MLB Player News

The Padres made a flurry of roster moves on Friday evening and needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Reiss Knehr to be summoned from Double-A San Antonio to make an emergency spot start. He could remain with the organization if he clears waivers.

Weems receives the call to join Houston’s relief corps ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Phillies with Shawn Dubin hitting the injured list with a forearm strain. The well-traveled 32-year-old righty latched on with the Astros earlier this month on a minor league deal shortly after being released by Atlanta. He’ll most likely operate in middle relief.

No timetable yet for how long Dubin will be sidelined, but forearm issues tend to be precursors to much more serious elbow issues. The 29-year-old righty has posted a solid 1.33 ERA across 20 1/3 innings (18 appearances) since making his season debut back in mid-May.

It’s merely a procedural move to free up a spot on Houston’s 40-man roster. The 27-year-old outfielder has been out all season recovering from a left knee sprain and re-aggravated the issue a couple weeks ago during his minor league rehab assignment.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza downplayed concern regarding the issue to reporters on Tuesday, adding that he’s optimistic Manaea will resume throwing next week and potentially be activated shortly afterwards. The 33-year-old lefty was in the final stages of making it back from an oblique strain that he suffered back in spring training. He struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings on Friday in his latest minor league rehab outing. There should be some official clarity on his return timeline once he resumes throwing next week.

Rice has moved into a more versatile multi-position role since Giancarlo Stanton — who is on the bench to open Tuesday’s game — returned from the injured list earlier this month. The 26-year-old has spent time at DH, first base and catcher of late. He’ll continue to rotate between several spots while providing his usual blend of home runs and strikeouts.

Olson has occupied the second spot on Atlanta’s lineup card for three consecutive contests with Austin Riley and Drake Baldwin hitting cleanup and fifth, respectively, on Tuesday night after sharing the position directly behind top-of-the-order igniter Ronald Acuña Jr. in recent weeks. It’s a slight boost for Olson, who should pick up a couple additional at-bats over the course of the next few weeks as a result of the move. The 31-year-old slugging first baseman has been red-hot of late, batting .309 (17-for-55) with two homers and 15 RBI over his last 15 games. He’s also walked 11 times during that span.

Castro remains on the bench for the third consecutive contest after being scratched from Sunday’s lineup with right wrist soreness. The Twins have the positional depth across several spots to continue absorbing his absence for at least a couple additional contests. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now. There’s been no indication that he’ll require a trip to the injured list, but the odds steadily increase the longer he remains out of the lineup.

Winker’s return will create a roster crunch for the Mets, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll make it back for at least another couple weeks based on his current timeline. The 31-year-old on-base machine has been out since early May recovering from a Grade 2 oblique strain.

It’s notable that Barger is sitting out Tuesday’s series opener with lefty Logan Allen toeing the rubber for Cleveland after missing time over the weekend with right hip discomfort. It sounds like purely a matchup-related decision to go with Ernie Clement at first base, but it’s a situation fantasy managers should keep a close eye on.

No surprise here that the Athletics have elected to bump Butler down a couple spots against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, the most dominant left-handed pitcher in the sport. It’ll be Jacob Wilson leading off during Tuesday’s series opener in Detroit.