MLB Player News

The 35-year-old Armstrong arrives in Cleveland after a terrific season in which he had a 2.31 ERA in 74 innings for the Rangers. Still, there isn’t any telling what Armstrong will give a team on a year-to-year basis. In the five big-league seasons in which he’s pitched at least 50 innings, he’s finished with ERA of 5.74 (2019), 4.38 (2022), 1.38 (2023), 4.86 (2024) and 2.31. His career ERA is 3.82, but he’s never actually finished in the 3.00s once in the 11 years since his debut. The Guardians figure to have him help set up for Cade Smith.

This is surprising, especially following Dustin May’s departure. Mathews did solid work against the Jays in his major league debut Saturday (2 ER in 5+ innings), and it seemed like he was going to get an extended look. Something obviously has changed since, or the Cardinals presumably would have sent him down on Sunday.

Pivetta threw a pitch and then immediately walked off the mound and headed to the dugout, which is just very much not good. He was making his first rehab start since suffering a flexor strain in April.

The Phillies needed to create two roster spots with Luis Arraez, Caleb Kilian and Brooks Raley entering and Seth Johnson exiting in trades Monday, so down go Rincones and reliever Kyle Backhus. Rincones was given a chance to take over in right after Adolis García got hurt, but he hit .167/.202/.286 with a 29/2 K/BB in 89 plate appearances. Bryce Harper is going to take over as the Phillies’ right fielder now.

Backhus has a 4.95 ERA over 20 innings in three stints in the Phillies bullpen this season.

Springs’ hip has been a problem since at least April, though this is his first IL stint of the year. It’s not yet clear whether this will be a brief rest to try to get him closer to 100 percent or if he’s being shut down. The left-hander has a 6.17 ERA in 22 starts this year. With Springs going down, both Mason Barnett and Jack Perkins should keep starting for now. One was expected to be removed from the rotation with J.T. Ginn back.

Ginn will take on the Reds tonight after a minimum IL stay due to blister issues.

Muncy still needs to prove he should be in the Athletics’ plans for 2027, so he ought to get a lot of time at third base for the A’s with Nick Kurtz down. He’s hit .223/.298/.389 in 178 plate appearances in the majors this season.

Bowden, called up Saturday, allowed four runs in one inning in his one appearance with the A’s.

Zhuang was DFA’d last week without ever having pitched in the majors. He’ll remain with Las Vegas, where he’s amassed a 7.84 ERA in 12 starts and three relief appearances this season.

The A’s let Kurtz rush back from his original thumb injury last month and will pay the price, though not really, since they’re not playing for much anyway. It’s unclear as of yet whether Kurtz will return this season. The A’s will likely go with Tommy White at first base, opening up time at third base for Max Muncy and Donovan Walton.