MLB Player News

Barger has been on the shelf working his way back from elbow inflammation since mid-May. The 26-year-old has progressed to hitting off a pitching machine and throwing from a distance of 150 feet. The hope is that he’ll be ready to start a rehab assignment at some point relatively soon.

Ray, who will be a free agent after the season, has a 3.38 ERA in 18 starts with the Giants this year, though he has walked 52 batters in 106 2/3 innings pitched. Rogers believes Ray is “the more important player” available between Ray and Luis Arraez, implying Ray would get the Giants a better return. It certainly would make little sense for the Giants to hold on to Ray barring an extension. The 34-year-old could be the best starter available at the deadline if the Tigers opt to keep Tarik Skubal.

Over the All-Star break, Acuña had been playing in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. Acuña hit a grand slam yesterday for the FCL Braves. Today he’ll be bumped up to Gwinnett, meaning he’s probably in line to return to the bigs in the next couple of days.

Early had gone for a second opinion on his elbow injury, but it appears that the Red Sox and Early are happy with what they saw. Early has missed about three weeks since being placed on the injured list on July 1 and may require a rehab assignment before he’s ready to return. It’s still great news for the Red Sox that they avoided a major injury here.

Suarez was placed on the Il with a groin strain on July 9, threw over the break, and is scheduled to throw again today. It sounds like everything is trending well for him to get the ball again in Boston’s next series against the Orioles.

Lux needed an injection recently, so it’s likely that his shoulder is still bothering him. Lux hasn’t yet played in the majors in 2026 and had been hitting just .223/.387/.298 in 119 plate appearances during his rehab assignment to Triple-A Durham. It’s the second time this season Lux has been pulled off a rehab assignment.

Joyce had shoulder surgery last year and seemed on track to return to the Angels’ bullpen in May, but he suffered a setback in the middle of that month. He began throwing again at the end of June and has now begun his rehab assignment in earnest. We don’t know much about how he looked on Thursday, but he did hit 102.3 mph on the radar gun, which seems to suggest that his arm is feeling good. He will head out to an affiliate soon, and we can get more information on his rehab performances.

Bummer had allowed four runs on six hits in four innings at Triple-A Iowa with a 3/2 K/BB ratio. He also had a 7.63 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with the Braves earlier this season. He will try to find a minor league contract on a less competitive team and see if he can break back into the big leagues.

Misiorowski had his final start before the All-Star break skipped due to fatigue, and then was not in the rotation announced this weekend. The Brewers have said they will get creative with Misiorowski’s usage down the stretch because he is already at 111 innings this season. He did throw 129 innings between the Majors and minors last year, so we’d expect the Brewers to be comfortable with him getting to at least 140 during the regular season, if not more, so that’s plenty of time for him to positively impact fantasy teams. He may just have a start pushed back here and there to make sure he’s fresh for the postseason.

There was some concern that Caminero might need to take a couple of games off after getting hit in the left hand by a pitch during the All-Star Game on Tuesday. However, the 23-year-old had his X-rays come back clean, and he’s right back in the lineup with the second half underway.

This will be the fifth and final game that Willson Contreras is suspended for. When Contreras returns, Gonzalez will likely play more DH at second base, but he should remain in the lineup. He’s hitting .231/.302/.385 in 11 games since returning from offseason shoulder surgery.