ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 13: Raisel Iglesias #26 of the Atlanta Braves reacts with Austin Riley #27, Matt Olson #28, Drake Baldwin #30 after their 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs at Truist Park on May 13, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Join us and discuss game 1 of 4 in Miami in the comments below, as JR Ritchie takes the mound for the Braves and the Marlins counter with Max Meyer.
Gerrit Cole’s return to the New York Yankees rotation could be coming sooner than expected. Aaron Boone said that the idea of Cole making his next start Friday at Yankee Stadium was “on the table.”
Cole, 35, is returning to the big league after March 2025 Tommy John surgery. He threw 86 pitches over 5 1/3 innings for Triple-A Scranton on Saturday. The original plan had Cole making one more minor-league rehab start.
The Yankees have likely lost Max Fried for a month or two due to a bone bruise. Carlos Rodon struggled after beginning the season on the injured list.
Still, Boone told reporters they would not rush Cole back because of holes in the rotation.
“A need doesn’t necessarily mean we’re bringing him back,” Boone said, while also acknowledging it is something that the Yankees have “on the table.”
Cole will return to a significantly different rotation. The Yankees have managed fairly well without him because of the emergence of Cam Schlittler, who has a 1.35 ERA this season, and Will Warren, who has a 2.49 ERA. Fried was pitching to a 2.09 ERA before he got hurt. The Yankees' rotation has a 3.10 ERA, the best in the majors.
He has not pitched in the big leagues in nearly 17 months, not since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. He had elbow surgery on March 11, 2025.
The right-hander was limited to 17 starts and 95 innings in the regular season in 2024 because of a nerve issue that the team said was unrelated to the torn UCL that shut him down for 2025.
Cole was the unanimous 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner with 15 wins, a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 209 innings.
Over 12 major league seasons, Cole has a 3.18 ERA and 2,251 strikeouts with the Pirates, Astros and Yankees.
Cole signed a $324-million, nine-year contract with New York in December 2019. He is making $36 million a year through 2028.
The Yankees host the first-place Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 16: Leo Rivas #76 of the Seattle Mariners gets set for the play during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at T-Mobile Park on May 16, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hoowee, folks. We have a lot of roster moves this afternoon, five to be exact, so let’s get right into it. We’re putting the basics here for now: expect updates throughout the afternoon as we write up these moves.
Called Up:
Robinson Ortiz, LHP:
Ortiz is a 26-year-old leftie reliever who so far has been luckier than he has been good. A 1.69 ERA with no XBHs given up in Tacoma this year is certainly eye-popping, but a .216 BABIP, 17.6 BB% and a 4.09 FIP bely a more complicated profile. He was acquired in the Gough trade last November.
Ortiz will join Ferrer as the only lefties in the bullpen. He will be making his deubt when he appears.
Optioned to Tacoma:
Domingo González, RHP:
González made four appearances in his first turn in the bigs, sporting an unsightly WHIP of 1.412 but giving up no runs across his first 5.2 innings of work. He has pitched in three of the last four games, so this move is less tied to results and more to needing a fresh arm. He’s one I’d expect to see a couple more times this year.
Leo Rivas, INF
Oh, Leo. While his flexibility in the infield has been greatly appreciated with various players taking their turn on the Injured List, his .131/.263/.172 line has not been. With Colt Emerson up for good, the Mariners no longer have need for a Leo Rivas. Ranking in the bottom 1% in the league for xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, and Hard-Hit%, the bat is beyond unplayable.
Reinstated from Injured List:
Patrick Wisdom, INF (left oblique strain)
The 34-year-old infielder has appeared in one game this year with the Mariners, a pinch-hit strikeout back on April 14 before hitting the IL with a left oblique strain. During an 8-game rehab stint in Tacoma, he hit .304 with 3 home runs. He likely will be a back-up third-baseman to potentially spell Colt Emerson against tough lefties until Brendon Donovan returns.
Selected to the 40-man:
Brennen Davis, OF:
The 26-year-old outfielder was a 2nd-round pick for the Cubs in 2018. He seemed to have a promising trajectory, winning MVP in the 2021 Futures Game and twice was chosen as the Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Year. A series of injuries derailed his career. Back surgery, an ankle fracture and re-injuring his back meant that he averaged just 57 games per season from 2022-2025. Losing four prime developmental seasons surely set him back, but his performance in Tacoma has been more than solid so far. He ranks near the top of the league in exit velocity, Barrel%, and xwOBA, showing more pop than he’s been known for in the past with a .948 OPS.
