles announced today that right-hander Matt Bowman and infielder Emmanuel Rivera have cleared outright waivers and accepted assignments to Triple-A Norfolk. Both players had been designated for assignment in recent days.

Bowman, 34, signed a minor league deal with the club in December. Since then, he has bounced on and off the club’s roster. Four times this year, he has been selected to the roster, designated for assignment, cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to the Tides.

Around those transactions, he has thrown 23 1/3 innings for the O’s with a 5.79 earned run average, 15.7% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 34.6% ground ball rate. For his career, he now has 239 1/3 big league innings under his belt with a 4.32 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 52.4% ground ball rate.

The constant shuttling might be unwelcome for some but it appears Bowman is content with his relationship with the Orioles, as he has the right to reject outright assignments but hasn’t done so this year. The O’s seem likely to be deadline sellers later this month and have a number of trade candidates on their pitching staff, so perhaps Bowman can get a more stable role in the final two months of the schedule.

Rivera, 29, has between three and five years of major league service time. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment but would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to do exercise that right. He and the club avoided arbitration in the winter by agreeing to a $1MM salary.

The combination of that contractual situation and his out-of-options status has led to him also bouncing on and off the Baltimore roster, with this being his third outright of the year. Around those transactions, he has posted a .229 /299/.271 batting line while providing solid defense at third base, along with occasional appearances at the other infield corner.

Similar to Bowman, he could get more regular playing time down the stretch. The O’s could perhaps move corner infielders like Ryan O’Hearn, Ryan Mountcastle and/or Ramón Urías in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of Reggie Hildred, Imagn Images

Cubs Sign Ryan Jensen To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have signed right-hander Ryan Jensen to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been in the Twins’ system but was released a little over a week ago. The Cubs also released right-hander Phil Bickford, according to his tracker.

Jensen, 27, was a first-round pick of the Cubs back in 2019. On his way up the minor league ladder, significant control problems seemed to get in his way. From 2019 to 2022, he tossed 151 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.04 earned run average. He struck out 26.3% of batters faced and got ground balls on more than half the balls in play he allowed but he also gave out walks at a 13.1% pace.

Despite the control problems, the Cubs gave him a 40-man spot in November of 2022, not wanting him to be plucked in the Rule 5 draft. Less than a year later, he was on the waiver wire, getting claimed by the Mariners. He would subsequently go to the Marlins and Twins, also on waiver claims, until the Twins passed him through waivers in February of last year.

Along the way, the control problems haven’t improved. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has thrown 149 2/3 minor league innings with a 5.35 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and plenty of ground balls but an 18.3% walk rate. The Twins have apparently given up but his original organization will take a flier and see what happens.

Bickford, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason. He may have triggered an opt-out in that deal because he has been dominant this year. He has thrown 27 2/3 innings for Triple-A Iowa with a 2.60 ERA, 34% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate.

He also has some good major league work on his track record. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he tossed 112 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 3.85 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. In 2023, he was still getting punchouts but his walk rate spiked to 12.8%. Last year, he only got a brief MLB look, which didn’t go well. He tossed 8 1/3 innings for the Yankees with an 8.64 ERA.

Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images

Yankees Sign Joel Kuhnel To Minors Deal

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The Yankees announced today that right-hander Geoff Hartlieb elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Because he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject all future outright assignments. The Yankees also added an arm, signing right-hander Joel Kuhnel to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was with the Phillies on a minor league deal but was released yesterday.

Hartlieb, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in the offseason. He was selected to the roster on Monday and designated for assignment on Wednesday. In between, he tossed one inning against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on two hits and three walks while striking out three. He is out of options so the Yankees effectively had to designate him for assignment in order to remove him from active roster while making space for a fresh arm.

That was a rough outing but he was in good form in the minors prior to getting called up. He tossed 35 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 3.34 earned run average, 26.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 41.3% ground ball rate.

He also has some previous big league work on his résumé, though it’s not especially sparkling, as he has a 7.62 ERA in 80 1/3 innings. His 48% ground ball rate is strong but his 20.3% strikeout rate and 14.9% walk rate are both subpar figures, particularly the latter. He’ll head to the open market and see what kind of opportunities are out there for him.

Kuhnel, 30, may have triggered an opt-out provision in his deal with the Phils because he has been putting up good numbers this year. In 32 1/3 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he had a 3.62 ERA. His 20.6% strikeout rate was a bit below average but his 3.1% walk rate was tiny and he got ground balls on a huge 66.3% of balls in play.

