Esmerlyn Valdez not in lineup Thursday

Peck spent most of this season at Double-A, hitting .285/.328/.511 in 58 games with 10 home runs, 19 steals, and a 64/14 K/BB ratio. He is 10-for-21 in his first six games at Triple-A with a home run, three RBI, and three steals. The 24-year-old is a strong defensive shortstop who can also play second base and third base. It remains to be seen what his role will be in Detroit.

It had been reported earlier that Wood would not require a rehab assignment, but, according to The Athletic’s Spencer Nusbaum, he wanted to see some live pitching before returning. He also played seven innings in left field on Sunday as well. Nationals manager Blake Butera said, “We’ll probably give him Monday off, then we’ll see from there,” so there is a strong chance that Wood will return to the Nationals lineup on Tuesday.

The team is skipping Sonny Gray’s start on Tuesday, so they are likely going to need a spot starter. Paez was given another day off this weekend and is “probably” going to pitch for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. That lines him up with Gray’s schedule if the Red Sox choose to make the move. He’s made three starts in Triple-A since being promoted but has allowed just four runs on seven hits in 12 1/3 innings while posting an 18/2 K/BB ratio. He would not be a recommended fantasy streamer, but it would be interesting to see how close he is to throwing meaningful innings in 2027.

We don’t usually blurb players who are in lower levels of the minors, but Burress was just the eighth overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft and has seven home runs, 15 RBI, and 11 steals in his first 82 professional at-bats, while hitting .280/.449/.610. There was a thought that Burress was a high-floor prospect who would move quickly through the minor leagues. He’s certainly making that seem possible right now.

The Blue Jays are off Monday, so now they’ll have three roster spots to fill prior to Tuesday’s game. Chase Lee and/or Ricky Tiedemann could join the pen then.

Burns got his 15th victory in what sounds like it will be his final traditional start of the year. This one put him at 145 1/3 innings for the season, an increase of 36 from his first professional season last year. Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley said on Sunday Night Baseball that the plan is for Burns to pitch about three innings at a time in his remaining outings, which would leave him ineligible for wins unless he pitches in relief. Burns, the first Reds starter to win 15 games since Luis Castillo in 2019, is due to face the Brewers next time out.

Pagán had a three-run lead to work with tonight. He did give up another long shot to Seiya Suzuki after PCA’s homer with two outs, but it was caught just in front of the ivy-covered wall at Wrigley. Pagan has a 2.33 ERA and is 12-for-12 saving games since coming off the injured list two months ago.

Imanaga followed up three scoreless innings by giving up a three-run homer to Héctor Rodríguez in the fourth. He then allowed two more homers with his velocity having diminished in the fifth. Imanaga, now 8-10 with a 4.01 ERA on the season, just isn’t at his best right now, and the Cubs could give him some extra rest with rosters expanding. As is, he’s due to face the Marlins on Saturday.

Rodríguez was benched for four straight games, three of them against righties, a week into his major league career, but two weeks later, here he is starting five games in a row, including two against lefties. He has a chance to be useful in mixed leagues in September if Terry Francona keeps him in the lineup.

Crow-Armstrong’s first homer shouldn’t have happened; Chase Burns’ 2-2 pitch caught the corner, but the ump called it a ball and the Reds declined to challenge it. PCA took the next one 417 feet to right for his 37th homer of the year. No. 38, on an Emilio Pagán fastball right down main street, came with two outs and the Cubs down by three, so it didn’t lead to much. However, Crow-Armstrong is now all alone in second place for the MLB lead in homers, two behind Kyle Schwarber.