Category: Baseball

First, the good news. The Red Sox got a slew of cautiously optimistic injury updates this afternoon from Comerica Park in Detroit. First up, Roman Anthony:

Roman Anthony is dealing with a wrist sprain and is day-to-day. There are no plans to put him on the IL at the moment, per @ChrisCotillo.

EXHALE. pic.twitter.com/grIEbe7XsA

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) May 5, 2026

He won’t be available these last couple of games in Detroit, but in the grand scheme of things, this is far from the worst update we could have gotten today.

Next up, Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez:

Chad Tracy says "all things are pointing toward" Sonny Gray starting tomorrow. Then it'll be Early and Bennett in the first two days against TB with Suárez trending positively, too.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) May 5, 2026

If we fill in the rest of the blanks here and get Ranger Suarez to start Saturday and then Payton Tolle on Sunday before the off day on Monday, the Red Sox may finally be tracking towards a scenario where they can get Brayan Bello out of the rotation. (Fingers crossed!)

Unfortunately though, they won’t be able to keep him off the mound tonight. Now as you’ll probably notice in the lineups below, the Red Sox are actually not starting Brayan Bello tonight — instead going with Jovani Moran. Bello however will likely appear as the bulk guy somewhere in the game as the Red Sox play lefty / righty matchups and try to minimize the bullpen damage as much as possible. It’s a last ditch effort to try and make a Bello game competitive (good luck with that!).

In fact, the effects of his ineffectiveness are reaching all the way down to Worcester as we got this tweet from Tommy Cassell today.

According to WooSox acting manager Iggy Suarez, pitchers Jack Anderson and Eduardo Rivera will probably not pitch in today’s AAA game since the Red Sox are “thin” right now with available arms. The two are also preparing to pitch out of the bullpen at the moment.

— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) May 5, 2026

In other words, even the team is preparing for another Bello bludgeoning.

If all that wasn’t bad enough, take a look at tonight’s lineup. There’s no Roman Anthony as we discussed above, but there’s also no Masataka Yoshida and Marcelo Mayer because there’s a lefty on the mound. It gets even worse when you consider that lefty is Framber Valdez and that his 3.35 ERA this year is being inflated by one bad start in Minnesota where he gave up eight runs. In the other six combined outings, he’s only given up seven earned runs in 35.1 innings.

Oh, and in addition to all of this, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman have both pitched in back to back games, so Chad Tracy is probably going to want to stay away from them tonight if possible.

In other words, the only reason to expect a win from the Red Sox in this game is because baseball is baseball and at times it likes to be the dumbest sport ever and produce stunningly unexplainable results. Short of that happening though, the Red Sox have already kind of won in the big picture today with those injury updates, so we’ll just have to suffer through tonight.

⚾️ First Pitch: 6:40pm — Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

Due to inclement weather passing through the St. Louis area, tonight’s game against the Cardinals has been postponed. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader between the two teams on July 7, the next time the Brewers visit St. Louis. The makeup game will be at 1:15 p.m. and the scheduled game will take place at 6:45 p.m.

Unfortunately, this new date will present a challenge for the Brewers. Between June 26 and July 12, the Brewers had 17 games in a row scheduled without an off day. Now, that stretch will be extended to 18 games in 17 days. Between June 16 and July 12, the team will have just one day off. The only good news is that stretch happens right before the All-Star Break, which will give the team a chance to recover.

On the Cardinals side, they were currently in a streak of 17 games in a row before this postponed game and are scheduled to fly to San Diego after tomorrow’s game. They will also have to play 14 games in 13 days leading up to the All-Star Break with the rescheduled game.

For tomorrow, the updated starters are still TBD. Brandon Sproat was scheduled to face Andre Pallante tonight, with a TBD starter — expected to be Jacob Misiorowski — facing Matthew Liberatore tomorrow. The teams have not announced if they are updating those starters.

First pitch is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. tomorrow. The forecast is clear of inclement weather so that game should happen as scheduled.

It’s been a rough couple of days for the Orioles. That series in the Bronx was an absolute disaster, and it likely has the entire clubhouse on edge. Those games felt like they were from another era. It had early-2000s vibes, a time when the Yankees still had most of the players from their dynasty of the 1990s, and the Orioles were in the midst of a run that featured exactly zero winning seasons between 1998 and 2011.

