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Braves Place Chris Sale On 15-Day IL With Ribcage Fracture

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The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve placed southpaw Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list with what the club has termed a fractured left ribcage. The club recalled left-hander Austin Cox in a corresponding move. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, Sale was injured on Wednesday night when he made a diving play to stop a grounder off the bat of Juan Soto.

It’s a brutal blow for Atlanta to be dealt, particularly following a banner week that saw them sweep the then-division leading Mets and get within five games of an NL Wild Card spot. They’ve won seven of their last ten games, but if they’re going to keep that momentum going in a bid to get back over .500 and more firmly return to playoff contention they’ll now need to do so without Sale for the time being. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner, Sale has built on his brilliant 2024 season with a 2025 campaign that’s been nearly as good. Across 15 starts this year, the 36-year-old has pitched to a brilliant 2.52 ERA with a 2.65 FIP across 89 1/3 innings of work.

He’s struck out a phenomenal 30.8% of his opponents while walking just 7.0%. Those excellent peripherals have left him with a 2.96 SIERA, making him one of just seven qualified starters in baseball this year with a figure under three. Only Logan Webb and Paul Skenes are having better seasons by measure of ERA, and Sale is doing all of that despite terrible batted ball luck: his .329 BABIP allowed is the fourth-highest figure among qualified starters in the majors this year. It’s been another banner year for the southpaw, who has looked rejuvenated in Atlanta after injury-marred seasons with the Red Sox from 2019 to 2023.

Unfortunately, that resurgence is now put on hold by another significant injury. Sale’s timetable for a return to action is not yet known at this point, but it’s worth noting that a stress fracture in Sale’s right ribs cost him the first half of the 2022 season. After being sidelined in mid-March by the injury, Sale did not return to the mound until early July. A similar timeline would put the remainder of the southpaw’s 2025 campaign in danger, but it’s important to note that it’s unclear if Sale’s current rib cage fracture is as severe as the rib issue he dealt with in 2022.

However long the ace’s absence ultimately ends up being, it leaves Atlanta with a rotation mix that’s stretched very thin. The team is already without Reynaldo Lopez for the foreseeable future after he underwent shoulder surgery earlier this year, and AJ Smith-Shawver is done for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider will attempt to hold things down at the front of the rotation in Sale’s absence, while Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder will look to handle mid-rotation duties. Rookie Didier Fuentes currently holds the fifth starter job after making a spot start against the Marlins yesterday, but another starer like Hurston Waldrep, Davis Daniel, or even Ian Anderson could also be called upon to help round out the rotation mix.

Rangers Place Jake Burger On 10-Day Injured List

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On Friday night, Jake Burger put his hand on his torso after a big swinging strikeout and looked in pain as he walked back to the dugout. He did not take the field for the bottom half of the inning. So, it came as little surprise when the Rangers placed the first baseman on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain this afternoon. Thankfully for Burger, he does not believe the injury to be particularly serious, and he told Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News that he doesn’t expect to miss more than the minimum 10 days. He related the oblique injury to one he suffered in 2023 that kept him out from May 4-14. While he is gone, Justin Foscue will take his place on the active roster.

From 2023-24, Burger hit 63 home runs and produced a 113 wRC+ in 278 games with the White Sox and Marlins. When the Rangers traded for him over the offseason, they were surely hoping to get a middle-of-the-order caliber power bat. Yet, he got off to a rough start in his first year with Texas, slashing .190/.231/.330 with a 53 wRC+ over the first five weeks of the season. At the beginning of May, the Rangers made the surprising decision to briefly option him to Triple-A Round Rock, giving the 29-year-old an opportunity to take a breath and reset. It seemed to work, as he went 9-for-23 with two home runs in six games with the Round Rock Express. Following his call-up on May 12, he hit eight doubles and seven home runs over his next 35 games. His overall results in this stretch (.725 OPS and 100 wRC+) were still more average than good, but his plus power was back, and even average overall production represented a huge improvement upon his early-season performance.