Roster moves:
🔹 Robinson Ortiz (#49), LHP, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma. 🔹 Patrick Wisdom, INF, reinstated from 10-day Injured List (left oblique strain). 🔹 Domingo González, RHP, optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. 🔹 Leo Rivas, INF, optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. 🔹 Brennen Davis,… https://t.co/2NlUqfFTs2
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - OCTOBER 26: Former Indiana Hoosiers baseball player, Kyle Schwarber, is seen during ESPN GameDay prior to the game against the Washington Huskies at Memorial Stadium on October 26, 2024 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cincinnati Reds take their tattered pitching staff further on their road show on Monday, this time to the City of Brotherly Love. That’s where they’ll find the Philadelphia Phillies, who so hot right now they’re shucking popcorn.
Seriously, they were once 9-19 and fired their manager, yet since Don Mattingly took the helm they’ve just started destroying everything in their path and now boast the exact same 24-23 record on the season as the Cincinnati Reds. That’s good enough for 2nd place in the NL East right now, and the Reds can thank them for company in the cellar of the NL Central as the Phillies enter tonight’s game fresh off a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates to park them also at 24-23 on the season.
One-time almost-Red Kyle Schwarber has been leading the charge for the Phillies, his 20 dingers so far this season the most in all of baseball. The Reds, who do not have Kyle Schwarber on their roster despite him hailing from Middletown, will try to pick up the pieces against him this evening, with hopes that Nick Lodolo can finally lock-in after missing over a month on the shelf with blister issues and return to the excellent form he flashed back in 2025.
The exhausted bullpen sure could use the rest.
First pitch on Monday will be chucked by righty Andrew Painter at 6:40 PM ET, and Terry Francona has shuffled his lineup once again to feature Matt McLain as the Reds leadoff man for the evening. TJ Friedl and Ke’Bryan Hayes will bat back to back at the bottom of the order, with both currently ranking among the 9 worst hitters of the 223 with at least 120 PA this season.
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 09: Zach Thornton (21) of the New York Mets delivers a pitch during a spring training game against the Miami Marlins on March 09, 2026 at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Mets will call up Zach Thornton to pitch in Wednesday’s game against the Nationals, according to Carlos Mendoza. It is unclear whether he will get the start or pitch behind an opener, but he will be used in some capacity.
Thornton will pitch in place of the injured Clay Holmes, who suffered a fractured fibula after taking a line drive off the bat of Spencer Jones in his last start against the Yankees. Holmes is expected to miss significant time and not return until well into the summer, leaving the team in need of a new arm. Other options under consideration including using Tobias Myers (in a potential bullpen game) or calling up another prospect, such as Jack Wenninger or Jonah Tong.
Thornton started the year in Double-A Binghamton, posting a 3.60 ERA in five starts for the Rumble Ponies before being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. In two starts there, he posted a 2.25 ERA, allowing three earned runs across 12 innings pitched. He has struck out 40 batters across 37 innings this year between Double-A and Triple-A.
Thornton entered the year ranked No. 13 in the Mets’ farm system by MLB Pipeline, and No. 14 by Amazin’ Avenue. In his preview of the left-hander, Steve Sypa wrote:
The 6’3”, 170-pound left-hander throws from a high-three-quarter arm slot and has plenty of deception in his delivery with a funky, up-tempo delivery that incorporates an extremely long arm action through the back and a slingy, crossfire release. Despite all of the movement in his delivery, Thornton has above-average command of all of his pitches. He can pound the zone with pitches, throw borderline pitches to get batters to chase, and work to all quadrants of the zone with all of his pitches. While no one pitch that the left-hander throws is more than an average offering, his large repertoire keeps batters guessing and his impeccable command helps all of those pitches play up to their greatest potential. Coming into the 2025 season, he made attacking batters and putting them in pitcher’s counts earlier a goal, a strategy that paid major dividends for him.
Thornton throws a four-seam fastball and a two-seam fastball, and while the two pitches bleed into each other a great deal, they remain two distinct pitches and two distinct grips that the left-hander uses. Coming into the 2025 season, his fastball generally sat in the high-80s-to-low-90s, topping out as high as 95 MPH, but after doing off-season weight and strength training, his fastball has more consistently sat in the low-to-mid-90s. When thrown up in the zone, his four-seam fastball has averaged a slightly above-average induced vertical break a bit over 15 inches, while his two-seam fastball has roughly MLB average downward and horizontal movement.
