The Royals announced they have placed pitcher Cole Ragans on the 15-day Injured List with left elbow impingement. Ragans exited his start on Wednesday after four innings with what was reported as soreness and tightness in tricep and the back of his elbow. Anne Rogers reported he had “valgus extension overload”, also known as “pitcher’s elbow” that can result from repetitive throwing. Yordano Ventura suffered a similar injury in 2014 and missed one start. Bailey Falter is also suffering from the same injury and has been out since April 3.

Ragans had twice had Tommy John surgery in his career – in 2018 and 2019, when he was with the Rangers. He told reporters on Wednesday, “I know what I’ve been through, the elbow stuff. I know it’s not what I’ve been through before.” Ragans has battled injuries throughout much of his career so far, missing half of last season with a rotator cuff strain.

To replace Ragans in the rotation, the Royals recalled pitcher Stephen Kolek, who gave the Royals six innings on Tuesday, allowing just three runs. In six starts with the Royals over the last two seasons Kolek has given them six Quality Starts, defined as outings with six or more innings, with three or fewer runs allowed.

The Royals also recalled pitcher Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha and returned Eric Cerantola to the Storm Chasers. Cerantola made his Major League debut on Wednesday, and appeared in two games this week, allowing three runs in three innings. Cruz has given up eight runs with seven strikeouts and four walks in five innings in a previous stint with the Royals this season.

There are five San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball teams in-season right now — the Dominican Summer League season doesn’t start for a few more weeks — and all five were in action on Thursday. It was a fun, fun day, so let’s jump straight into it.

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

A bit of a catcher carousel on the farm. Major Leaguer Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) began a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento and, in return, Sacramento returned Ty Hanchey to High-A Eugene. Eugene also activated Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL) off the Injured List and, with those 2 returning, released Luke Shliger, their 6th-round pick in 2023. Completing the carousel was Zach Morgan, who was moved from AA Richmond to Sacramento.

Richmond also placed RHP Brad Deppermann on the 7-Day IL, while welcoming in LHP Dale Stanavich, who was moved up from the Arizona Complex League as he looks to get his season actually started.

AAA Sacramento (19-15)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 6-3
Box score

The Giants offense is catastrophically awful. You know the things I’m about to tell you, but I’m telling you them anyway, for emphasis: the Giants are below league average in batting average; the Giants are dead last in on-base percentage; the Giants are 28th in slugging percentage; the Giants are dead last in runs per game by more than half a run; the Giants are dead last in home runs hit, with 7 different teams at least doubling their total.

They’ve already called on their reinforcements in Sacramento when they called up Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) and Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) on Monday. But now there are new reinforcements on the way, as Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) began his rehab assignment on Thursday. Playing at designated hitter, Susac picked up right where he left off in the Majors before getting injured: he came to the plate 4 times, he left with a hit 3 times, and he cleared the fence 2 times.

Suffice to say, Susac’s rehab isn’t going to last very long if it looks like that, and the Giants offense stands to benefit from his return. I don’t envy Tony Vitello figuring out how to make the Susac/Rodríguez/Patrick Bailey catcher triad work, but sadly I’m not getting paid millions of dollars to make those decisions. Either way, it will be great seeing Susac back in San Francisco, and my guess is he’ll be activated by the time the Giants start their series with the Dodgers on Monday.

He wasn’t the only reinforcement to go deep, either, as center fielder Harrison Bader led off the first inning with a big fly, which was great to see. Bader, who finished 1-4 with a strikeout, is deeper into his rehab than Susac — this was his 3rd game with the River Cats — but is probably further away from getting activated. He professed a desire to have a lengthy rehab stint to make up for the time he lost in Spring Training, and given how bad he was before hitting the IL this year, I’m guessing the Giants are more than inclined to accommodate that.

It wasn’t just the Major Leaguers who did work, though, as third baseman Buddy Kennedy had yet another delightful game, hitting 2-4 with both a home run and a double, giving him dingers on back-to-back days.

Kennedy has been consistently excellent all year, and now has a .920 OPS, a 147 wRC+, and just a 13.7% strikeout rate. What a nice emergency depth piece he is to have around.