No major changes for the O’s are on the immediate horizon though. That’s likely because it’s May. There is little to be done. The team simply has to survive this wave. They can either rise above and get their feet under them, or they can be pulled under and crushed by the weight of it all. Fingers crossed.

Chris Bassitt is on the bump. He has been one of the team’s bright spots lately. Over his last four starts he has thrown a total of 21.2 innings and has a 2.92 ERA. The peripherals aren’t as pretty (4.16 FIP, eight walks, 14 strikeouts), but we will take what we can get right now.

The Marlins aren’t coming in with the best form. They lost three of four to the Phillies this weekend, and scored a total of six runs over their last three games. So, maybe the Orioles actually have a chance? We’ll see.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson, SS
2. Taylor Ward, LF
3. Dylan Beavers, DH
4. Pete Alonso, 1B
5. Samuel Basallo, C
6. Leody Tavares, CF
7. Colton Cowser, RF
8. Cpby Mayo, 3B
9. Blaze Alexander, 2B

RHP Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.46 ERA)

Marlins lineup

1. Xavier Edwards, 2B
2. Liam Hicks, 1B
3. Otto Lopez, SS
4. Kyle Stowers, LF
5. Jakob Marsee, CF
6. Connor Norby, DH
7. Joe Mack, C
8. Owen Caissie, RF
9. Graham Pauley, 3B

LHP Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 3.04 ERA)

Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees

Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 6:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Yankee Stadium

RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP Elmer Rodriguez

Go Rangers!

The Athletics head back to the City of Brotherly Love today to start a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen Bank Park. Less than a week ago You’d say these two teams were headed in opposite directions with the A’s leading the American League West, and the Phillies at the bottom of the National League East. But after firing their manager, Rob Thomson and replacing him with former Dodgers and Marlins skipper Don Mattingly, they have gone 7-3, climbed out of the cellar and are playing much closer to their expectations.

Luis Severino will take the mound for the A’s this afternoon. Severino is 2-2, with a 4.46 ERA in seven starts this season. He’s coming off two consecutive Quality Starts (QS) where he’s notched wins. Severino will face off against Cristopher Sánchez for Philadelphia. Sánchez is 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA this season with 40.1 innings pitched. He’ll go up against this lineup for Mark Kotsay’s A’s today:

Severino will take on this lineup for the Phillies today:

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

On the surface, just about everything that Cincinnati Reds lefty Andrew Abbott has been throwing this year is the same as it was during his All Star campaign in 2025.

His fastball, never a true heater, is within 0.4 mph of last year’s average, and obviously he’s been pitching in the cooler weather of April. It’s usage is almost identical, and he’s leaned on his curveball and change just about the same exact amount this year as last. He’s virtually abandoned his cutter (just 0.3% of his pitches this year), but even last season it was used just 4.3% of the time.

The only thing that jumps off the page when breaking down his stuff this year is that his velocities on his secondary pitches have been oddly off. While he chucked his curve at 81.0 mph on average last year, it’s nearly two full mph slower in 2026 (79.3 mph). Meanwhile, the speed on his change has bumped up almost a full mph to 85.7 from 84.8 last season.

It should maybe come as no surprise that the pitch values, per FanGraphs, on those two pitches have cratered as he has struggled to begin 2026. However, his fastball last season – a pitch that was valued as one of the 21 best in the sport among pitchers who threw 100+ IP – has lost almost all of its value.

One particularly interesting bit on how his season-over-season stuff has changed, though, is with his arm angle. Per Statcast, his 2025 season saw him pitch with a 48 degree arm angle, yet that’s increased to 52 degrees so far in 2026. Whether that’s by design I do not know, but that seems like a significant enough change that maybe, just maybe, it’s what’s tweaking his ability to locate his pitches.

Abbott’s 4/30 start against the Colorado Rockies was his best since Opening Day, though that, of course, came against the Colorado Rockies. The hope is that on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley, he’ll be able to once again show that he’s rounding back into form and that the bulk of his April drubbing was the exception, not the rule.

He’ll be up against Jameson Taillon in the second game of the series after last night’s devastating walk-off loss. The Reds are mired in a 4-game losing streak as they road trip through the NL Central, and man, would it ever be nice to see them pick themselves up off the mat and get a victory to shake those trees.