The left-hander’s slider generally has been his most effective strikeout pitch. Like his fastball, off-season weight training during the winter of 2024-2025 gave his slider a little extra velocity, and the pitch now sits comfortably in the mid-to-high-80s, previously sitting more in the low-to-mid-80s. The pitch has slurvy two-plane break, and like his other breaking balls, works best down in the zone thanks to its vertical drop.
Rounding out his arsenal is a curveball and changeup. His curveball sits in the mid-70s and has big 11-5 break, while his changeup sits in the low-80s with late fade and tumble. Both pitches generally induce more weak ground balls or lazy fly balls than strikeouts; In 2024, the left-hander had a 49.5% groundball rate and 25.0% flyball rate, and while both have regressed, the 43.2% and 35.2% rates he posted, respectively, still make Thornton an effective pitcher.
It is worth noting that Thornton is not on the 40-man roster, so the team will have to make a move to make room for his return. There are several players who could be options to be transferred to the 60-day IL, including Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., neither of whom appears close to returning to big league action. Earlier today, the team transferred A.J. Minter to the 60-day IL to make room for Daniel Duarte, whom they recalled from Triple-A (while optioning Joey Gerber to Triple-A).
MESA, ARIZONA - MARCH 24: Manager Aaron Boone #17 high fives pitcher Yovanny Cruz #96 of the New York Yankees before a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park on March 24, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
While the Yankees’ bullpen wasn’t a real problem statistically over the first several weeks of the season, its weakness and relative lack of depth have reared their ugly head over the last week or two, blowing multiple inherited leads during a 2-7 road trip that saw the Yanks lose ground to the Rays in the early divisional race.
Well, after overworking said bullpen in the final two days of the Subway Series at Citi Field, the Yankees are adding another arm to the fray, selecting the contract of right-handed reliever Yovanny Cruz and optioning fill-in fifth-starter Elmer Rodríguez back to Triple-A ahead of Monday’s series opener against the rival Blue Jays.
Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves: • Optioned RHP Elmer Rodríguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. • Signed RHP Yovanny Cruz (#96) to a Major League contract and selected him to the active roster.
This move is the culmination of a tremendous rise for Cruz, whose MLB dreams seemed as far away as ever as recently as this offseason. He originally signed with the Chicago Cubs out of the Dominican Republic in August 2016 and slowly rose through their system, but stagnated after the COVID-19 pandemic due to injuries and struggles with command. He elected free agency after 2023 and bounced from the Padres’ system in 2024 to the Red Sox’s Double-A squad in 2025, pitching to a 3.54 ERA in 89 innings across both seasons, but walking 60 as he struggled to command a high-90s fastball.
After allowing just one run in 18.2 innings with Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, he was invited to Yankees’ spring training this February and lit up the radar gun, turning heads in the stands and in the clubhouse. Aaron Boone suggested he was seriously considered to break camp with the team, but was ultimately assigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he’s pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings with 23 strikeouts to just nine walks.
Cruz’s arsenal is centered around his truly electric fastball, which has touched 102 mph down in Scranton and consistently sits 99, while he complements it with a high-80s slider/cutter and the occasional splitter. His performance has actually waned a bit over the last two weeks after an incredible start, but the Yankees clearly don’t see it as inhibitive towards their belief that he can contribute in the bullpen.
The demotion of Rodríguez is interesting, as he allowed one run in 4.1 innings on Sunday in his third major league start. With no off days in the foreseeable future, the Yankees will need a fifth starter again on Friday against the AL East-leading Rays, and he cannot be recalled without an injury.
Could this be an indication that they’re willing to end Gerrit Cole’s rehab one start earlier than anticipated to make his long-awaited season debut? It doesn’t seem to be getting ruled out.
Yankees still discussing possibility of Cole pitching Friday at the Stadium vs. Rays, per Boone. “It’s on the table” but nothing official yet.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 16: Gavin Sheets #30 of the San Diego Padres reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on May 16, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For the second time this season, the San Diego Padres swept the Seattle Mariners. They did so in terrific fashion, outscoring their opponents 17-7. It was production the Friars desperately needed before heading into tonight’s series against the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lucas Giolito had an encouraging debut. He pitched five innings of one-hit ball before emerging for the sixth and failing to record an out. And, to be honest, it wasn’t totally his fault. Colt Emerson was walked on a ball four call that caught some of the plate. But, after that, the command fell off a bit and Giolito loaded the bases on three walks.
Yuki Matsui limited the damage, but not by much. The lefty gave up a walk to force in a run before allowing consecutive sacrifice flys to make the score, 7-3. He finally got out of the inning by striking out Cole Young.
