Michael Harris II leading off second straight game

Stanton’s “setback” was a different injury to the same calf area. Regardless, it’s good news that he’s running again. We won’t get a good timetable on his comeback until he actually starts doing baseball activities, and Stanton figures to need a long rehab assignment to be ready.

He joins known competitors Jac Caglianone, Junior Caminero, and Ben Rice. Walker has had a breakout first half of the season, hitting .294/.355/.534 with a career-high 21 homers. He leads the league with 70 RBI, and has even chipped in 12 stolen bases in becoming one of fantasy baseball’s biggest success stories.

He began a rehab assignment there last night and figures to be activated in the near future, though it’s worth noting he DHed and has not caught in a game yet.

This broadly keeps the expected timeline in line. Judge hasn’t begun baseball activities yet and figures to need some time to ramp up. Assuming the imaging comes back well enough for him to begin activities, Judge is probably on pace for a late July or early August return.

It’s a bit of a surprise given how good Duran has been of late — he even inched his batting average above .200 briefly on Tuesday — but the Red Sox are going full bench lineup today against LHP Anthony Kay. Nate Eaton is in left field.

It appears to just be a routine day off, though Polanco could see less than a full share of at-bats going forward if he’s limited to DH duties. Francisco Alvarez is DHing this afternoon after catching last night. Polanco is 2-for-8 with an RBI in his first two games back from an extended IL stay.

Lindor had played the last five games in a row — four of them at shortstop — before taking a seat on Thursday afternoon against RHP Michael Wacha. With Jorge Polanco apparently limited to DH duties, it will be harder for Lindor (and Francisco Alvarez) to get DH days going forward. Lindor is hitting .184/.259/.347 since being activated from the IL on June 24, with two homers in 54 plate appearances.

Pasquantino suffered a hamate bone fracture on June 13th. He began his rehab assignment on Monday, and it sounds like the Royals don’t need to see much more from him. If Pasquantino does return this weekend, that would push Jac Caglianone back to the outfield, which would likely mean the end of regular playing time for Tyler Tolbert.

Rodón has been out for two weeks with elbow inflammation, so it’s certainly good news that he has already begun to throw. However, there are many steps to go before he’s back on the mound with the Yankees. We saw Mick Abel land on the injured list with a similar injury earlier this season, and he was even able to make multiple rehab starts before the injury cropped up again and required surgery. We’re hopeful Rodón can avoid that same fate, but the Yankees will be cautious with their left-hander, who also had surgery this offseason to remove bone spurs from his elbow.

The 30-year-old has a 5.63 ERA in eight innings across seven appearances with the Guardians this season. He simply hasn’t been as effective as he was back in 2020 and 2021 before his injuries.