On the pitching front, LHP John Michael Bertrand did something you very rarely see in this era: he pitched deep into a game and didn’t record a strikeout. Bertrand went a whole 6.1 innings in this one, and didn’t strike out any of the 27 batters that he faced. He had strong control all game, with just 1 walk issued, but allowed 7 hits (including a home run), which tagged him for 3 earned runs.

A 28-year old who was taken in the 10th round in 2022, Bertrand has the funkiness and ground ball rate (50.9%) to potentially get outs at the next level, but it still is jarring seeing someone strike out so few people. On the year, he’s struck out just 17 of 152 batters, en route to a 4.64 ERA and a 6.18 FIP.

RHP Dylan Smith continued his strong season, as he tossed 1.2 no-hit innings with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. The 2021 3rd-round pick by the Tigers, who was acquired at the start of the season, is down to a 2.13 ERA and a 3.40 FIP. He’s walking way too many batters (5.7 per 9 innings), but striking out quite a few as well (10.7 per 9), while running a 53.8% ground ball rate. That underscores how good he’s been, as all of the damage against him came in 1 blow up performance; he hasn’t allowed a run in his other 8 appearances. He’s on the 40-man roster, so could be an option in the MLB bullpen soon.

AA Richmond (23-6)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 5-4
Box score

A day after beating Akron 5-4 thanks to a magical 9th inning rally, Richmond again beat Akron 5-4 …. this time while withstanding a nearly-magical 9th inning rally by their opponent.

Fresh off of being named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for April, RHP Darien Smith had his worst start of the year … which highlighted just how great his season has been, because it was a pretty nice start!

Smith allowed 2 runs in 4.2 innings, which marked the 1st time this year he’s ceded multiple runs in a game. But he did a decent job throwing strikes, and had a delightful 6 strikeouts against just 1 walk. The damage came on the hit front, where he only gave up 4, but that included both a home run and a double.

That was a change of pace for Smith, a 26-year old undrafted free agent in his 2nd season. He’s had some issues with walks this year, but has mostly done his damage by limiting hits: in 29.2 innings this season, the Southeastern alum had allowed just 18 hits. He’s only ceded 4 extra-base hits all year, though 3 of them have been home runs, which is part of why his FIP (4.18) is so dramatically behind his majestic ERA (1.52).

Smith gave way to LHP Dale Stanavich, who made his Richmond debut. Stanavich, a 26-year old who was taken in the 8th round in 2022 by the Marlins, signed a Minor League deal with the Giants at the start of the season, and took a few weeks to debut. He made a pair of appearances in the ACL, before getting sent up to AA, a level he excelled at last year before running into troubles in AAA.

It was strikeouts that led Stanavich to success in AA: between stints there in 2024 and 2025, he had a stunning 100 strikeouts in just 68 innings. And the switch from the Southern League to the Eastern League didn’t seem to change that: in Stanavich’s Squirrels debut he faced 5 batters and struck out 4 of them, with the other being a walk. That’ll play!

Also nice relief outings from RHPs Manuel Mercedes and Dylan Hecht, who have been having tough seasons, while RHP Cameron Pferrer had another difficult outing that ballooned his ERA to double digits.

No crazy days on offense, but a lot of good ones. There were 5 different players in the lineup who reached base multiple times, including a trio of hitters who had multi-hit games: designated hitter Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL), shortstop Aeverson Arteaga, and catcher Adrián Sugastey.

Harber hit 2-4 with a double and 2 strikeouts, as he continues to get up to speed following a lengthy injury absence to start the season. Not surprisingly, Harber has been striking out quite a bit — a predictable situation given his tardiness to start the season, and the fact that swing-and-miss has always been a little bit of a struggle for him. He’s rocking a 32.7% strikeout rate to start the year, and that will certainly need to come down at some point. But the strikeouts aren’t keeping him from racking up the hits: he has a .327 batting average, and in 11 games already has 7 doubles (though he’s still looking for his 1st AA home run).

Arteaga hit 2-3 with a double, though he also committed his 4th error of the season. The stunning renaissance continues for the 23-year old, who has raised his year-over-year OPS by more than 400 points, from .508 to .929, and his wRC+ by nearly 100 points, from 49 to 144. What a recovery!

