MLB Player News

The deal is official. Sugano has been one of Japan’s top starting pitchers for over a decade at this juncture and will finally make the leap to the major leagues after finishing last year with a sparkling 1.67 ERA and 111/16 K/BB ratio across 156 2/3 innings. The 35-year-old righty doesn’t offer premium velocity, but boasts a five-pitch mix that is headlined by a deadly splitter. The lack of strikeout upside limits his fantasy appeal to deeper mixed leagues, but he should provide a serious lift in the ratio departments as a back-end rotation stabilizer for fantasy purposes. He’s a decent late-round target in deep mixers heading into next season.

They will be opposed by Tyler Glasnow (back), who is on a rehab assignment with Single-A Ontario, so that’s quite a low-minors pitching duel. Both Musgrove and Pivetta are working back from long layoffs due to elbow injuries, but both have been building up to around two or three innings. We could see both of them in the Padres’ rotation by September if all goes according to plan.

With Lars Nootbaar being traded to the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals will call up
Prieto, who is hitting .307/.373/.517 in 71 games at Triple-A with 12 home runs and six steals. Bryan Torres will likely play a lot of left field until August 14th, when the team can call up Joshua Baez without exhausting his rookie eligibility.

McCutchen signed a minor league deal last month and was playing for Triple-A Gwinnett. The 37-year-old was hitting .275/.370/.450 in 46 plate appearances with one home run and seven RBI.

After trading away plenty of expiring contracts on Monday, the Angels are now moving on from Soler as well. The 34-year-old has hit .203/.291/.373 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI in 361 plate appearances for the Angels this season. It’s possible that some team will take a chance on him as a right-handed power bat off the bench.

This move was reported yesterday and is now official. We like Rodríguez, but are surprised by this decision since the Reds didn’t actually trade away an outfielder at the deadline. We assume Rodríguez will play nearly every day between outfield and DH, and the DH spot could be used as a rotation for the extra outfielders. The 22-year-old is an aggressive hitter, and his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he is hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 round-trippers and six steals in 455 plate appearances for Triple-A Louisville. He’s worth a flyer in most fantasy formats.

Leonard had slashed .287/.371/.502 with 12 homers and eight steals in 288 plate appearances for Triple-A Nashville in Milwaukee’s system before being let go. In just eight games in Sacramento, Leonard has hit .143/.273/.571 with four home runs and five RBI. The 25-year-old has played second base, third base, and right field this season, but figures to get a chance to see regular reps at second base with Luis Arraez now in Philadelphia.

Kepley was the 56th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft and is hitting .254/.435/.414 with seven home runs, 105 runs scored, and 50 steals in 93 games at High-A. He is the Cubs’ fourth-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and could eventually be an option for them in 2028.

This is a bit of a surprise. The 26-year-old Franklin is hitting .249/.375/.360 in Triple-A with six home runs and 17 steals. Meanwhile, Heston Kjerstad is hitting .276/.309/.431 with eight home runs in 59 games in Triple-A for the Orioles. If he wasn’t going to get an opportunity, you wonder if the Orioles could have found any takers for him at the deadline.

This seemed likely after the White Sox traded for Joey Bart on Monday, but it is noteworthy nonetheless. Quero was a top 100 prospect, but the 23-year-old has a .245/.308/.318 slash line with seven home runs in 596 MLB plate appearances so far while playing below-average defense behind the plate.

With Luis Castillo and Huascar Brazobán joining the White Sox pitching staff, the team needed to make room on the active roster. Schweitzer had a 2.78 ERA in 22 2/3 innings for the White Sox in 11 appearances this season and will likely get another opportunity this summer.