First pitch is set for 7:40 PM ET, with hopefully fewer weather issues than last night.

Here’s how the Reds will line up for the start:

Game two of four in Chicago.

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/GxqsPxbY1e

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 5, 2026

For so many reasons, the San Diego Padres should have won.

The San Francisco Giants were coming off a road trip in which they lost all six games, the Friars had one of their aces on the mound in Randy Vásquez and San Francisco had the rookie Trevor McDonald making his 2026 debut. It all seemed to point toward a needed win for San Diego.

But that’s not how the story went. McDonald pitched seven innings of one-run ball against the Friars. And, although Vásquez was only tagged for three runs in 5 2/3 innings, it was all San Francisco would need.

The Padres attempted a ninth-inning rally with Ramón Laureano hitting a moonshot to make it 3-2, but the Giants got the final three outs after him and ended the rally where it began.

San Diego needs some offense. It hasn’t been for lack of thump, they have six homers in their last five games. But they need to string their hits together. The Padres will hope to scrap something together against San Francisco ace Logan Webb.

Taking the mound

Logan Webb (SF) v. Walker Buehler (SD)

Webb has had a tough time settling into a groove this season, posting a 4.30 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. But what he has done is eat innings for the Giants, pitching 44 innings for the club.

He had an encouraging outing last week, pitching seven innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, giving up only one run in the process. The Friars will hope to tag him for a few more than that in tonight’s game.

On the other hand, Buehler has been a somewhat steadying part of the rotation (though the term steadying is used here with some apprehension). He’s pitched to a 5.40 ERA but has at least been a semi-reliable back end option for San Diego.

He started in last week’s loss to the Chicago Cubs but only gave up two runs to the Northsiders. If he can do just that against the Giants tonight (and go at least five innings), it would start to turn the tides for a struggling Padres club.

Batter up!

Jackson Merrill really seems to be turning things around. After starting the year with an abysmal .220 average, he’s slashed .276/.300/.379 in his last seven games. It’s not earth-shattering, but it’s a step up from the .172/.238/.241 line from the previous 15 games.

His (and Manny Machado’s) return to some form of normalcy could go a long way toward waking up the offense. With everyone on the roster having experience against Webb, manager Craig Stammen will likely go for those who have had the most success in the past.

1. Ramón Laureano, LF
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, 1B
7. Miguel Andujar, DH
8. Luis Campusano, C
9. Jake Cronenworth, 2B

Those nine have a combined .297 career batting average and a .730 OPS to go with 18 RBI (200 at-bats). Machado, Merrill and Sheets all have averages above .300, and the latter two have an OPS over 1.000 against Webb. If they can do damage like that tonight, the Padres will have no trouble forcing the rubber match on Wednesday.

Relief corps

Vásquez pitched about as well as he normally does. Though it wasn’t quite the ace form that we’ve come to expect of him this year, he made it through 5 2/3 innings of work, ensuring that the Padres only had to use three relievers (Kyle Hart, Bradgley Rodriguez and Wandy Peralta) to finish the game.

The three used were low-leverage so San Diego will have plenty of options in a close game. Those include Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Ron Marinaccio, Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon. All but Marinaccio are high-leverage moves for Stammen to make.

Miller leads the league in saves (11) and could notch his 12th tonight. He’s currently on pace to end the season with 53 saves. If he did, it would be just the second time a Padre has saved 50-plus games (Trevor Hoffman, 1998), and the first 50-plus save season in MLB since Edwin Díaz in 2018.

First Pitch: 5:45 PM CDT

TV: Twins.TV

Radio: TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy App, LosTwins.com

Know thine enemy:Federal Baseball

The Twins start their road trip in Washington, and will face the Nationals 2022 first round pick, RHP Cade Cavalli. On the mound for the Twins will be Taj Bradley.

The Houston Astros have announced the following moves to the active roster:

• RHP Jason Alexander and OF Zach Dezenzo have been recalled from Triple A Sugar Land.
• IF Nick Allen has been reinstated from the 10-day IL.
• C Yainer Diaz has been placed on the 10-day IL today with a left oblique strain.
• OF Dustin Harris has been designated for assignment.
• RHP Ryan Weiss was optioned to Triple A last night.

