Mining the News (5/20/26)

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American League

Blue Jays

• Sounds like Spencer Miles will be throwing bulk innings at a regular interval.

Meanwhile, Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles is slated to pitch the bulk of the innings in the Blue Jays vacant rotation spot for the time being, either as a starter or behind an opener.

“You don’t want to move him back and forth too much. If we’re going to do it, try to be consistent with it,” said Schneider before the Blue Jays game against the New York Yankees on Monday.

In his last appearance, he threw 56 pitches across 3.2 IP. Miles has been solid this season with a 2.55 ERA (3.24 xFIP), 1.09 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, and 52% GB%. Similar rate stats to Nathan Eovaldi. Nice upside play.

Mariners

• Brendan Donovan will return to the team in a utility role.

The first order will be getting him healthy, and his IL stint is expected to be well beyond the minimum stay. Bigger picture, how Donovan navigates the residual symptoms of his offseason sports hernia surgery will remain a legitimate condition that the Mariners will monitor.

Because when he does return, it’s expected that he’ll transition into a utility role that will include time at designated hitter.

Both would come with some complications, such as how Donovan’s core area will handle more running in the outfield, and that the club already has a DH platoon between Dominic Canzone and Rob Refsnyder. That tandem has a combined .627 OPS that ranks 24th at the position, though much of that is lagged by Refsnyder’s ongoing struggles.

“The idea that of the team that we think we’ll have in August or September was one that was more than just nine deep,” Hollander said, “was that guys could rotate and play different spots, that they would all be better for the idea that they could get a DH day, get an off-day, move around the field to do different things.”

His fantasy value will come down to how much he’ll play.

• Colt Emerson has dealt with a wrist issue in AAA.

Even at Tacoma, Emerson experienced challenges, though they might’ve been compounded by a left wrist issue that necessitated a cortisone shot and sidelined him for five days in late April.

The only reason I brought it up is that it might explain why Emerson was not performing as well in AAA. There could be some upside when he’s healthy.

Orioles

• Jackson Holliday is prepping to play some third base.

All jokes aside, Holliday and the Orioles are looking forward to making good use of the former No. 1 overall Draft pick’s superb athleticism. After being reinstated from the injured list on Monday, Holliday made his season debut Tuesday at his primary position of second base, batting seventh. However, Holliday began manning the hot corner during his most recent rehab assignment and played five games there before his activation. He’s never played third base in an MLB game, but that could change soon.

“I would like to think maybe, if I’m going out there and taking grounders and rehabbing over there,” Holliday said when asked if he expects to play third before the Rays series ends Wednesday. “I’ll be as ready as I can be, I guess. If that’s what’s called upon me, and I’ll give it all I got.

While the position flexibility will help, Jackson needs to find a way to hit major league pitching.

Twins

• Royce Lewis’s struggles might be related to a knee he sprained earlier this year.

Lewis got off to a decent start to the season and carried an .822 OPS when he suffered a right knee sprain on April 9. Since returning from the injured list on April 21, however, he has struggled mightily. He has a .132/.189/.191 line in that span with 25 strikeouts in 74 plate appearances.

National League

Mets

• When Jorge Polanco returns from the IL, he’ll continue to play in pain.

Jorge Polanco will travel with the Mets to Washington to continue partaking in baseball activities. Mendoza said Sunday that Polanco’s return will come down to pain tolerance. “He’s going to be feeling it,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully it goes away, but it’s something he’s probably going to have to manage.”

Nationals

• In AAA, Dylan Crews worked on his swing decisions and mechanics.

When Crews arrived in Rochester, the swing mechanics needed work. He went down into his legs and then came back out of them. His head moved a lot as he swung the bat. He wasn’t as upright as he needed to be. The downstream effects were significant: He struggled to hit pitches up in the zone, and couldn’t get the ball in the air consistently.

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“He knew he needed to make some changes,” LeCroy said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “That’s the big thing. He evaluated himself correctly.”

Over the next three weeks, the work began to show up in the cages. That, several of the organization’s officials said, was because he was still working on the swing decisions. At times, too, he reverted to old habits that he appeared to have fixed in the cages.

• Brady House needs to figure out a way to hit right-handed pitching in AAA.

House hit .354 with a .988 OPS against lefties, but just .174 with a .550 OPS against right-handed pitching. The Nationals don’t want to limit his at-bats (now or in the future) exclusively to the short side of a platoon, so they need him to learn how to hit righties in Rochester.

Reds

• Top prospect Edwin Arroyo is getting some reps at third base.

Finding a spot where Arroyo could play daily for Cincinnati could be a challenge. A natural and slick-fielding shortstop blocked by two-time All-Star Elly De La Cruz at the big league level, he also plays second base and began appearing in games this season at third base.

The organization appears to want to give Arroyo more seasoning before considering a callup.

“Third is learning a new position for him. He is progressing and it just takes time,” Krall said. “He’s still a young player that’s got a little over a month at Triple-A, so it’s trying to get him to continue to develop, maybe in a spot that’s not his normal position.”

Ke’Bryan Hayes and his .420 OPS might be short for the league.

• Chris Paddack will get another start.

The Reds will need someone on Friday and it looks like Paddack earned another turn.

“He’s going to start again in five or six days,” Francona said.

He made several changes in his first start, like dropping his sinker and slider. Here are the usages and results for his pitches.

While the changeup is the only good swing-and-miss pitch, the new combination is either a high groundball (change and curve) or a high flyball (four-seam and cutter) pitch. Hopefully, he can generate some weak contact after getting hit around for years (career 1.5 HR/9, .292 BABIP).