As for Sugastey, he hit 2-4 as he continues to show great bat-to-ball skills. That’s never been a question for the 23-year old from Panama, but his struggles to hit for power and draw walks have been. Those issues remain this year, which is how he has just a .669 OPS and a 72 wRC+ despite a .267 batting average.

High-A Eugene (22-7)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 3-2
Box score

Eugene has been an exciting team this year, but this was a boring game. Not a lot to highlight or talk about. The best performance came from the piggy-backing starter, RHP Niko Mazza, who continues to show off dramatic improvements with his strikeout stuff. Mazza struck out a whopping 7 batters in just 3.2 innings, and now has 12.7 Ks per 9 innings … after having just 8.7 in his debut last year at a lower level. Where did that come from?!

Some of it has come from just committing to being more wild, it seems, as Mazza has taken a step backwards in the control department, where he already wasn’t good. That was certainly the case on Thursday, when he walked 4 batters, which brought his walks per 9 up to a staggering 7.4. He is certainly living on the extremes of not putting the ball in play, for better and for worse!

If Mazza can control the walks, he’ll become very, very good, as the 2024 8th-round pick has been nearly unhittable this season. He allowed just 1 hit in his 3.2 scoreless innings, and has now allowed just 12 hits in 22 innings. That’s resulted in a stellar 2.86 ERA, though the walks have pushed his FIP to 4.12.

Things weren’t so good for the 1st starter, LHP Tyler Switalski. The 22-year old struck out 5 batters in just 3.2 innings, but that’s where the good news ended, as he also allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs. After being virtually unhittable to start the year, the 2024 16th-round selection has fallen on some hard times. Check the dramatic splits:

First 3 games: 12 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 22 strikeouts
Next 3 games: 14.1 innings, 17 hits, 10 runs, 14 strikeouts

Most notably, Switalski has now given up 4 home runs, after allowing just 3 all of last year, which was his debut season. Still and all, it’s been a very encouraging year for the West Virginia alum, who has a 3.42 ERA and a 4.14 FIP. After striking out just 7.6 batters per 9 innings last year (in Low and High-A), Switalski has pumped that number all the way up to 12.3 … while also lowering his walks per 9 from 3.7 to 3.1.

Not much on offense, where the Ems only had 5 hits on the day. First baseman Jakob Christian (No. 40 CPL) had the only extra-base hit, as he went 1-4 with a double and a strikeout, as he continues to hit the ground running. Christian missed the 1st month of the year with an injury, but has had no rust to shake off: through 5 games, he’s hitting 7-14 with 4 doubles, 2 walks, and just 3 strikeouts. The strikeouts are the thing to keep an eye on: the 2024 5th-round pick can do serious damage with his right-handed bat, but has had a huge strikeout issue so far in his career.

Third baseman Walker Martin had a nice game, hitting 1-3 with a walk and his 8th stolen base of the year, though he also struck out once and committed his 10th error of the season. After a nice start to the season, his numbers have started to head in the wrong direction, as he has a .722 OPS, a 106 wRC+, and a 31.6% strikeout rate.

Low-A San Jose (18-12)

San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 12-8
Box score

Thursday was a mixed bag for the Baby Giants, as it was a game where one of their stars shone very, very, very brightly …. while one of their other stars almost single-handedly lost them the game.

Let’s start with the bad, which transpired on the mound: in his 1st start since an 8-strikeout masterpiece, RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL) was unable to make it out of the 1st inning. He gave up a single on his very 1st pitch, and that was a sign of what was to come: the next batter homered, the next batter doubled, the next batter homered, the next batter singled, and then Cayama walked 2 to load the bases. He finally settled in with a pair of ground outs — both of which scored runs — before allowing another walk, throwing a wild pitch, issuing another walk, and getting yanked from the game.

In all, Cayama gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 7 runs in just 0.2 innings, didn’t record a strikeout, and threw just 20 of 35 pitches for strikes. And with that, his ERA nearly doubled in 1 game. Bad games happen, though, and if you want to know how much of an outlier this one was, Cayama entered the contest with 30 strikeouts against just 1 walk. Time to shake it off.

But the great performance was nearly as great as Cayama’s blow up was bad, and it came from the predictable player: shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL). Level continued his assault on Cal League pitchers, going 2-3 with a 3-run home run, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout.