That’s generally been Kuhnel’s recipe. In 93 2/3 big league innings in his career, he has only struck out 18.7% of batters faced but has limited walks to a 5.9% pace and gotten opponents to pound the ball into the ground at a 52% clip. That’s led to a 5.86 ERA but his .311 batting average on balls in play and 63.8% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side. His 4.46 FIP and 3.77 SIERA paint him in a more favorable light.

The Yankees love groundballers and, as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. Kuhnel has been assigned to the RailRiders and will try to work his way onto the big league roster.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Royals Select Luke Maile

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The Royals announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Luke Maile. Outfielder Drew Waters has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy, so no corresponding move was required there.

As noted by Anne Rogers of MLB.com, the move is related to some calf tightness that Salvador Perez is experiencing. Perez is in tonight’s lineup as the designated hitter, with Freddy Fermin behind the plate, but Maile gives them a bit of extra protection at the catcher spot for the event that there’s a negative development with Perez.

Maile, 34, previously spent a bit more than two weeks on Kansas City’s roster under similar circumstances. He was called up in early May with Perez battling hip soreness. Maile got into three games and put up a massive .375/.500/.750 line in ten plate appearances before being designated for assignment and outrighted to Omaha.

He obviously wasn’t going to maintain that kind of offensive production. He has a career batting line of .209/.276/.322 in 1,260 trips to the plate. But he’s carved out a decade-long career in the big leagues thanks to a solid reputation for his work while donning the tools of ignorance.

His status on the roster is presumably tied to the health of Perez. If Perez is fine, then Maile will likely end up cut from the roster just like he was back in May. Though if the calf injury worsens or lingers, Maile could stick around for a lengthier as Fermin’s backup.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Astros Re-Sign Tayler Scott To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have re-signed right-hander Tayler Scott to a minor league deal, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome adds that Scott is already with Triple-A Sugar Land. In the past week, he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks and then elected free agency.

Scott and the Astros also linked up on a minor league deal going into the 2024 season. That turned out to be quite a successful arrangement. He made the club’s Opening Day roster and went on to make 62 appearances for Houston last year, logging 68 2/3 innings with a 2.23 earned run average. That ERA was at least partially misleading. His 25.2% strikeout rate and 42.4% ground ball rate were fine figures but he walked 12.4% of batters faced. He got a lot of help from a .230 batting average on balls in play and 84.9% strand rate.

His luck turned this year. In 16 2/3 innings with the Astros to start the year, his BABIP jumped to .313 and his strand rate fell to 65.2%. He also didn’t do himself any favors by having his walk rate jump to 15.4% and his strikeout rate fall to 20.5%. Those factors all helped him post a 5.40 ERA through mid-May.

Since he is out of options, the Astros designated him for assignment at that time, which led him to the Diamondbacks. He got into nine games with that club but allowed nine earned runs. He improved his walk rate but struck out fewer opponents. He got bumped off that club’s roster and returned to the open market.

Put together, Scott has an unpleasant 6.66 ERA in 25 2/3 innings on the year. But for the Astros, it’s a guy they are familiar with and there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. He’ll provide them with some non-roster bullpen depth and try to get in good form with the Space Cowboys.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images

Mets Re-Sign Colin Poche To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have signed left-hander Colin Poche to a minor league deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The southpaw was on the club’s roster less than a week ago but was designated for assignment and then elected free agency.

The injury bug has been gorging itself on the Mets of late, which has led to a great deal of roster churn. They now have 13 pitchers on the injured list, seven of those hitting the shelf in the past three weeks. Poche was briefly on the roster as a part of that churn. He got into one game, allowing two earned runs in two thirds of an inning before being cut.

That wasn’t an especially impressive performance but it’s easy to understand why the Mets brought him back. There’s no real harm in a minor league deal, for one thing. Poche also has a strong track record. He tossed 156 2/3 innings for the Rays over the 2022 to 2024 seasons with a 3.27 earned run average, 24.5% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate.

The Mets have also been particularly hamstrung when it comes to left-handed relievers. They came into the year with A.J. Minter and Danny Young as their primary southpaws but both were felled by season-ending surgeries. Since then, they have cycled through pitchers like Poche, Génesis Cabrera and José Castillo. As of today, Richard Lovelady is the only lefty in the bullpen, with Brandon Waddell scheduled to make a start this weekend.

The club will likely look for a more permanent upgrade at the deadline. They also have Brooks Raley working his way back from Tommy John surgery. For now, Poche gives them some experienced non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

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