MLB Player News

None of these moves comes as much of a surprise. Nelson was solid as a starter and reliever for the organization last year, and he figures to serve as valuable pitching depth over the course of the season.

It’s fitting that Velazquez is being brought up now since Dodgers’ OF prospect Mike Sirota just recently fell two games shy of tying Velazquez’s minor league record of a 74-game on-base streak. Velazquez, now 32 years old, is hitting .270/.333/.370 with three home runs and 13 steals in 58 Triple-A games split between the Diamondbacks and Royals organizations this year. He last appeared in the big leagues in 2023.

Kolek was originally placed on the 15-day injured list back on July 19th, so he is now no longer eligible to return until about two weeks before the end of the regular season. That makes it seem likely that he will not pitch for the Royals again in 2026. He is also dealing with a family situation that has placed him on the family emergency medical list twice in the last month, so hopefully this also gives him time to be there for his family.

This felt inevitable after Witt Jr. missed Sunday’s game with a back injury, then returned on Monday, only to leave that game early. The Royals have the second-worst record in the American League and are not in playoff contention, so they will likely be cautious with their star shortstop, especially when dealing with a back injury. We may not see Witt Jr. back for a few weeks. Tyler Tolbert will likely continue to play shortstop in his place.

Gonzalez has sat out three of the last five games as the Pirates have faced plenty of lefties, but he’ll be back in the lineup for Game 1 against Gerrit Cole. The bad news is that the Pirates are set to face three left-handers after that: Max Fried, Shota Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd. Gonzalez may play in at least one of those but is unlikely to start more than that.

That would include Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen, and Tomoyuki Sugano. While they may not seem like major additions, they are experienced veteran starters that playoff contenders could look to add as rotation depth for the final months.

Yoshida is slashing .355/.394/.645 in nine games in July with two home runs, six runs scored, and seven RBI, so it makes sense to try and get him as many at-bats as possible in this one. Anthony Seigler, who has been slumping of late, will head to the bench with Romy Gonzalez starting at second base and batting sixth.

Harber, who was acquired from the Yankees as part of the Camilo Doval trade, has gone 6-for-16 in his first four games at Triple-A with three RBI and a 4/3 K/BB ratio. He had previously hit .284/.369/.510 in 66 games at Double-A with 12 home runs, 47 RBI, two steals, and a 73/35 K/BB ratio. It would be pretty accelerated to promote him to the big leagues, but Harber is 24 years old, so if the Giants are able to trade away both Luis Arraez and Matt Chapman at the deadline, there may be some at-bats for Harber in San Francisco to end the season.

Martin has been battling a shoulder injury that cost him the entire month of June and then sidelined him again on July 12th. It’s good to see that he’s back throwing in games so quickly. He struck out one and didn’t allow a baserunner in this one. The 40-year-old could be back with the Rangers by early next week.

Most teams usually recall an extra pitcher for a doubleheader, but the Yankees will go with a bat instead. Jones has hit .233/.317/.370 with two homers, seven RBI, one stolen base, and a 34/9 K/BB ratio over 82 plate appearances with the Yankees this season. Perhaps the team is hoping he gets into a big home run today in the hopes of boosting his trade value at the deadline.

The speedster was also caught stealing in his first rehab game since landing on the injured list on July 7th. Hamilton had been playing well before the injury, slashing .313/.353/.438 in his last 15 games with four RBI and four steals. With Joey Ortiz also starting to hit well, Hamilton’s imminent return could cut into Cooper Pratt’s playing time.