Tigers Activate Matt Vierling From 10-Day IL, Option Trey Sweeney
The Tigers announced that third baseman/outfielder Matt Vierling has been activated from the 10-day injured list. Shortstop Trey Sweeney was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in the corresponding move, which took place after Detroit’s 4-1 loss to Minnesota last night.
Vierling’s 2025 season has basically been a wash, as he has played in only four games in between two lengthy stints on the IL. He strained his right rotator cuff in February, which kept him on the shelf until May 23. That return to the Tigers’ lineup was short-lived, as just five days later, Vierling was placed back on the 10-day IL due to right shoulder inflammation. Fortunately, an MRI taken earlier this month didn’t reveal any structural damage in the shoulder, and Vierling was able to soon start a minor league rehab assignment that lasted seven games.
He is now in today’s lineup as the starting center fielder, and looking to start playing a larger role for a Tigers team that has the best record in the American League. Now in his third season in Motown, Vierling hit .259/.320/.406 with 26 homers over 1097 plate appearances in 2023-24, toggling between third base and all three outfield positions. Vierling’s right-handed bat is a nice complement to Detroit’s many lefty swingers, giving manager A.J. Hinch some extra flexibility in balancing out his lineup.
Sweeney’s move to Triple-A is notable, as his installation as the Tigers’ starting shortstop last August was one of the many factors that sparked Detroit’s stunning late-season surge into a playoff berth. Acquired from the Dodgers as part of the Jack Flaherty trade at last year’s deadline, Sweeney didn’t hit much in his first taste of big league action, but strong defense helped solidify the shortstop position since the Tigers had gotten so little from Javier Baez, Zach McKinstry, and Ryan Kreidler.
This season, however, Baez has enjoyed a career resurgence and McKinstry has broken out in a multi-positional role. Since Sweeney is still only hitting .221/.280/.314 over 225 PA and his glovework has fallen off, he’ll head to Toledo as the odd man out of the Tigers’ roster. Baez and McKinstry figure to fully assume shortstop duties going forward, perhaps in a loose righty-lefty platoon depending on whether or not McKinstry is being utilized elsewhere on the diamond.
Mariners Designate Zach Pop, Select Juan Burgos
The Mariners announced that right-hander Zach Pop has been designated for assignment. Juan Burgos‘ contract has been selected from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Burgos will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in his first game.
Pop was signed to a minors contract in April, and he was selected to Seattle’s active roster just over two weeks ago. The brief audition hasn’t gone well, as Pop has allowed three homers over just 5 1/3 innings pitched, resulting in a 13.50 ERA to show for his four appearances in a Mariners uniform. Most of the damage came on Thursday, when Pop was charged with eight runs (seven earned) during a disastrous inning of work in the Twins’ 10-1 win over the Mariners.
That rough outing might close the book on Pop’s time in the Pacific Northwest. He is out of minor league options, so the M’s had to designate him for assignment and expose the righty to waivers before attempting to move him to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster.
Another club could put in a claim, perhaps figuring that Pop was still a little rusty after dealing with some elbow inflammation near the end of his Spring Training stint with the Blue Jays. That said, Pop has a 6.42 ERA in 67 1/3 MLB innings with Toronto and Seattle since the start of the 2023 season, as the excellent numbers the grounder specialist posted in 2022 fade further into memory. Opposing batters have gone yard 16 times on Pop in those 67 1/3 frames, translating to a 27.6% home run rate.
The 25-year-old Burgos was an international signing for the Mariners in 2019, and he has booked his ticket to the majors due to a sterling 0.62 ERA over 29 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Much of that work has come at Double-A, as Burgos was only just promoted to Tacoma earlier this week, and he made all of one appearance with the Rainiers before getting the call to the majors.
A .129 BABIP has contributed heavily to Burgos’ tiny ERA, but his 27.8% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate have been impressive. The latter stat is notable since Burgos had some big control problems early in his career, yet his walk rates have steadily improved over time. Burgos relies heavily (44.4% of the time this season) on his cutter, and his slider has averaged 95.9mph in 2025. Even if he is up primarily as a fresh arm for Seattle’s pen this weekend, Burgos should get to officially mint himself as a big leaguer and get a chance to show what he can do for the Mariners’ coaching staff.
