IN THE LINEUP
Trevor Story was removed from the game on Thursday as a precautionary measure after being hit by a pitch, but Bud Black said after the game that everything was fine. He sat out of the lineup on Friday and returned on Saturday... Justin Turner has been dealing with a minor groin injury but Dave Roberts said he should be back in the lineup Sunday after being available to pinch-hit on Saturday... Jesse Winker was scratched from Friday's lineup after dealing with some back tightness prior to the game. He's day-to-day and hoping to return to the lineup on Sunday... Brendan Rodgers returned to the lineup on Friday after missing four straight games with some hand soreness. He started at shortstop with Story out of the lineup... Fernando Tatis Jr could be back with the Padres on Sunday or Monday, and he's expected to be the primary centerfielder for the team. The thought is that this will help protect his shoulder a bit more as he's already dealt with injuries on it on three separate occasions... Dylan Carlson is dealing with a wrist sprain and won't hit this weekend. He avoided a fracture in the wrist, but he's unable to swing without pain now so he won't return to action until that is able to happen... Javy Baez has been placed on the IL with back spasms that is retroactive to the 12th. Baez has been out of the lineup since Sunday's game and the team finally decided to IL him. Jonathan Villar is back to being the primary shortstop for the team while Francisco Lindor is also on the IL. Lindor is possibly going to return to the team without going out on a rehab assignment... Jazz Chisholm has been activated off the COVID-19 IL after being out since Monday with flu-like symptoms. He must not have tested positive for the actual virus with him being back already, but even though he was out of the lineup Friday he's going to be back in his usual second base spot for the team... Joe Panick was placed on the IL Friday for an undisclosed reason... Mookie Betts is dealing with a bone spur in his hip and received an injection to help with the pain. There's no timetable for him to be back in action as he's been shut down from baseball activities entirely... Tyler O'Neill has been dealing with some side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine but was able to return to the lineup on Friday... JT Realmuto was able to get back in the lineup Friday after taking a pair of foul balls off his mask on Wednesday. He left Wednesday's game and sat out on Thursday... Nick Castellanos sat on Thursday due to some swelling in his foot but returned to the lineup on Friday... Kole Calhoun was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain on Thursday. This is his second hamstring injury and the first cost him around two months of the season... Willson Contreras' knee sprain is not considered to be serious but was still placed on the IL this week. He's not expected to have a lengthy absence at this point... Rhys Hoskins is expected to return to the Phillies when they open their series against Arizona next week. He got a cortisone injection Friday, and he should still have a shot to be back next week... Dan Vogelbach has been performing extremely well on his rehab assignment... Josh Reddick signed a minor-league deal with the Mets... Evan Longoria was activated off of the 60-day IL by the Giants on Saturday... Jesus Sanchez has started a rehab assignment after being out since mid-July with COVID-19... Andrew McCutchen was activated off the IL on Wednesday. He missed the minimum number of days with his knee inflammation and will rejoin the Phillies outfield... Avisail Garcia returned to the lineup on Saturday and hit his 21st homer of the season... Zach McKinstry was called up from AAA on Saturday and should get some playing time for the Dodgers with Betts out of the lineup with his hip issue... Anthony Alford was a late scratch to the lineup with back spasms.
