MLB Player News

It has been a pretty dreadful first half in Toronto relative to the lofty preseason expectations, but this news still comes as a shock. Montoyo departs with an overall managerial record of 236-236 (.500) across three-plus seasons at the helm for the Blue Jays, including a 91-71 record in 2021 and a 46-42 mark here in 2022. As it stands right now in mid-July, the club is 15 1/2 games back of the first-place Yankees in the American League East but a half-game up on the Mariners for the third American League Wild Card spot. John Schneider, who had been serving as the Jays’ bench coach, will fill the role of interim manager through the end of the year.

Williams had internal brace elbow surgery last July, so it’s been a little over a year since he’s been on the mound for the Nationals. He struggled in 82 2/3 innings for the Nationals last year, but was a dependable pitcher for them in 2024.

The Pirates are just taking it day by day for now, but this more serious oblique injury could mean that Hernandez is unable to make it back by the end of the minor league season. The Pirates are likely going to be cautious with their top pitching prospect, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if we don’t see Hernandez on a mound again until 2027.

With no off day until August 10th, the Pirates are cycling through bullpen pitchers to ensure that they have some fresh arms ready to go. We should see Mattson back up this summer.

Callihan was a nice story when he was hot for a stretch back in June. The 26-year-old is slashing .211/.283/.389 in 107 plate appearances with the Pirates this season. The team has opted to add a right-handed hitter to the bench instead.

Eisert threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday, but the Pirates have no off days until August 10th, so they can’t afford to be down a bullpen arm for the next few days. Eisert will be back up again soon.

Murdock was added to the 40-man roster at the beginning of the month and will now get a chance to make his MLB debut. The 27-year-old has a 2.89 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 26/7 K/BB ratio in 18 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season.

The Pirates don’t have a day off until August 10th, so they will likely either need length out of the bullpen or a spot starter. Barco could fill either role. The 25-year-old has not had his best season, posting a 4.89 ERA in 46 innings at Triple-A this season with a 50/24 K/BB ratio.

Garcia will be right in the lineup, batting eighth and playing center field on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. Garcia worked his way onto some top 100 prospects lists last year after a strong season in Boston’s organization, but he has struggled against right-handed pitching in the upper minors and also in his limited MLB sample, slashing .200/.259/.240 with a 30 percent strikeout rate in 27 plate appearances. The Pirates are facing Eduardo Rodriguez today and Andrew Abbott over the weekend, but this feels like a small-side platoon for “The Password.”

That means Cruz will begin hitting in addition to the running he’s been doing. We’ll see how his fractured left hand responds to hitting high velocity, but assuming all goes well, we could see him begin a rehab assignment as soon as next week.

He’ll serve as the 27th man and start Game 1 in Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Mets. By using him as the 27th man, the Braves won’t need to wait 15 days to recall him from the minors. That likely means that he will head back to Triple-A after this start so that the Braves can keep another reliever. We would then fully expect Smith-Shawver to come back up and join the rotation full time for his next start.