Alexander will slide into a bullpen desperate for fresh arms. He last pitched April 30th, so he is capable of giving the team multiple relief innings if needed.

Harris was 7×31 (.226) with the Astros with a .286 OBP and .576 OPS.

Weiss, after another tough outing yesterday, currently sports a 7.62 ERA and 2.12 WHIP, has just awful numbers and has struggled badly in his last 6 appearances. After allowing only 1 run in his first 3 appearances (covering 6 innings) in which he walked 2 and struck out 7, Weiss has been tagged for multiple runs in each of his six appearances since, inflating his ERA from 1.50 to 7.62. In those 6 outings covering 20 innings, Weiss has allowed 21 ER, 18 walks, and a staggering 7 HR.

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

New series starts tonight#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/ItXlve4wV4

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 5, 2026

For the Athletics:

Sevy start day 👊 pic.twitter.com/SlcvKmP4gy

— Athletics (@Athletics) May 5, 2026

Let’s talk about it.

WASHINGTON – Joe Ryan got a second lease on the 2026 season. And now the Minnesota Twins hope that applies to them, too.

Ryan threw a scare into the entire organization on Sunday, May 3 when he exited his start against the Toronto Blue Jays after just two batters and nine pitches. Elbow soreness was the report, a nebulous diagnosis that had Twins fans spiraling for two days.

Ryan immediately left Target Field for an MRI and an already depleted organization braced for the worst, just two months after ace Pablo Lopez succumbed to Tommy John surgery in spring training.

But the MRI was clean and Tuesday, Ryan played catch without incident. He will throw a bullpen on Wednesday and, if all goes well, make his next scheduled start Saturday at Cleveland.

All normal stuff – and that’s a huge relief for Ryan given his state of mind after he motioned for manager Derek Shelton and left Sunday’s game under a cloud of uncertainty.

“Any time you dodge a bullet, you’re grateful for every day you get to come in and put the jersey on,” Ryan said Tuesday at Nationals Park, three hours before the Twins opened a three-game series at Washington. “That’s part of being in the big leagues – understanding that. I try to embrace that and not take anything for granted.

“Every day you get to do that, it’s a blessing. I think a little bit extra when you have a little bit of a scare like that.”

Especially when this burgeoning ace avoided major injury at such a key time in his career.

Ryan, who turns 30 in June, was a 2025 All-Star on his way to a career-best season: 194 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP in 171 innings over 30 starts. That seemed to increase the likelihood the rebuilding Twins would trade him in the offseason, but he stayed.

He’s posted a 3.72 ERA through his first eight starts this season, his second-to-last before becoming eligible for free agency. Naturally, the Twins would not be able to trade a potential ace rehabbing an elbow injury.

Yet it’s early enough this season that the 15-20 club can appreciate that its ace is structurally sound as it loiters within 2½ games of first in an AL Central where no team is above .500.

“It’s relief,” says Shelton, the Twins' first-year manager. "I think the eternal pessimist in me is like, ‘I’m gonna wait until we get through tomorrow.’

“But today was a really good sign, because he threw well, was able to throw his breaking ball.”

Ryan said he felt the pain Sunday facing the second batter, Kazuma Okamoto. He threw a couple more pitches and it persisted. Not excruciating, he said, though he’s felt lesser pain and it’s turned out to be a more calamitous injury.

“You never know,” says Ryan, who will earn $6.2 million this season, “until imaging comes back.”

Yet Shelton appreciated that Ryan removed himself from the game. Arms, especially elbows, are not to be messed with.

“The one really great thing about Joe is he’s probably as in tune with his body as much as any player I’ve been around,” says Shelton. “He can articulate really well what he’s feeling.”

Now the Twins hope to develop some consistency. They won 11 of their first 19 games, then lost 12 of their next 15, salvaging the final game against Toronto after Ryan departed.

“We’ve played really well, we’ve played not well, and we’ve played well and not won games,” says Shelton. “I think the thing I’m most pleased with is our effort and our ability to play a full 27 outs.