The Rangers have a few players who could see time at first, including Foscue and Josh Smith. However, manager Bruce Bochy suggests that Ezequiel Duran will take over as the team’s primary first baseman while Burger is out (per McFarland). Duran isn’t your typical first baseman. He’s a versatile defender who can play all over the infield (and a little bit of outfield too), but his bat leaves much to be desired. While he hit .276 with 14 home runs and a 110 wRC+ in his breakout 2023 season, his offensive numbers were disappointing in 2024 (.609 OPS, 74 wRC+), and they’ve been downright dreadful so far in 2025. Through 23 games, he’s batting .152 and has yet to hit a home run. He’s looked better lately, with three doubles in the past week (his first extra-base hits of the season), but still, there is little doubt the Rangers’ offense will suffer until Burger returns.

Padres Designate Jason Heyward For Assignment

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The Padres announced this afternoon that they’ve designated outfielder Jason Heyward for assignment. The move makes room on the 40-man roster for right-hander Bryan Hoeing, who has been activated from the 60-day injured list. Righty Sean Reynolds was optioned to make room for Hoeing on the active roster.

Heyward, 35, is a veteran of 16 MLB seasons who has enjoyed a decorated career since being selected 14th overall by the Braves in the 2007 draft. A well-regarded talent in the draft who rose to become the sport’s consensus #1 prospect prior to his big league debut in 2010, he turned in a brilliant inaugural campaign that year and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Buster Posey. He went on to hit .268/.353/.431 with Atlanta and St. Louis across his first six years in the majors before he reached free agency.

The outfielder’s elite defense in right field, solid hitting (118 wRC+), and the fact that he was entering free agency ahead of his age-26 campaign all made him one of the top free agents on the market. He eventually signed with the Cubs on an eight-year deal that went down as a bit of an albatross. While Heyward won a pair of Gold Gloves and a World Series championship during his time in Chicago, he hit just .245/.323/.377 (88 wRC+) across seven seasons with the Cubs and was ultimately designated for assignment prior to the final year of his contract.

For many players, getting DFA’d at the end of a large contract represents the end of the line. That wasn’t the case for Heyward, however, as he managed to bounce back with the Dodgers in 2023 and slash .269/.340/.473 (120 wRC+) across 124 games as their regular right fielder. He re-signed in Los Angeles for the 2024 season and turned in a roughly league average performance but was squeezed off the roster in the second half by trade deadline acquisitions. That led to a brief stint with the Astros where he hit .218/.283/.473 (104 wRC+) before returning to free agency and signing with the Padres.

Heyward’s production has fallen off some in his age-35 season, however. The outfielder has been limited to just 34 games by injury but even when healthy enough to play has hit a paltry .176/.223/.271 in 95 plate appearances. That’s difficult production to swallow from left field, especially for a player whose once-elite defense has grown shaky with age. With Gavin Sheets having settled into left field fairly nicely this season (122 wRC+) and the approach of trade season offering a new opportunity to add reinforcements, the Padres clearly felt that they had better uses for Heyward’s 40-man roster spot. The veteran was on the injured list due to knee inflammation at the time of his DFA, but the Padres will nonetheless have one week to either trade Heyward or place him on release waivers. As an injured player, Heyward cannot be outrighted to the minor leagues.

Heyward’s departure from the roster makes room for the return of Hoeing. The right-hander has spent most of his career with the Marlins but was traded to San Diego as part of the Tanner Scott trade last summer. 2024 was a banner year for the righty, as he posted a 2.18 ERA and 3.32 FIP across 53 2/3 relief innings, including a microscopic 1.52 ERA across 23 2/3 frames as a Padre. He was a surefire bet to be part of San Diego’s late-inning mix this year before right shoulder issues left the start of his season delayed. Now that he’s back in the mix, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him start getting high leverage opportunities with the Friars moving forward.

Mets Sign Pablo Reyes To Minor League Deal

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The Mets are signing infielder Pablo Reyes to a minor league deal, according to a report from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Reyes recently elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Yankees when Giancarlo Stanton returned from the injured list earlier this week. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Reyes, 31, is a veteran of parts of seven MLB seasons at this point. It’s the second consecutive season where Reyes has been part of the Mets organization. He began the 2024 campaign with the Red Sox but was traded to New York in May of last year. He briefly joined the roster as a depth option and made a single appearance as a pinch runner where he recorded a run scored before being designated for assignment and outrighted to the minors.

Outside of his brief stint in Queens last year, Reyes has appeared in the Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, and Pirates organizations over the years. He made his MLB debut in Pittsburgh back in 2018 and hit an impressive .293/.349/.483 across 18 games in that first cup of coffee, but was unable to replicate those results in 2019. He missed the entire 2020 season due to a PED suspension and departed the organization not long afterwards. Reyes signed with the Brewers on a minor league deal prior to the 2021 season and was passable but below average at the plate in 56 games for the club across two seasons, hitting .258/.330/.344 (84 wRC+) during his time in Milwaukee.