But the story of the game (and the series) was Gavin Sheets’ incredible offense. That was apparent more so in this game than anywhere else, as the slugger went 3-for-3 with two walks, two homers and four RBIs. The Friars will need him to keep that up if they hope to beat the rival Los Angeles Dodgers this week.
Taking the mound
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD) v. Michael King (SD)
Yamamoto pitched great at the beginning of the year but has looked slightly worse for wear in his recent starts. He’s given up 15 runs in his last four outings. That’s still good for a 3.60 ERA, but he’ll be looking to right the ship after surrendering a season-high five runs to the San Francisco Giants in his last outing.
Limiting hard contact has been the biggest problem for Yamamoto. He allowed five home runs in that four-game span. In his last start he gave up three to the Giants. The Padres have faced him before and struggled but could take advantage of his recent trouble tonight.
King, on the other hand, has been fantastic this season. It’s been a return to normalcy after an injury-plagued 2025 season. He boasts a 2.63 ERA across nine starts.
Ironically, the name of the game has been limiting hard contact. King has only allowed four homers all year. It will be interesting to watch what happens when the slug-happy Dodgers lineup faces him tonight.
Batter up!
The lineup has worked well the last few days, and it seems likely that manager Craig Stammen will stick with it. Fernando Tatis Jr. has played a ton of second base. But the club may want him in the outfield for his defense against L.A.
Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Miguel Andujar, DH
Manny Machado, 3B
Gavin Sheets, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Jackson Merrill, CF
Ramón Laureano, LF
Sung-Mun Song, 2B
Rodolfo Durán, C
Sheets had himself a fantastic road trip, batting .625/.739/1.438 with a 2.177 OPS. Those almost feel fictional, but he’s really been that elite. The breakout is hopefully here to stay for this series.
Machado has swung a cold bat lately, but could return tonight against Yamamoto. The third baseman owns a .375 batting average and 1.194 OPS in his career against the right-hander (8 at-bats).
Relief corps
With Giolito’s debut going just about as well as it could have, the Friars only needed to use two of their relievers. Matsui and Bradgley Rodriguez covered the final four innings (two apiece), not allowing a hit and striking out five.
That leaves plenty available for game on against the Dodgers, with Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Ron Marinaccio, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and closer Mason Miller all fresh. All but Marinaccio and Peralta are high-leverage options that will likely be used tonight if the game is close.
After making five starts with Double-A Binghamton to start the 2026 season, Thornton moved up to Triple-A Syracuse, where he’s made two starts and pitched to a 2.25 ERA.
"He earned it," Mendoza said. "The way he’s been throwing the ball, especially at the Triple-A level. We like him as a lefty against this lineup. His ability to throw strikes, his pitchability.
"There were a lot of names, Jonah [Tong]was one of them obviously, but in the end we decided to go with Zach."
With Kodai Senga and Holmes on the IL, the Mets needed to fill a spot in the rotation. For now, the five-man group includes Freddy Peralta, McLean, Christian Scott, Thornton [potentially with an opener], and David Peterson, who has been pitching in a bulk reliever role with an opener in front of him.
Mendoza said that the Mets will take things "one outing at a time" with Thornton before deciding whether or not he stays in the majors.
Two days after calling right-handed pitcher Joey Gerber up from Triple-A Syracuse, the Mets have optioned him back to Syracuse and called up fellow right-handed reliever Daniel Duarte to replace him on the team’s active roster. Gerber did not get into either of the two games for which he was with the big league club, and Duarte exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract that forced the Mets to either call him up or risk losing him to another organization.
To make room for Duarte on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred left-handed reliever A.J. Minter to the 60-day injured list, a distinction that won’t have any effect on the veteran’s ability to return to the team if and when he proves to be healthy and effective.
Duarte last pitched in the big leagues in 2024 with the Twins, and he’s thrown a total of 38.1 innings as a major league player, the vast majority of which came with the Reds in 2023. In total, he has a 3.99 ERA and a 6.11 FIP as a major league pitcher, as he’s walked nearly as many batters as he’s struck out while surrendering too many home runs.
In 17.1 innings with Syracuse so far this year, Duarte has a 2.60 ERA and a 4.21 FIP with a 19.7 percent strikeout rate and a 12.7 percent walk rate. Given the Mets’ reluctance to remove Craig Kimbrel or Sean Manaea from their active roster to this point, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see Duarte removed from the roster within the next day or two as the Mets continue to churn fringe pitchers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (29-18) meet the San Diego Padres( 28-18) to start a three-game series between the NL West rivals. The Dodgers have won five in a row, including a three-game weekend sweep of the Angels. Starting pitchers are expected to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Dodgers, with a 3.60 ERA, and Michael King for the Padres, with a 2.63 ERA.