IN THE ROTATION
Yu Darvish is dealing with some back tightness that forced him to leave Thursday's start early. He could miss his next start for the team, but we'll probably know more over the next few days... Huascar Ynoa is set to rejoin the Braves on Tuesday to start against Miami. Ynoa has been out since mid-May after breaking his hand throwing a punch, but he was great for the Braves to start the season with a 3.02 ERA and over a strikeout per inning. Kyle Muller was sent to AAA to make room for Ynoa... Anthony Desclafani threw five innings in his return from the IL on Friday... Adbert Alzolay is dealing with some hamstring tightness after leaving Friday's start and was placed on the IL on Saturday. His strain is considered minor but the team expected him to miss his next turn, so they placed him on the IL... Tony Gonsolin has recently begun a throwing program and is tentatively scheduled for a bullpen session this weekend. Gonsolin has been on the IL since the very end of July with a shoulder issue and is expected to need a rehab assignment, so we are still over a week from possibly seeing him region the rotation... Trevor Williams was sent back down to AAA after a spot start on Thursday against Washington... Pablo Lopez tossed a bullpen session on Friday. He's been out of the rotation since mid-July with a shoulder strain and this is the third bullpen session that he's thrown. He'll need a rehab stint that should follow once he throws to live hitters... Cody Poteet is dealing with some knee inflammation that will cause him to pause his rehab assignment for the time being. He's been out since June with a knee sprain... Eric Lauer was activated from the COVID-19 IL on Friday... Jacob deGrom has been shut down for another two weeks has he's dealing with his elbow injury. The inflammation is going down his elbow but it's just doing to take more time to heal. It's likely going to mid-to-late September that we could potentially see deGrom... Jack Flaherty was activated off the IL Friday for his start. He's been out since May with his oblique strain... Trevor Rogers is currently away from the team with a family issue, and the Marlins have said that they are going to let him take all the time that he needs. There's absolutely no timetable as of now for when he might return to the team... Trevor Bauer's administrative leave has been extended through August 20th as the league continues to investigate his sexual assault charges. With how the investigation has gone so far, I'd be surprised if everything is resolved by the end of the season... Taylor Widener was scratched from his start Thursday as he was dealing with some cold-like symptoms. He was scratched mostly as a precaution and placed on the IL as he likely will head into COVID-19 protocols... Tyler Beede was placed on the IL with lower back pain... Luke Weaver is scheduled for a rehab outing on Saturday. Weaver has been out since May with a strained rotator cuff, and he's expected to throw around 60 pitches in this outing as he continues to up his workload... Brandon Woodruff was cleared of any injury after leaving Wednesday's start early. He left the game shortly after he was hit by a line drive, but Craig Counsell said that since he was already over 75 pitches across three innings that they would just go ahead and take him out. He'll be good to go for his next turn through the rotation... Zach Eflin tossed another bullpen session on Thursday but there's still no timetable for his return... Elieser Hernandez has been dominating on his rehab stint and should be closing in on being activated by the team. I'd be interested in adding him where I can... Johnny Cueto was placed on the IL Wednesday with a flexor strain. The team is considering his injury to be minor, and the hope is that he's going to just miss one start... Matt Moore started for the Phillies on Saturday and could be a part of the rotation going forward... Aaron Ashby tossed four scoreless innings against the Pirates in the second game of the double-header. Ashby is likely going to bounce around between the rotation, bullpen, and the minors the rest of the way... Kwang Hyun Kim is going to be out for the minimum 10 days as he deals with his elbow inflammation... Julio Urias was placed on the IL Saturday with a left calf contusion. It doesn't sound like he's going to be out for longer than the minimum of 10 days though... Clayton Kershaw is going to start playing catch on Monday as he begins the rehab process on his forearm. There's a chance that he may not return as a starter.
IN THE BULLPEN
Dinelson Lamet is dealing with a hip infection that required him to undergo a procedure. He's been making progress with his forearm in bullpen sessions. He's still expected to be a member of the bullpen upon his activation from the IL... Wade Leblanc's MRI results were encouraging according to the team. He's on the IL with a strained elbow, but there's no structural damage in the elbow but he's going to need more than the minimum 10-days on the IL... Josh Hader is back in the Brewers' bullpen after being placed on the COVID-IL on August 2nd. Hader tested positive for the virus, so he was required to sit out a minimum of 10 days before being activated... Jose Alvarado is on the IL with a shoulder impingement.
PLAYERS TO ADD
Huascar Ynoa, Atlanta Braves - Ynoa is going to rejoin the Braves this week and should be locked into a rotation spot the rest of the way. Ynoa was hit extremely hard in his time in the majors this year, but he also posted well above average whiff and strikeouts rates. There's a chance that he's just a guy that gets hit hard but I like the idea of some positive batted ball regression coming his way, and the Braves are hot right now with the offense getting as healthy as they have been in a good while. I'll always bet on pitchers that are generating elite whiffs rates and hope the rest figures itself out.
Lewis Brinson, Miami Marlins - So something could be brewing in Miami with Brinson on an insane tear at the plate right now, hitting .354 for the month with four homers. There's no way to sugarcoat it, Brinson has never performed well at the major league level and there's plenty of room for skepticism about a 50-plate appearance sample size. He does have extremely prospect pedigree though and has been a big-time performer at AAA and it seems like everything could be falling into place right now. He's striking out in under 25% of his plate appearances, which is a huge improvement over what he's done in prior major league stint.
Josiah Gray, Washington Nationals - Gray is locked into a rotation role with the Nationals after being acquired at the deadline, and he's pitched well with the team allowing five earned runs over 16 innings. That's good for a 2.81 ERA and he has 18 strikeouts over those 16 innings. Gray is one of the more talented starting pitchers in the minors and is going to get the extended run in the majors that makes him worth the add.