Red Sox Reinstate Chris Murphy, Place Luis Guerrero On 15-Day IL
The Red Sox announced that left-hander Chris Murphy has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, as Murphy is ready to return to action after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024. In corresponding moves, Boston placed right-hander Luis Guerrero on the 15-day IL due to a right elbow sprain, and righty Justin Slaten was shifted from the 15-day IL to the 60-day.
Murphy hasn’t pitched in a big league game since September 2023, and his total MLB resume consists of only 20 appearances and 47 2/3 innings during his 2023 rookie campaign. The southpaw’s 3.88 SIERA was over a run lower than his 4.91 ERA, as Murphy’s 23.1% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate were both solid, and he didn’t have great batted-ball luck in the form of a .321 BABIP.
With his recovery period now complete, Murphy will get another crack at the bigs and give the Sox another left-handed relief option. Aroldis Chapman has taken over closing duties, and the Sox have been using Justin Wilson and Brennan Bernardino in lefty depth roles. Murphy figures to get plenty of opportunity in providing innings and a fresh arm within a pen that has performed respectably well in covering for a rotation that largely struggled.
Friday’s 9-0 loss to the Blue Jays wasn’t a banner night for Boston’s pen, as Bernardino was charged with four runs over an inning of work, and Guerrero allowed two runs in just a third of an inning. Guerrero’s elbow strain developed in the aftermath of yesterday’s outing, and MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith writes that for now, the injury isn’t considered serious enough to merit an MRI for further examination.
Guerrero got his big league career off to a very nice start when he tossed 10 scoreless innings over nine relief appearances in 2024, and it wasn’t until his fourth outing of 2025 that the righty finally surrendered his first earned run. Things have been shakier since, as Guerrero has a 4.15 ERA over his 17 1/3 frames and has more walks (14) than strikeouts (10). A tiny .188 BABIP has helped Guerrero manage okay bottom-line results despite those rough peripherals, but the larger concern for the moment is his elbow health.
Shoulder inflammation has kept Slaten out of action since late May, and his IL stint will now stretch until at least the end of July. The move to the 60-day IL isn’t really a surprise since Slaten only started throwing this weekend, so he’ll need some time to properly ramp up before returning to the relief corps. Speaking of minuscule BABIPs, Slaten’s .188 mark is the chief reason behind his 3.47 ERA in 23 1/3 innings this season, but the hard-throwing right-hander has also done an excellent job of limiting hard contact.
Diamondbacks Designate Tayler Scott, Select John Curtiss
The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Tayler Scott has been designated for assignment. Fellow righty John Curtiss will take Scott’s place on the active roster, as Arizona selected Curtiss’ contract from Triple-A.
This is the second time in a month and a half that Scott has entered DFA limbo, as his previous designation from the Astros led to Scott electing free agency (he had the right to reject an outright assignment) and then signing a minor league deal with Arizona. The Snakes selected that minors contract to their active roster on June 10, but Scott’s struggles in Houston have continued with his new team.
Scott has an ominous 6.66 ERA over 25 2/3 total innings this season, breaking down as a 5.40 ERA in 16 2/3 frames with Houston and a 9.00 ERA in nine innings for Arizona. That brief time with the D’Backs has already included three home runs allowed and four walks, adding to the control problems that have nagged at Scott throughout his five MLB seasons.
Scott somewhat came out of nowhere to post a 2.23 ERA in 68 2/3 innings with the Astros last season, as it seemed like he had finally found a foothold in the majors at age 32 after a journeyman career that includes stints in Japan and independent baseball. Unfortunately, his lack of results this year may be sending him on another transactional carousel. Because Scott has been outrighted in the past, he can again decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he clears waivers.
Curtiss signed a minors deal with the D’Backs in February, and he is now in line for his first big league action of the 2025 campaign. Once Curtiss gets into a game, it will mark his eighth MLB season, and Arizona will be his eighth different team of a peripatetic career. Curtiss has a 4.06 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate, and 7% walk rate over 108 2/3 career innings, and his most recent action in the Show was three appearances (and a 15.43 ERA in 2 1/3 innings) with the Rockies in 2024.
Rays Designate Forrest Whitley, Promote Joe Rock
The Rays announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley has been designated for assignment. Replacing Whitley on the active roster is left-hander Joe Rock, who has been called up from Triple-A Durham to make his first appearance on a big league roster.
It was just over two weeks ago that Tampa Bay acquired Whitley in a trade with Houston, after the Astros also DFA’d the right-hander. The move marked the end of Whitley’s nearly nine-year run in the Astros organization, as the 17th overall pick of the 2016 draft dealt with a bunch of injuries and a 50-game PED suspension (in 2018) over the course of what had been a star-crossed career. Whitley didn’t make his MLB debut until 2024 when he made three appearances for Houston, and the Astros opted to finally move on after the righty posted a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings this season.
Things haven’t gone much better for Whitley since the trade, as he has a 15.43 ERA in 4 2/3 innings over five appearances with the Rays. All of the damage came in the final two of those appearances — Whitley didn’t retire any of six batters faced and was charged with all six runs in a disastrous outing on June 22, and he was tagged for four runs (two earned) in an inning of work in yesterday’s 22-8 Rays loss to the Orioles.
As you might expect from such a football-esque score, the Rays ran through a lot of their bullpen last night, so Rock represents a fresh arm for the relief corps. Whitley is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to first go the DFA route before Whitley can be moved to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay could work out another trade to send Whitley elsewhere during the DFA period, or an interested team could simply claim him away on waivers.
Whitley’s prospect pedigree is such that another club might well pick him, though his out-of-options status complicates matters. It could be that Whitley might be in for a string of claims/trades and designations, unless he shows enough immediate results to get himself a longer look in a team’s bullpen. In the small sample of his time with the Rays, he threw his cutter far more often (51% of the time) than he did during his previous MLB stints with the Astros, though that attempted fix didn’t last long.
Rock will be making his Major League debut whenever he officially appears in a game. The southpaw has a notable draft position in his own right, as the Rockies selected 68th overall of the 2021 draft. Tampa acquired Rock in a trade in March 2024, and added him to its 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. After posting a 4.58 ERA in 137 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, Rock has pretty similar numbers in Durham this season, delivering a 4.81 ERA along with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate that are each steps backwards from his metrics in 2024.
Rock has worked primarily as a starter during his minor league career, but could be viewed as an innings-eating long reliever in the Show. MLB Pipeline (which rates Rock as the 21st-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s farm system) suggests that relief work might be in Rock’s future, as his 55-grade slider and fastball could be an effective one-two punch coming out of the pen.
Orioles Select Emmanuel Rivera, Designate Kyle Tyler
The Orioles announced a trio of roster moves, including the selection of Emmanuel Rivera‘s contract from Triple-A Norfolk. To make room on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, outfielder Dylan Carlson was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Kyle Tyler was designated for assignment.
Rivera’s arrival seems like a direct response to Jordan Westburg‘s finger injury, which forced him to make an early exit from yesterday’s game. Westburg jammed his left index finger during a stolen base attempt last weekend and missed three games in recovery, though his attempt to return to action was short-lived. Interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including the Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer) that Westburg may again miss a “couple of days” but the injured list isn’t a consideration.
If Westburg is able to return in short order, Rivera will at least get to celebrate his birthday with his Orioles teammates, as the infielder turns 29 tomorrow. Rivera is no stranger to roster shuffles, as he is out of minor league options and has been designated for assignment four times since the start of the 2024 season — once apiece by the Diamondbacks and Marlins in 2024, and twice this year by the Orioles. The first two of those DFAs saw Rivera change teams via trade and then claim, whereas this year, the O’s have twice outrighted Rivera to Triple-A after he cleared waivers.
Rivera has hit .232/.303/.275 over 76 plate appearances with Baltimore this season, which is a step back even from his modest .243/.306/.363 career slash line in 1118 PA and 365 MLB games. Rivera has primarily played third base over his five big league seasons, so he can provide some depth at the hot corner while Westburg is sidelined.
Tyler is another veteran of the DFA process, as a whirlwind stretch of transactions in March-April 2022 saw Tyler join four different teams on waiver claims. The Phillies also claimed Tyler away from the Marlins in August 2024, and the Orioles claimed him from Philadelphia less than two weeks ago after the right-hander was designated yet again.
Tyler has a 4.31 ERA over 48 career innings in the majors but he has yet to see any big league work this year. With a 4.19 ERA over 66 2/3 combined innings with the Phillies’ and Orioles’ Triple-A affiliates, Tyler might well find himself on the move again to another team in need of some rotation or long relief depth.
Reds Place Jake Fraley On 10-Day Injured List
The Reds activated outfielder Austin Hays from the 10-day injured list yesterday, and placed Jake Fraley on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June 24) in the corresponding move. Fraley may be facing an extended or even season-ending absence, as the outfielder told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters that he has a partial right labrum tear, even though the Reds officially listed a right shoulder sprain as the reason for his IL placement.
Surgery might be required to fix Fraley’s shoulder, though he is in the process of seeking out what Sheldon describes as a third opinion for what has apparently been a longstanding shoulder problem. Fraley spent a couple of weeks on the IL due to right shoulder soreness late in the 2021 season when he was still with the Mariners, and he has been dealing with “some achiness” ever since, and that lingering soreness went up a level during a play last season.
“I had a play going into the wall that I jammed up the shoulder,” Fraley said. “I never went on the IL. I played through it, still had a good season and it was fine but it was excruciating.”
Fraley hasn’t played since Monday, when he made a diving attempt to try and catch what ended up being a Cody Bellinger double. He felt the tear might have occurred during that particular play, even though he felt good enough to stay on the field and finish the last two innings of the Reds’ 6-1 win over the Yankees.
“We’re just trying to figure out if it’s something that’s just an old injury that kind of showed its face again,” Fraley said. “This is something new with the tear in the front. We’re just trying to figure out the best option for, obviously, me and this season on this team and then as well trying to gauge what is the best thing for me in my career. Just because it is something that has been chronic and now you’re throwing a tear on top of it.”
This is the second IL stint of the year for Fraley, who missed a little over three weeks dealing with a calf injury in May. The outfielder is hitting .224/.331/.376 with five home runs over 145 plate appearances, translating to a 96 wRC+ that is virtually identical to the 95 wRC+ that Fraley posted over 382 PA in 2024. His walk and hard-contact numbers are way up from last year’s stats, yet Fraley only has a .250 BABIP this season, as opposed to the .331 BABIP he enjoyed last season.
Injuries have long been a subplot of Fraley’s career, and it could be that these varied health issues (headlined by this recurring shoulder problem) have limited his production over the last two years. The Reds have primarily used the left-handed hitting Fraley in a platoon role in their outfield since acquiring the outfielder from Seattle in March 2022, and Fraley’s solid numbers against right-handed pitching have declined since the start of the 2024 campaign.
If a season-ending shoulder surgery is in the cards for Fraley, Cincinnati would still have TJ Friedl, Will Benson, and Gavin Lux as left-handed hitting options for the outfield, with Lux perhaps getting even more time in left field as opposed to playing second or third base. While the Reds aren’t hurting for depth in terms of pure players available, the club hasn’t gotten much offense from its outfield as a whole this season. Getting Hays back can help, but since Hays has been on and off the IL himself all year and might see a lot of DH time.
In short, the outfield was already looking like a need for the Reds at the trade deadline, as Cincinnati is looking to boost what has been an overall middling offense. While the team sits in fourth place in the competitive NL Central, the 43-39 Reds are only five games back of the division-leading Cubs and two games out of the final NL wild card berth, so Cincinnati projects to be a buyer to some extent before the July 31 deadline.
Blue Jays Release Spencer Turnbull
The Blue Jays released Spencer Turnbull, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Assuming he clears release waivers, he’ll return to free agency. Toronto had designated the veteran righty for assignment on Wednesday.
Turnbull has over five years of MLB service time and had the right to refuse an outright assignment while retaining his prorated (approximate) $1.27MM salary. The Jays didn’t get much from that modest investment. They were shuttling through fifth starters after losing Max Scherzer to the injured list when they signed Turnbull in early May. He had gone unsigned all winter and wasn’t ready for MLB action, so he spent a little over a month on optional assignment building into game shape in the minors.
By the time Turnbull was ready to be called up, Eric Lauer had impressed the club in a swing role. Lauer subsequently took hold of the fifth starter job and remains in the rotation even after Scherzer’s activation, as Bowden Francis landed on the injured list. Turnbull only made three appearances — two in relief and one abbreviated start — and gave up five runs in 6 1/3 innings. He surrendered 12 hits with four walks and strikeouts apiece.
Despite the shorter stints, Turnbull’s fastball speed was down a tick. He averaged roughly 91 MPH after sitting at 92 as a swingman for the Phillies last season. He pitched well for Philadelphia, working to a 2.65 ERA while striking out 26% of batters faced in 54 1/3 innings. His 2024 season ended when he sustained a lat strain in late June.
Diamondbacks Outright Aramis Garcia
June 27: Garcia was outrighted back to Reno, per the MLB.com transaction log. He’ll have the right to elect free agency but may decide to accept the assignment as he did earlier in the year.
June 23: The Diamondbacks have announced their signing of catcher James McCann, which was reported yesterday. Fellow backstop Aramis Garcia has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Garcia, 32, went 0-for-4 in his limited time with the D-backs. Arizona selected him to the 40-man roster last week after Gabriel Moreno was placed on the injured list due to a broken finger. It appeared as though he might get a bit of runtime with Jose Herrera — typically Moreno’s backup — struggling in an increased role since Moreno was first banged up. Instead, the D-backs scooped up the veteran McCann, who’s been playing with Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate but had a rolling opt-out/upward mobility clause in his minor league deal there.
Garcia has played in parts of six major league seasons and carries a career .208/.245/.321 batting line in 331 trips to the plate. He hit well with the Diamondbacks’ top minor league affiliate in Reno this year, slashing .250/.399/.524 in 38 games. Garcia is a lifetime .235/.306/.430 hitter in parts of seven Triple-A seasons.
This is the second time the D-backs have designated Garcia for assignment this year. He cleared waivers the first time and accepted an outright assignment back to Reno. Arizona will have five days to trade him before he has to be placed on waivers, although he can be placed on waivers at any point prior to that as well. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so we’ll know within a week’s time how his latest DFA will play out. If Garcia again passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency (although he also had that right last time around and opted to stick with the D-backs).
Guardians Reinstate Erik Sabrowski, Transfer Will Brennan To 60-Day IL
The Guardians announced today that left-hander Erik Sabrowski has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Zak Kent has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Will Brennan has been transferred to the 60-day IL. The 40-man roster remains full.
Sabrowski, 27, had a very promising big league debut. He was added to Cleveland’s roster at the end of August last year and tossed 12 2/3 scoreless innings down the stretch, striking out a massive 40.4% of batters faced in that small sample of work. The Guards carried him on the roster into the postseason, where he added 5 1/3 innings with just one earned run allowed.
He hasn’t yet been able to build on that here in 2025. He missed spring training due to some inflammation in his pitching elbow and landed on the IL to start the year. He was healthy enough to start a rehab assignment by the end of May and has since allowed four earned runs in nine minor league innings. He’ll give the Guards a third lefty in the bullpen alongside Tim Herrin and Kolby Allard.
Brennan, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He’ll spend the rest of the season on the IL, collecting big league pay and service time. He should qualify for arbitration this winter as a Super Two player, though his mostly lost season will hamper his ability to earn a meaningful raise in that system.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images