MLB Player News

Eflin, who missed two turns with shoulder inflammation, has won all of his starts since the Orioles acquired him from the Rays in July. He’s 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA for Baltimore after going 5-7 with a 4.09 ERA for Tampa Bay. Eflin will face his previous team for a second time next weekend. He shut out the Rays for seven innings back on Aug. 9.

Takemoto is an interesting story because, like his fellow countryman Rintaro Sasaki, he decided to skip the Nippon Professional League Draft in 2022 and leave Japan for the United States instead of playing professionally in college. Takemoto played two seasons at the University of Hawaii, posting a 5.16 ERA in 104 2/3 innings while also focusing on weight training and building muscle. While the results weren’t there for the 21-year-old in college, his ultimate result in being drafted could make this pathway more common in the future.

Ruiz was placed on the concussion IL on July 8th and had previously been on the concussion list in late June when a foul ball bounced off the back of the Petco Park dugout wall and struck him in the head. The catcher has shown signs of improvement, is working out with the team, and has progressed to hitting off a tee. There’s no word yet on an exact timeline, but he seems to be trending in the right direction.

No word yet on why Varsho did not appear in the Florida Complex League game on Monday, along with other rehabbing players such as Alek Manoah, Easton Lucas, and Joe Mantiply. Perhaps he’ll get back onto the field at some point this week, which would still put him on track for a late-July return to the big league lineup.

It’s been 392 days since Manoah last appeared on a mound in a professional setting, so this is a big step forward for him. The 27-year-old averaged 94.2 mph on his four-seam fastball while also mixing in changeups, sliders, and sinkers. He threw only 10 of his 22 pitches for strikes, so there remains plenty of rust to work off, and his return will be a lengthy one, but it’s nice to see him on the mound again. He’s setting himself up to be a rotation option for the Blue Jays in 2026 when he will be 28 years old.

Povich was placed on the injured list with his hip injury on June 16th, but then aggravated the injury before a June 26th rehab start with Triple-A Norfolk. He’s now started his rehab assignment up again and will likely make his next start at Triple-A over the weekend. However, with Trevor Rogers pitching well in the rotation and Zach Eflin also nearing a return from the IL, there may be no immediate spot for Povich at the big league level.

Eflin struck out two and walked one while throwing 38 of his 58 pitches for strikes. The 31-year-old may need one more rehab start before returning from the IL, but given the lack of production the Orioles are getting from his spot in the rotation, they may also decide to activate him on an abbreviated pitch count. Eflin started the season well but battled a lat injury in April and then this back injury in June. He has been a solid starting pitcher when healthy over the last five years and is probably worth a stash in deeper formats, given that the Orioles are playing better baseball lately.

This is likely the last step before Bradish is cleared to begin a rehab assignment. The right-hander already threw two shorter live batting practice sessions after reporting to Florida on June 29th, so this multi-inning one will be the next step in his progression as he returns from Tommy John surgery. Bradish will need a long ramp-up on his rehab assignment, so a late August return is probably his best-case scenario. It’s unlikely that Baltimore will be in playoff contention then, so we could see Bradish make a few starts in September, kind of like Jacob deGrom did last year.

The storybook season continues for the Big Dumper, who became the first catcher ever to win the event. Raleigh bashed 21 big flies in the opening round, edging Athletics masher Brent Rooker by literally one inch to advance to the semifinals. He walloped 19 more in the ensuing round to eliminate Pirates ascendant slugger Oneil Cruz, who belted a surreal 513-foot moonshot in the opening round and finished with 10 blasts that traveled over 470 feet on the night. The switch-hitting backstop went exclusively from the left side in the finals to narrowly best Caminero, who eliminated Georgia native Byron Buxton to advance to the finals and would’ve become the youngest player in history to win the Home Run Derby at just 22 years old.

Davis will head to Triple-A St. Paul as extra organizational relief depth for Minnesota heading into the second half. The 28-year-old righty was jettisoned from Los Angeles’ relief corps last week after getting torched for a surreal 10 runs over 1 1/3 innings against the Astros back on July 4. He’ll operate in middle relief for the Twins, if he makes it back to the big leagues again this season.

Ashby missed Milwaukee’s final three first-half contests while on paternity leave. The procedural move puts him back on the Brewers’ active roster ahead of Friday’s second-half opener against the Dodgers.