“This is a younger group. There’s going to be times we have ebbs and flows. We just have to keep going.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Ryan injury update, what we know about elbow

Tuesday notes…

• STREAKING, PART 1: The Cubs have won 12 straight games at home. It is their 19th double-digit home winning streak of the Modern Era, which began in 1901, and their 15th at Wrigley Field, their home since 1916. This is their first such streak since they won 14 in a row, May 18-June 22, 2008. A 13-game streak in 2001 and a 10-game streak in 1998 are their only others of the kind since 1970. Their record is 18 straight, Sept. 4-22, 1935, during a surge that lifted them to the pennant. The 2008 streak was one of five of 14 games. The 2001 streak was the only one of 13. They also had a lone streak of 12, in 1927, for a total now of 10 streaks of at least 12 in a row. The 1927 streak was the only one that ended after 12 games, and did so with a thud: a 12-2 loss at home to the Phillies. The Cubs extended the 2001 streak to 13 by beating the Twins, 5-4. Ricky Gutierrez hit a two-run homer and Sammy Sosa added a solo shot. The 13th win in 2012 was by 3-1 over the Dodgers. Derrek Lee homered with one in the first and Aramis Ramirez homered in the eighth. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• STREAKING, PART 2: The Cubs are 16-3 in their last 19 games, their best 19-game record since they also were 16-3 from July 31-Aug. 20, 2016. They were 16-3 in four overlapping spans that season, in two in 2015, in three in 2001, in one in 1977 and two in 1967. They had an even 100 in 1903-45. The Cubs were 19-0 in three overlapping spans in 1935 and 18-1 in 20 spans, many overlapping, in 1906 and 1935. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• FACING THE REDS: This is the Cubs’ 83rd series vs. the Reds at Wrigley Field since 1994, first season of the Central Division. From 1969 through 1993, the Cubs were in the NL East and the Reds, for reasons that defy logic, were in the NL West. It is only the 17th of the 83 series at Wrigley that was scheduled to be more than three games. The Cubs swept four games in 2018. That is the only time they won even the first two games. They went 3-1 in four series, including the most recent before the current one, in 2023. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SAVING THE DAY:The Cubs have had six different pitchers record saves already this year. In alphabetical order: Ben Brown, Corbin Martin, Hoby Milner, Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar and Jacob Webb. Thielbar leads the team with two. Twelve different pitchers recorded saves for last year’s Cubs. Only five of those pitchers (Brown, Palencia, Rea, Thielbar and Jordan Wicks) are still in the Cubs organization.

Cubs lineup:

See you tonight!

Tune in live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/B0YmBUcoHn

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 5, 2026

Reds lineup:

Game two of four in Chicago.

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/GxqsPxbY1e

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 5, 2026

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Andrew Abbott, LHP

Jameson Taillon has had some good starts this year, some bad, some middling. The last one, last Wednesday in San Diego, was really good — seven innings, three runs, six strikeouts.

Last year against the Reds, he made two starts, throwing 13.1 innings and allowing three runs, with only one home run allowed. More of that would be good. Current Reds are batting .264 (28-for-106) against Jamo with seven home runs, two each by Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl. Keep the ball in the yard tonight, please, Jamo.

Andrew Abbott has had three good years for the Reds and has been tough on the Cubs: Seven starts, 2.56 ERA in 38.2 innings.

But this year, Abbott is off to a rough start. He’s allowed four or more runs in three of his seven starts, though the last one, April 30 vs. the Rockies, was pretty good (two runs in six innings).

Current Cubs are batting just .183 (17-for-93) against Abbott, but Seiya Suzuki has homered off him, and Dansby Swanson has taken him deep twice.

Despite a season OPS of .830 vs. LHP this year, the Cubs are just 5-5 vs. LH starters. Hopefully that changes tonight.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Former Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo returned to New York as a visiting player for the first time on Tuesday, and even though he was in the Bronx to face the Yankees, he fielded many questions about his Mets tenure and the current state of the team.

“I want them to do well,” Nimmo said. “I’ve played here before when things aren’t going well, and it’s not fun. I wish the best for them, but also I’m trying to take care of things here and make sure we’re trying to play good baseball here.”

Nimmo, of course, was traded to the Rangers this past offseason in the deal that brought Marcus Semien to the Mets. The trade came just three years into Nimmo’s eight-year, $162 million contract, and he had to waive his no-trade clause to complete the deal. 

Nimmo said that he reached out to a lot of people before making his decision, including Pete Alonso, who told him the Mets hadn’t reached out to him at that point.