Reyes joined the Red Sox prior to the 2023 season and enjoyed by far his strongest season in the majors with Boston. Across 64 games as a platoon partner for David Hamilton on the middle infield, Reyes hit a respectable .287/.339/.377 with a wRC+ of 93 while striking out at a career-low 11.4% clip. Unfortunately, that strong performance increasingly appears to have been a flash in the pan as he’s hit just .187/.237/.220 (26 wRC+) with a 29.6% strikeout rate in 98 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Yankees the last two seasons.

While Reyes is hardly a good bet to offer value with the bat, he’s a versatile defender with plenty of speed. That’s enough to make him an interesting bench option for plenty of MLB clubs, and it’s at least conceivable an injury or two could make him a viable consideration for the Mets. Nick Madrigal and Mark Vientos are already on the shelf for New York as things stand, with youngsters Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio currently on the MLB bench. If the Mets decide either young player could benefit from regular at-bats at Triple-A or another injury occurs, Reyes would compete with other non-roster players like Donovan Walton and David Villar to be the next man up.

Marlins Select Josh Simpson, DFA Robinson Piña

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The Marlins have selected left-hander Josh Simpson’s contract from Triple-A Jacksonville, as first reported by Isaac Azout of Fish on First and later confirmed by the club. In a corresponding transaction, right-hander Robinson Piña was designated for assignment. Azout notes that Simpson will likely be available to pitch this afternoon in relief of Eury Pérez, who is making his third start of the season and has yet to throw more than four innings in a game.

If Simpson does indeed make it into today’s contest, he will be making his MLB debut. The 27-year-old did briefly get called up to the majors by the Marlins in 2023 but was DFA’d before he had the chance to get into a game. A 32nd-round pick by the Marlins all the way back in 2019, Simpson impressed during his pro debut in following the 2019 draft with a 2.25 ERA between rookie ball and the Low-A level that season. Unfortunately, his development was thrown off track by the cancelled minor league season in 2020. By 2021, he was struggling badly with his effectiveness at the High-A level, and while a move to Double-A the following season saw his numbers improve he never really mastered the Triple-A level in parts of three seasons there.

That is, of course, until this year. In 27 appearances (31 2/3 frames) this year for the club’s Jacksonville affiliate, Simpson has pitched to a solid 3.41 ERA. His underlying numbers are less encouraging, as he pairs a 12.7% walk rate with a strikeout rate on the wrong side of 20%. Simpson’s production this year has largely been thanks to keeping the ball in the park extremely effectively, as he’s allowed just one home run so far with a paltry 26.2% Hard-Hit rate. He’ll need to work on his command if he’s going to find success in the majors, but that ability to miss barrels and limit hard contact should help his arsenal play up a bit as he attempts to make a case for himself as a major league arm.

Making room for Simpson on the roster is Piña, who made is big league debut just yesterday. The 26-year-old product of the Dominican Republic allowed a solo home run but no other traffic in his inning of work for the Marlins yesterday. Piña worked mostly as a starter in Triple-A before his move to the major league bullpen, and had a 3.47 ERA across 13 appearances (11 starts) at the level prior to his promotion. The Marlins will have one week to either work out a trade involving Piña or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he clears waivers unclaimed, the Marlins will be able to outright him to the minors as a non-roster depth option moving forward.

Rays Select Paul Gervase

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The Rays have selected right-hander Paul Gervase’s contract from Triple-A, the team announced. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Connor Seabold has been optioned to Triple-A Durham. Gervase will be making his MLB debut if he gets into a game.

Taken by the Mets in the 12th round of the 2022 draft, Gervase joined the Rays ahead of the trade deadline last summer in exchange for Tyler Zuber. Standing 6-foot-10, Gervase had always been an imposing presence on the mound, but he struggled with control throughout his time in the Mets organization, walking 15.5% of the batters he faced. Then, over 15 appearances (17 2/3 innings) at Double-A Montgomery last August and September, he struck out 31 batters while walking only three. His 3.57 ERA wouldn’t have turned any heads, but his 1.95 FIP certainly did, and he earned an invitation to big league spring training with the Rays heading into his age-25 season.

Of course, it was always unlikely that Gervase would jump straight from Double-A to the majors, and a mediocre performance over four spring outings guaranteed that. Yet, he has pitched exceptionally well lately at Triple-A. Since walking seven batters over his first four Triple-A games, he has settled in nicely, striking out 43 and walking just three across his last 27 1/3 innings. He has a 3.29 ERA and a 3.24 FIP in that time.

Gervase will join a Tampa Bay bullpen that leads the AL with a 3.11 ERA, and he will hope to make enough of an impact to stick around long term. Seabold was recalled on June 19 and gave the Rays three scoreless innings that day against the Orioles. Nonetheless, it seems the team views him as more of a bulk-inning depth arm, and he’s already on his way back to Triple-A.

Cubs DFA Génesis Cabrera, Promote Nate Pearson

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The Cubs have recalled right-hander Nate Pearson from Triple-A Iowa. To free up a space on the 26-man roster, the team designated left-hander Génesis Cabrera for assignment.

Cabrera, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Mets last offseason and was added to New York’s roster at the beginning of May. He ultimately made just six appearances in Queens, however, and was designated for assignment after posting a 3.52 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work. The southpaw cleared waives and elected free agency but didn’t stay on the market for long, as he was signed by the Cubs to a big league deal almost immediately afterwards.

Cabrera’s time in Chicago did not go especially well. He made nine appearances in total but was shelled to the tune of an 8.68 ERA with a 7.90 FIP. He struck out a respectable 20.5% of his opponents and walked just 7.7%, but he was a very frequent victim of the long ball as he surrendered four homers during his brief stint in Chicago. While a 26.7% home run to fly ball ratio and a paltry 54.1% strand rate both are clear signals that positive regression is likely on the way, it seems as though Cabrera’s results were just too weak for the Cubs to justify keeping him on the roster.

Chicago will now have one week to trade Cabrera or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, the lefty will have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment to Triple-A or return to the open market in search of a change of scenery. Given his status a veteran of seven MLB seasons with a career 4.03 ERA in the majors, it wouldn’t be a shock to see rival clubs have interest in Cabrera as a lefty depth piece for their bullpen. That interest may be limited to minor league offers at this point given his recent struggles, however.

In the meantime, Cabrera be replaced on the roster by Pearson. The 28-year-old was once a top pitching prospect with the Blue Jays but was derailed by injuries and traded to the Cubs as a reliever last summer. He pitched quite well for Chicago down the stretch but has allowed ten runs on 13 hits and more walks (7) than strikeouts (5) across 8 2/3 innings of work in the majors this year. Since being demoted to Triple-A, however, he’s posted a sterling 2.22 ERA with a 27.1% strikeout rate in 24 1/3 innings of work. That performance was enough to earn him another shot in the majors, although it could be a brief one given that right-hander Porter Hodge is expected back from the injured list in the near future.

Angels Place Jorge Soler On 10-Day IL With Low Back Inflammation

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The Angels placed Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list yesterday with inflammation in his lower back. To take his place on the active roster, Gustavo Campero was recalled from Triple-A.

June has been a difficult month for Soler. Over 14 games, he has gone 5-for-42 with 17 strikeouts and a .315 OPS. He hasn’t had an extra-base hit since May 30. (He has been sitting on 199 career home runs for three weeks.) His offensive struggles likely have to do with the fact that he’s taken on a heavier workload despite a couple of injury issues. With Mike Trout limited to DH duty since he came off the IL at the end of May, Soler was forced to move into right field. On June 4, Soler was pulled from a game with groin tightness. Three days later, he was removed again for the same reason. He went for an MRI after that (per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com), but evidently, it came back clean, as the 33-year-old continued to start in right field. This past Wednesday, however, manager Ron Washington told reporters (including Bollinger) that “back stiffness” would keep Soler out of the lineup. On Friday, that diagnosis was updated to low back inflammation as the team placed Soler on the IL, retroactive to June 18.

Even before he took over regular right field duties, Soler had not quite been himself in his first season with the Angels. He hit 57 home runs with an .817 OPS and a 122 wRC+ from 2023-24, but he had just seven home runs, a .674 OPS, and an 87 wRC+ through his first 50 games in 2025. Nevertheless, he was consistently batting in the middle of the Angels’ order, and they will look to have him back as soon as possible as they try to cling on in the AL Wild Card race (despite having the fourth-worst record in the AL, they’re currently only three games out of a playoff spot). Hopefully, some time off his feet will help him recover from his nagging injuries so he can supply the kind of power the Angels were looking for when they took on the two years and $32MM remaining on his contract over the offseason. It will also help if Trout can get back in the field, allowing Soler to return to the DH role he’s best suited for.

