Royals place Stephen Kolek on paternity list

In nine Double-A games since coming back from internal brace surgery, Walcott has gone 14-for-37 (.278) with two home runs, nine runs scored, eight RBI, two steals, and a 1.101 OPS. The 20-year-old remains one of the top prospects in baseball, and it’s nice to see him not skip a beat after coming back from major surgery.

Rodríguez is only 19 years old but is hitting .273/.362/.455 in 53 games since being promoted to Double-A with nine home runs and six steals. He is arguably the top catching prospect in baseball and one of the better prospect stashes in keeper fantasy leagues. He likely won’t make his MLB debut in 2026, but he could be a regular for the Cardinals by the middle of the 2027 season.

Perhaps more importantly, Murphy also caught all nine innings behind the plate as well. The veteran has played in just four games this season due to injury and hasn’t hit over .200 in an MLB season since 2023, as injuries have crushed his performance. Still, there is an aggressive market for catchers right now, so perhaps the Braves could flip Murphy to a team looking for a backup catcher at the deadline.

Randal Grichuk will start in left field and bat fourth, while Everson Pereira will start in center field and bat sixth. Both Antonacci and Tristan Peters will head to the bench, and both players seem to be falling into strong-side platoons. It makes some sense since Antonacci has hit .200/.288/.231 in 74 plate appearances against lefties this season.

Mesa Jr. continues to play only against right-handed pitching, which is not great news because the Rays are scheduled to face only one more righty for the remainder of this week. The 24-year-old is hitting .316/.381/.737 over his last 15 games with five home runs, eight RBI, two steals, and a 41 percent hard-hit rate. He is set to face only right-handed pitchers next week, including three games in Coors Field, so he could be a solid waiver add this weekend.

Bradford has missed all season following last year’s Tommy John surgery. He was able to throw three scoreless innings in Double-A last weekend, so he may only need two more rehab starts before he becomes an option for the Rangers’ rotation that will also be getting back Jordan Montgomery (elbow) and Jack Leiter (ankle) soon.

Santos has allowed two runs on two hits in two innings in his only appearance for Texas this season. The 24-year-old has a 7.16 ERA in 55 1/3 innings mostly as a starter in Triple-A.

This is a bummer for Junis, who has been great in Texas’ bullpen, posting a 2.70 ERA in 40 innings this season. There is no word yet on how long he will be out, but he had just missed two weeks with a hip impingement, so these injuries may be connected in some way.

This makes plenty of sense. The Phillies need another starter for the rotation and potentially another outfield bat as well. The Blue Jays could send any combination of Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, George Springer, and Daulton Varsho. The Phillies may also be interested in Jeff Hoffman for the bullpen. Would the Blue Jays want to take a chance that they can “fix” Andrew Painter? There is still time to go here and nothing imminent, but it seems like a pairing that makes sense.

Miles is a Rule 5 pick who has put together a solid season for the Blue Jays this year with a 3.26 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 66/19 K/BB ratio in 69 innings across 29 appearances (four starts). The Blue Jays have used him as a bulk reliever, but he has allowed 14 runs on 20 hits in 14 innings across four starts as a traditional starter. If another team sees Miles as a potential starting pitcher who has not yet even reached his arbitration years, a deal could come together.