“When Pete said they hadn’t even reached out to him, there was definitely a lot of uncertainty as to which direction they were going. But ultimately, I had to make other phone calls and talk to other people and deliberate over it for many more days. So, it wasn’t just his conversation that went into it. I talked to dozens of people. It was just a piece of the puzzle that helped in the decision-making process.”

“I obviously would have loved to have seen Pete retire in a Mets uniform,” he later added. “He’s the Mets’ home run king and has all these titles that go along with it. I think that would have been awesome, but it wasn’t in the cards for what they felt like were the best baseball decisions.”

When president of baseball operations David Stearns traded Nimmo and let Alonso and Edwin Diaz depart in free agency, rumors swirled that there was an alleged rift in the Mets’ clubhouse, particularly between Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. 

Both players have since said there was no truth to those rumors, and Nimmo said again Tuesday that he thought his trade was purely a baseball move.

“I believe it was probably just a baseball decision. Like I said last year and even in these interviews in the spring, I really didn’t see anything wrong with the chemistry between the guys,” Nimmo said. “And if it was happening, I didn’t know about it, so they were keeping it hush-hush, which is kind of tough to do in a clubhouse where you spend most of the day with each other. But from my standpoint, I think it was a baseball decision, and I think it was something that David felt would better the New York Mets and (general manager Chris Young) felt would better the Texas Rangers.”

The Texas Rangers have placed infielder Josh Smith on the injured list with a right glute strain, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the Rangers have recalled infielder Justin Foscue.

Smith, who took over at second base this season for Marcus Semien, has gotten off to a difficult start to the 2026 season, putting up a .217/.324/.239 slash line while also having issues out in the field. In his previous two games he went 4 for 7 with a walk, with those four hits representing 20% of his hit total for the season, but he will now be sidelined for the time being.

Foscue, the Rangers’ first round pick in 2020, is in his fourth season at AAA Round Rock. He has slashed .287/.407/.426, with as many walks as strikeouts. He has split his time between first base, second base and DH this season. He will look to improve on his career major league slash line of .059/.094/.098 while he is up.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates on a few injured players ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Rangers...

---

Ben Rice's progress

The young Yankees slugger is out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive game after getting hit awkwardly with a Max Fried pickoff attempt in Sunday's matchup with the Orioles.

The Yankees skipper was asked what Rice would need to do to be used off the bench, and Boone said the next few hours will determine the first baseman's availability. 

"He hasn’t really started hitting yet," Boone said. "If he starts doing some light hitting and then can ramp it up even more, and do the things he needs to do to get a swing off, then we’ll have a conversation. We’ll see how the next few hours are here."

Rice has been the Yankees' most consistent hitter and their most dangerous bat alongside Aaron Judge. In 33 games, Rice is hitting .342 with an OPS of 1.214 to go along with his 12 home runs and 27 RBI. 

Carlos Rodon's next start 

Rodon is set to make his latest rehab start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night. Boone was asked if everything went well in this start, whether the southpaw's next step will be to return to the Yankees, and the manager confirmed that.

Tuesday will be Rodon's third rehab start since offseason elbow surgery. His first start was with High-A Hudson Valley, where he allowed one hit and one walk over 4.1 innings. His second start saw him dominate Double-A with Somerset. Rodon struck out eight batters and allowed one run on five hits across 5.1 innings on April 30.

 

Aaron Boone says if all goes well with Carlos Rodón's next rehab start, he's expected to make his next start for the Yankees: pic.twitter.com/EBHmKU9cT7

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Latest on Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole

Boone was also asked about both Stanton and Cole, and where they both were in their separate recoveries.

On Stanton, Boone revealed that the slugger has started to hit in the cage but is still not running as he recovers from a calf strain. Boone did say the calf injury is lingering a "little bit" but they are taking their time with it.  

"It still feels minor, but not ready to push it yet," Boone said.

As for Cole, Boone was asked if the former Cy Young winner was going to make a couple of more starts before returning to the team. The Yankees skipper tempered expectations, saying Cole is "still a little ways away." 

Cole is set to take the mound for High-A Hudson Valley on Tuesday night. The right-hander has made three previous rehab starts between Hudson Valley and Somerset. In those starts, he's allowed a combined seven earned runs across 14.1 innings (4.40 ERA), allowing 11 hits, one walk and striking out 10 batters.