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Donovan batted leadoff and was the designated hitter. He’s been on the injured list with a strained groin since May 17th, so Donovan will likely need a few weeks of games before he’s back up in Seattle. How the playing time shakes out now that Cole Young and Colt Emerson are both up will be the other question that needs to be answered.

This suggests the A’s aren’t expecting Nick Kurtz back in the near future. White, 23, was the Athletics’ second round pick in 2024. The corner infielder was hitting .303/.345/.489 in 55 games since moving up to Triple-A Las Vegas, but while that sounds pretty good, it’s just average considering the environment. For instance, Joey Meneses and Brian Serven, both of whom were sent down by the A’s today, had about 100 points of OPS on him. Henry Bolte’s OPS before his callup was 1.076. White will likely play mostly first for now. Once Kurtz is back, he could move to third, depending on how he’s performing. He’s probably not going to amass mixed-league value initially.

The Athletics’ surprising $6 million investment in Civale over the winter worked out well initially — he started off 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA through nine starts — but it always figured to end badly. He loses his spot now after allowing 31 earned runs over 28 innings while going 0-6 in his last seven starts. He’ll become a free agent after clearing waivers and should quickly land a minor league deal, if he wants one. Jacob Lopez is probably the favorite to replace Civale in the rotation next week.

Troy, who was hurt crashing into the wall in Saturday’s game, will exit the outfield mix for at least the first week back from the All-Star break, resulting in probably an additional start or two for Loudres Gurriel Jr. and Max Kepler.

This move was reported a few hours ago and is now official. McCullers was up to 77 pitches in his last rehab start, so there’s a chance that he could join the Milwaukee rotation shortly. The Brewers are picking up the $2.5 million remaining on McCuller’s contract. It’s a worthwhile flier given their recent injuries and the Brewers still have time to look for rotation upgrades before the August 3 trade deadline.

That means the team will push Mitch Keller to next week. It makes sense to use Jones, who is clearly on a pitch count, in the first start after the break because it means the bullpen will be fresh.

Nola will start on Thursday, there will then be a day off to accommodate the World Cup Final, and then Luzardo and Rangel will throw on Saturday and Sunday. The Phillies could have chosen to use Zack Wheeler on normal rest this weekend, but the veteran will likely get a two-start week against the Dodgers and Yankees instead.

Ford came to the Nationals in the offseason in a trade for reliever Jose A. Ferrer and immediately became one of the top prospects in Washington’s system. He was sent to Triple-A, where he played through a shoulder injury and hit .223/.370/.335 in 58 games with four home runs, 34 runs scored, and 22 RBI. However, Ford has been improving of late, posting an .841 OPS in June and then hitting .292/.486/.542 in eight games in July with a 7/9 K/BB ratio. Keibert Ruiz is hitting .275/.302/.465 with seven home runs and 35 RBI in 62 games this season, so Ford is not going to immediately supplant him, but the young prospect could see regular starts against left-handed pitchers early on. He remains off the fantasy radar for now.

No word yet on what the return will be, but this is a surprising development given how long McCullers has been a part of the Astros organization. The veteran is close to returning from a shoulder injury, but he also posted a 6.86 ERA in eight starts to begin the year so the Astros seem to feel he doesn’t fit into their rotation plans anymore. The Brewers have had plenty of success in the past with pitchers who have lower velocity, but a deep mix of pitches, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they were able to get a good run of production out of McCullers the rest of the way. We still wouldn’t add him in anything but deep 15 team leagues.

Bellinger delivered a two-run single off Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez in the first inning that proved to be more than enough for the American League’s loaded pitching staff as they piled up 15 strikeouts and tossed a three-hit shutout. It was his lone hit in three at-bats during the low-scoring affair. The 31-year-old outfielder made an impact during his first Midsummer Classic appearance since 2019. The Yankees open the second half with a three-game series in New York against the defending World Series champion Dodgers starting on Friday.