The 19-year old switch-hitter has now had multiple hits in 13 of the 25 games he’s played in this year, and is at or near the top of the Cal League ranks in nearly every statistical category. A .997 OPS and a 147 wRC+ are blissful as is, but they only get better when you add in the 16.7% strikeout rate, the strong defense at shortstop, and the whole being more than 2 years younger than his average peer thing.

You really couldn’t ask for a better start to the season than the one Level has had, and his 16 extra-base hits have left no doubt that his lack of height does not mean a lack of power. I’m guessing the Giants will be plenty patient with him, but I’m also guessing the “when do we promote this guy?” discussions have already commenced.

The other star was someone who is heating up in a huge way: third baseman Dario Reynoso, who hit 1-2 with a solo home run and 2 walks. After failing to go deep in his 1st 30 games with San Jose, Reynoso has now put the ball over the fence 4 times in the last 6 games, including 3 days in a row. He’s on fire!

The recently-turned 21-year old is rocking a 1.011 OPS and a 157 wRC+, with a hilarious 22.1% walk rate (high walk rates have always been a part of his profile). His strikeout rate is a still-concerning 29.5%, though it’s worth noting that that figure represents a notable improvement over last year at both Low-A and the ACL.

Right fielder Jose Astudillo, on the other hand, has never had a strikeout issue, and that continued on Thursday, when he went 2-3 with a hit by pitch. A recently-turned 22-year old from Venezuela, Astudillo started the season late but has hit the ground running: in 5 games, he’s 7-18 with 2 walks and just 1 strikeout, though he’s still searching for his 1st extra-base hit.

Those were the stars, as no one really had a great game on the mound after Cayama’s brutal start. RHP Ben Bybee had a nice game though, in his 2nd career outing. It wasn’t as good as his professional debut — 3 no-hit innings is hard to top — but last year’s 8th-round selection showed off some nice stuff by striking out 4 batters in 3.1 innings. The 22-year old from Arkansas also allowed 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run, and threw 29 of 43 pitches for strikes.

Arizona Complex League (1-3)

ACL Giants beat the ACL Reds 7-6 (11 innings)
Box score

It has taken no time at all for shortstop Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) to prove that he is the real deal. The real deal who deserved to be the No. 1 ranked international signee this year. The real deal who deserved to skip the Dominican Summer League and come to the states as a 17-year old. The real deal who is worth dreaming on.

Hernández’s 4th professional game was his best, as he hit 3-5, drew a walk, and smashed a solo home run. He’s 5-16 with 3 home runs, 2 walks, and just 2 strikeouts to start his career. That seems …. really good. Really good for a 19-year old first baseman, but really good for a defensively-gifted shortstop who turned 17 in December. As with Jhonny Level’s hot opening weeks, we’re going to need to see this maintain for a while before we start dreaming about early promotions, but … my goodness. You just don’t see this often at all.

Hernández was far and away the bright spot in this game, as he was the only player with an extra-base hit. But there were other good performances as well. Catcher Yohendry Sanchez hit 2-5 with a walk and a strikeout, as the 19-year old is 5-9 to start his stateside career. Third baseman Yulian Barreto went 1-4 with a walk, a hit by pitch, and a strikeout (though he also had an error), and is 5-12 with 2 walks and 2 hit by pitches as the 18-year old begins his 2nd season, and his first in the US.

Second baseman Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) hit 1-4 with a strikeout as he tries to shake off the rust of missing a chunk of the spring with a hamstring injury. The 18-year old switch-hitter has been slow-played to start the year due to that injury, as he’s yet to play a full game. This was the 1st time in his career that he played a defensive position other than shortstop, as he and Hernández are going to split time at the six, though it’s worth noting that González is probably the strongest defensive shortstop in the system.

Only 1 pitching day that stood out, but it sure did stand out, as RHP Chen-Hsun Lee was dynamic. A 24-year old from Taiwan, Lee is finally healthy: the Giants signed him in 2023, but he appeared in just 4 games before being shut down, and missed all of 2024 and 2025. He struggled in his 2026 debut, but not in his follow-up on Thursday, when he allowed just 1 hit in 3 scoreless innings, while striking out 6 batters. Yup, that works!