Campero, 27, returns for his third stint with the big league club. He made his MLB debut last September and re-joined the Angels this past April before an ankle injury landed him on the IL. Last night, he entered as a late-game defensive substitution and knocked a single off of Bryan Abreu in his lone at-bat. All told, he has gone 14-for-57 with a .628 OPS and a 78 wRC+ in 19 games for the Angels, splitting his time between right and left field. His ability to switch hit, steal bases, and catch in a pinch (he’s a former catcher) should make him a useful bench piece.

Pirates Re-Sign Brett Sullivan To Minor League Deal

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4:38pm: Sullivan and the Pirates quickly reunited on a new minor league contract, reports MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf. He’ll head back to Triple-A Indianapolis without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

3:43pm: Catcher Brett Sullivan has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Pirates had passed him through waivers earlier this week after designating him for assignment. He had the right to head to the open market due to having a previous career outright.

Sullivan, 31, has received scattered big league playing time in recent years. He got into 33 games with the Padres in 2023 and seven more last year. He burned his final option season in 2024 and therefore came into 2025 out of options. The Friars outrighted him off the roster in March and then traded him to the Pirates a few weeks later. With Joey Bart and Endy Rodríguez battling injuries, the Bucs needed the catching depth more than the Padres. Sullivan got a brief look on the Pittsburgh roster, getting into three more games.

Heading to the open market, he doesn’t have a huge big league track record to showcase. He has a .204/.250/.291 batting line in a small sample of 112 big league plate appearances. As one would expect, his minor league work has been greater, both in terms of quality and quantity. He has stepped to the plate 1,670 times at the Triple-A level since the start of 2021 with a .268/.338/.443 line. That translates to an 88 wRC+, which is 12% below league average, but catchers usually come in about ten points below league par.

Defensively, there are pluses and minuses. For his work at the Triple-A level, Baseball Prospectus has ranked him as good in terms of pitch framing and with the running game but with his blocking a bit below par.

He’ll head out to free agency and see what kind of opportunities await him. Since he just cleared waivers, he will presumably be limited to minor league offers. The Pirates recently put Rodríguez on the 60-day IL, so they don’t have any experienced depth behind Bart and Henry Davis, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see the two sides reunite on a minor league deal.

Photo courtesy of Philip G. Pavely, Imagn Images

Tigers Release John Brebbia

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The Tigers have released right-hander John Brebbia, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That was the likely outcome after he was designated for assignment a few days ago. He’s now free to sign with any club.

Brebbia, 35, signed with the Tigers in the offseason. The one-year deal guaranteed him $2.75MM in the form of a $2.25MM base salary and a $500K buyout on a $4MM club option for 2026. The Tigers clearly didn’t get the return they were hoping for on that investment. Brebbia missed about three weeks due to a right triceps strain. Around that, he tossed 18 2/3 innings with a 7.71 earned run average, 21.5% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate.

Given that performance and the money he is still owed, no club would be interested in taking on that contract. However, now that he’s been released, the Tigers remain on the hook for the money. Any other club could sign Brebbia and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Tigers pay.

At that price point, Brebbia may find clubs who are interested in a bounceback, as his numbers prior to this year were far better than his 2025 results. From 2017 to 2024, he tossed 355 major league innings with a 3.80 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate.

Last year, his ERA spiked to 5.86, but everything under the hood seemed normal. His 27.7% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate were still strong figures. The extra runs seemed to come from some bad luck, with a .317 batting average on balls in play and 67.1% strand rate. His 4.52 FIP and 3.29 SIERA pointed towards positive regression, which is likely why the Tigers invested in him.

The regression clearly hasn’t come to pass. Some of it may still be luck, as his .339 BABIP and 56.6% strand rate this year are worse than last year’s. His own performance is also part of it because, as mentioned, his strikeout and walk rate have moved in the wrong direction. But it’s possible the triceps injury has been impacting him for part of this year. Given the number of pitching injuries around the league, Brebbia should find interest from clubs looking for low-cost solutions.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

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