How to watch Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
Date: Monday, May 18
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT
Where: PETCO Park, San Diego, CA
TV Channels: Padres.TV Presented by UC San Diego Health, SportsNet LA
The Milwaukee Brewers (26-18) take on the Chicago Cubs (29-18) to start a three-game series between the teams with the two best NL Central records. The Cubs have lost four of their past six games, including two in a row to the Chicago White Sox. record. Starting pitchers are expected to be Brandon Sproat for Milwaukee, with a 5.75 ERA, and Shota Imanaga for Chicago, with a 2.32 ERA.
For the first time this season, the Dodgers and the Padres will meet in their fight for NL West supremacy. Currently, the two teams are separated by only a half game, with the Dodgers having one more win than the Padres with the same number of losses.
The Padres have used the Dodgers’ struggles to their advantage, being able to stay so close to them even though the Padres offense has been lackluster all season – specifically, the big three of Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill. The Padres have been hanging on with the strength of their bullpen and their starting rotation hanging in there.
Between those three aforementioned players, they have a combined OPS around .600. Machado and Merrill aren’t even reaching base a third of the time, and Tatis has yet to homer. The Padres’ run differential is +7 while the Dodgers’ is + 94. While the top of the Dodgers lineup has been better overall than the Padres, it is similar how the two offenses have been much more reliant on the rest of the lineup to power them to winning games.
The Dodgers have been finally dominating games like they should be. Yes, it was against the San Francisco Giants and Anaheim Angels, but the Dodgers are 5-0 in their last five games with a combined 39 runs scored, including one game in which they scored 15, their highest mark so far this season. The pitching staff only allowed five runs across that winning streak.
And so, this series with the Padres will be a test to see if the offense truly has gotten back on track. The series begins Monday night in San Diego with a matchup between Michael King and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Lifetime, Shohei Ohtani has seen King pretty well. He has a .429 BA, with three homers and a 1.681 OPS. Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernandez have all homers off of King as well. King is 3-2 on the season with a 2.63 ERA and 50 strikeouts.
The Padres are coming off of a sweep of the Mariners in Seattle, in a game where Gavin Sheets went 3-for-3 with two homers, a double, and two walks. Ty France went 3-for-4 with three RBI, and those two players have been some of the main contributors to the Padres’ success.
While the division won’t be won or lost on the back of this series alone, it could be a good indicator of the current direction of both teams – whether the Dodgers offense actually is back, and if the Padres big three can get hyped up and going at the plate.
The Toronto Blue Jays (21-25) open a four-game series against the New York Yankees (28-19). The Yankees lost the final two games of their Subway Series against the New York Mets. Scheduled starting pitchers are Patrick Corbin for Toronto, with a 3.93 ERA, and Ryan Weathers for New York, with a 3.00 ERA.
How to watch Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees
The upswing of the past few weeks has turned to a harsh downswing. The Yankees went on a terrible road trip last week, getting swept by the Brewers before losing two of three to both the Orioles and Mets — the first was an understandable blip on the radar, but the latter two are teams the Yankees are probably kicking themselves for not beating. The team also saw Anthony Volpe return from his brief descent into the minors after José Caballero got hurt, and Max Fried went to the IL with an elbow issue that will leave him on the shelf for an indefinite amount of time. Altogether, it was certainly a contender for the worst week of the season thus far.
On top of all of this, the Yankees have a clear bullpen issue starting to cascade. David Bednar’s habit of getting himself in trouble before converting the save has turned into getting in trouble and blowing the save, as his ERA spiked over five after giving up a game-tying three run shot to the Mets on Sunday. The pieces meant to bridge the gap to him have also been faulty, and at this rate the retooling of the ‘pen that Brian Cashman did at last season’s deadline is going to have to be dwarfed in scale this year. Can the Yankees get a jumpstart on the market, or will the muddied field of contenders prove to make things too difficult? Will the rotation settle down without Fried and with a shaky Carlos Rodón still finding his footing? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.
Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of May 21st will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
The Braves start a four-game series in Miami today, before returning home for a weekend series. JR Ritchie will take the mound for Atlanta, while Max Meyer will start for Miami.
Walt Weiss is putting Austin Riley back into the cleanup spot, as he has shown some life of late after some early season struggles. Michael Harris follows Austin, batting fifth, as Dubon and Yastrzemski fill out the outfield. Dominic Smith also mans the DH spot, as Drake Baldwin starts at catcher.