Home run tracker

5 — Jhonny Level — [Low-A]
4 — Dario Reynoso — [Low-A]
3 — Buddy Kennedy — [AAA]
3 — Luis Hernández — [ACL]
2 — Daniel Susac x2 — [AAA]
1 — Harrison Bader — [AAA]

Friday schedule

Sacramento: 6:45 p.m. PT vs. Reno (SP: Carson Whisenhunt)
Richmond: 4:05 p.m. PT vs. Akron (SP: Cesar Perdomo)
Eugene: 6:35 p.m. PT vs. Vancouver (SP: Luis De La Torre)
San Jose: 7:00 p.m. PT vs. Fresno (SP: Braydon Risley)

Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV

After an uneven .500 road trip, the Dodgers return home to Chavez Ravine to welcome one of the best teams in MLB, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are tied with the surging Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.

The Dodgers offense, who has been hot and cold, will start off with a tough challenge right off the bat. The Braves will send Chris Sale to the mound on Friday night. Sale is 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA and has allowed one run or fewer over at least six innings in six of his seven starts this season, including his last outing in Colorado when he allowed one run on three hits with a season high 11 strikeouts. Over his last four starts, Sale is 4-0 with 33 strikeouts and just seven walks. It will be a real test for the offense which is coming off a game in which they scored 12 runs but still isn’t quite firing on all cylinders.

Emmet Sheehan will take the mound for the Dodgers and is coming off a start in which he allowed three earned runs in the first inning against St. Louis. He has one career start against the Braves which was in 2023 where he allowed one run on three hits over four innings.

Braves first baseman Matt Olson is leading the National League in homers, with four of his 13 coming in the last six games. Second baseman Ozzie Albies has been hot as of late, owning a .386 BA with a 1.115 OPS over his last 15 games. The Braves as a team lead the NL in home runs with 55.

Some things could be in the Dodgers’ favor. The Braves are coming off their first series loss of the season to the Mariners in Seattle this week. Atlanta also hasn’t fared well at Dodger Stadium in recent years, with the Dodgers taking 21 of 27 games, including playoffs. The Braves swept the Dodgers in 2023 at Dodger Stadium but have lost their last seven games there. Chris Sale also hasn’t historically performed well against the Dodgers, having a 1-2 record with a 6.65 ERA lifetime, and in his two starts in L.A. he’s 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Braves
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

What a week for the Cincinnati Reds, eh?

They got trounced by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the series opener at PNC Park last Friday only to wake up Saturday, walk seven batters in a row, and allow 17 runs in a loss. They wrapped up getting swept in that three-game series on Sunday only to head to Chicago and get walked-off in three straight games to begin that series.

In the process, they lost closer Emilio Pagan to a hamstring injury that’ll keep him out for up to two months. Brandon Williamson’s shoulder issue turned out to be significant enough that he was moved to the 60-day IL. Then, on Thursday, Rhett Lowder exited early from his start after feeling ‘clicking’ in his right shoulder, and the Reds wrapped that game with a loss to secure a winless seven-game road trip.

Woof!

Friday, finally, brings a bit of welcome good news. The Reds officially got Nick Lodolo back off the injured list after clearing all his blister hurdles, and he’ll make his first start of the year in Great American Ball Park against the Houston Astros on Friday evening.

Jose Franco was optioned to AAA to make way for Lodolo, the Reds announced.

Getting Lodolo back is obviously welcome news on any level. The 28 year old had a career year (so far) in 2025, logging 156.2 IP of 3.33 ERA, 3.81 FIP ball while posting a career-best 5.03 K/BB. Baseball Reference valued that work at 4.7 bWAR, and that’s the kind of pitcher that can almost singlehandedly turn around a pitching staff – something the Reds desperately need right now as they battle through this cascade of injuries.

If there’s another silver lining here, it’s that Lowder – who was set for an MRI today – was not the arm that was optioned to make way for Lodolo. Fingers crossed that’s an indication that whatever he’s dealing with is minor enough, since anything significant would’ve likely meant he’d be heading to the IL immediately, too.

(Or they’re just waiting for a second opinion before dropping that awful news on us – we shall see.)

Anyway, Nick is back, that’s a good thing, and here’s how the Reds will line up for tonight’s series opener back home: