Royce Lewis fans four times against Rangers

It’s a bit unclear how Williams fits into Washington’s second-half pitching plans, but he’s getting close to making it back. The 34-year-old has made it through four rehab starts as he continues working his way back from last year’s internal brace procedure.

Kranick signed a one-year deal with the Nationals, that includes a club option for 2027, back in early May. There’s optimism he’ll be ready to help their struggling bullpen mix out at some point after the All-Star break. The 28-year-old is coming off flexor tendon surgery that ended his season last July.

Tauchman is in the final stages of his recovery from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. The 35-year-old suffered the injury during the late stages of spring training which extinguished any shot he had of making New York’s season-opening bench as a non-roster invitee. He’s merely organizational depth at this stage of his career.

Sands made a pair of rehab appearances for Triple-A St. Paul within the last week before heading down to Florida to continue facing hitters in the lone minor-league affiliate still playing during the All-Star break. The 28-year-old is working his way back from a forearm strain that put him on the shelf back in early May. He should be ready to return to Minnesota before the end of July.

Acton kicked off his rehab assignment at Low-A Fort Myers just prior to the All-Star break. The 28-year-old hit the injured list with a shoulder strain back in late April. He’ll need a couple weeks to get back up to speed before returning to Minnesota’s low-leverage relief mix.

Acuña has gone 0-for-6 with two strikeouts across a pair of contests for Atlanta’s lone minor-league affiliate still playing organized baseball during the All-Star break. The 28-year-old franchise cornerstone appears likely to rejoin the Braves lineup when they kick off the second half with a three-game series against the Rangers on Friday.

Kim has gone 2-for-4 with a homer across two contests during the All-Star break. It’s unclear whether the Braves want him to continue facing minor-league arms for a couple additional games at Triple-A Gwinnett since he was really struggling at the plate before hitting the injured list earlier this month.

Jones, 28, was great in his platoon role for the Tigers last season, hitting .287/.387/.550 with seven homers in 150 plate appearances. However, he was all of the way down to .137/.219/.221 in 105 plate appearances this year before losing his spot last week. Like the Tigers did, the Red Sox figure to use him exclusively against lefties, mostly in left field and at DH. He probably isn’t more than a desperation option at second base these days.

Eaton was just 4-for-32 this season, though at least those four hits did include a homer and two doubles. He might find himself bounced from the 40-man at some point if the Red Sox need a spot.

The Braves thought they might have something in Kerr, a former Padres reliever, a couple of years ago, but he got hurt that June and has gone the last two years without pitching in a game. He’s finally ready to now, but he’s going to have to prove himself all over again in the minors. The 31-year-old has a 5.30 ERA in 54 1/3 career innings in the majors, though it comes with a pretty nice 65/20 K/BB.