Cubs designate Vince Velasquez for assignment

The Cardinals indicated that Madris will be signing with a team in Korea. He was hitting a fine .277/.389/.519 with 14 homers in 71 games for Triple-A Memphis this year. The 30-year-old has come in at .204/.273/.286 in 228 major league plate appearances, the last 75 of which came with the Tigers in 2024.

Burrows was demoted last Tuesday after going 4-9 with a 5.99 ERA in 18 outings, but that’s voided now and he’ll keep earning service time while recovering from the elbow issue. Maybe we’ll see him back in the majors in September.

Santa has a 1.17 ERA in 15 1/3 innings over 10 appearances for the Astros, but he’s returning to Sugar Land for now. Ronel Blanco might be activated in his place prior to Friday’s game.

Akin will see Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday to determine whether he needs UCL surgery. Even if he avoids it, this move officially shelves him until the end of August.

Sanders, the son of former Padres swingman Scott Sanders, had an 8.68 ERA in nine relief appearances for the Pirates this season before being DFA’d on Saturday. He offers ample strikeout ability with his mid-90s fastball and slider, but wildness has been a big issue throughout his pro career. He’ll head to Triple-A for now.

Bullpen coach Dan Hubbs will have the job on an interim basis for the rest of the year. Emerson had been the Athletics’ pitching coach since June 2017 and had been part of the organization since 2002, so this is a big change for them. The team is currently 29th in the majors, ahead of only the Rockies, in allowing 5.50 runs per game, but then, that’s probably what should have been expected given the personnel.

Irvin has been sidelined since May 24th when he was placed on the injured list with a right shoulder strain. He was recently moved to the 60-day IL, but that had no bearing on his return timeline. The 29-year-old will make one start this week in the FCL while the affiliates are on a break and then move to affiliate ball next week. He will likely need to take most of his 30-day rehab window to build his pitch count back up, but he should be back in the Nationals’ rotation by the middle of August.

The 31-year-old had a 3.78 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 84/21 K/BB ratio in 78 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season. He was called up for a bulk relief role last Tuesday as part of St. Louis’ doubleheader and allowed three runs across five innings. He will go back to his spot in the starting rotation at Triple-A.

Even though Ortiz is not hitting the cover off of the ball, what’s notable about this is that the shortstop has narrowed his stance. According to Statcast, in July, his feet have been a little over 26 inches apart with a stance that’s three degrees open. In the first two months of the season, his stance had his feet 29 inches apart and was nine degrees open. Narrowing and closing off the stance slightly is also the change that the Brewers made with Brice Turang to help fuel his breakout, so it’s something to watch in the second half of the season.

While their major league teammates are getting a few days off, both Acuña Jr. and Ha-Seong Kim (finger) will begin their rehab assignments. They will both likely play multiple games in the complex league this week while all affiliates are on a break, and there is a chance Acuña Jr., who has been out since June 10, will return right after the All-Star break concludes. At worst, it seems like the 28-year-old could be back in Atlanta’s outfield by next week.