News
Grayson Rodriguez (shoulder) was scratched from his scheduled bullpen session on Thursday and will undergo an MRI exam after experiencing soreness in his shoulder.
That’s not what you want to hear. The 25-year-old right-hander had thrown a couple of bullpen sessions as he was working his way back from inflammation in his pitching elbow. This is obviously a major setback, the scale of which won’t fully be understood until the O’s get the results of the MRI exam. At this point, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll pitch in the big leagues at all during the 2025 season.
Kutter Crawford (knee) threw a bullpen on Wednesday and is set for another on Friday.
The 29-year-old is working back from a knee injury he suffered in the middle of last season. He’s throwing bullpens multiple days during the week as he approaches a rehab assignment. He could go out on a rehab assignment in the next week or so and perhaps make his return to Boston early in June.
Harrison Bader is starting in left field for the Twins and batting eighth on Thursday against the Orioles.
Bader was on the bench for the last two games due to an illness, but was able to pinch hit on Wednesday and socked a home run. With him feeling healthy again, he’s back in the starting lineup.
Abraham Toro is starting at first base and batting seventh for the Red Sox on Thursday against the Rangers.
With Romy Gonzalez nursing a back injury following a collision at first base on Wednesday, Toro will make his first start for Boston this season. It doesn’t seem like Gonzalez will be out for too long though.
Bubba Chandler allowed three runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Chandler struck out five and walked four on the day, so the command was certainly not pristine. However, all three runs came on a home run on the tenth pitch of a long battle. He had 12 whiffs on the day and still seems likely to debut for Pittsburgh during the next homestand on May 19th. He’s the top prospect stash in fantasy baseball right now.
Anthony Santander left Wednesday’s game after a collision at first base.
Blue Jays manager John Schnieider said the move was precautionary, but also admitted that Santander has been dealing with right quad tightness for the past few days. Even if the injury isn’t major, it would seem plausible that the Blue Jays would give Santander a day or two off to manage the injury without exacerbating it.
DetroitLions.com’s Tim Twentyman believes rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa “could make his earliest impact on special teams.”
It’s not much of a surprise, as most rookies cut their teeth with special teams duties. Twentyman mentioned return duties as a possibility, though the former Razorback never returned kicks or punts in college. At 6'4/212 with 4.43 wheels, TeSlaa is an explosive athlete who never translated his physical traits to on-field production at Arkansas. The Lions clearly saw potential for him to do so in the pros and traded two future third-round picks to move up to No. 70 overall for him. It’s going to be a slow burn for TeSlaa in the pros, making him a dynasty-only fantasy option.