Mining the News (6/5/25)
American League
Astros
• Jacob Melton will not play every game, and when he does, it’ll be against righties.
“We’re taking it a little slow with the groin. We were playing [Jacob Melton] four days a week in the minor leagues and it kind of fits here,” Brown told the team’s pregame radio show.
“He’s probably going to come up here and face right-handers, gives us that left-hand bat we’ve been looking for. We don’t have to play him here every day, but we’re gradually going to break him in and see what he can do.”
Blue Jays
• Andrés Giménez will be the everyday second baseman, Ernie Clement moves to third, and Addison Barger to the outfield.
Giménez, who went on the IL with a right quad strain on May 9, was in the No. 9 spot on Tuesday. The three-time Gold Glover is expected to play “pretty close to every day” at second base, according to manager John Schneider. That means Ernie Clement — who filled in brilliantly for Giménez at second — will return to third base for most of his starts, while Addison Barger should see more time in right field after taking over third in Giménez’s absence.
“At first it’ll be pretty close to every day,” Schneider said of the lefty-hitting Giménez. “With two lefties [starting for the Phillies], we’ll probably give him one day off this series, just to kind of get his feet underneath him a little bit. But as he progresses, yeah, he’s good. He’s [pretty much] an everyday player for us.”
Rangers
• The outfield situation will be set by production, not seniority.
The decision to bench García was part of the Rangers’ evolving approach under president of baseball operations Chris Young. He emphasized that playing time in a crowded outfield that now includes Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford, Alejandro Osuna, Sam Haggerty and García will be determined by production, not reputation.
Being benched could have been a shock for García, a player with an impressive track record who has delivered at the highest levels. But Bochy said García approached it with professionalism and determination during the adjustment period.
White Sox
• Catching prospect Kyle Teel has been working at first base.
Catcher Kyle Teel, who was named Minor League position player of May for White Sox, said he also has been working at first base taking ground balls pregame the last couple of days.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) June 2, 2025
National League
Braves
• Marcell Ozuna will play through a hip injury.
Something to monitor…
Alex Anthopoulos says Marcell Ozuna is playing through a hip injury that will need to be managed for the rest of the season.
“It’s one of those things he is going to have to manage and get to the offseason.” #Braves pic.twitter.com/ce87xGZmjB— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) June 2, 2025
Giants
• Bryce Eldridge’s first base defense is holding him back.
While Eldridge is viewed as an advanced hitter, he’s still learning the ins and outs of first base, a position he only started to play full time last year. Eldridge has been working hard to get up to speed defensively, but the Giants want to make sure he gets enough reps and is a capable fielder there before they consider calling him up to the big leagues.
Phillies
• Andrew Painter will debut in the majors after the All-Star game.
The plan has always been for Painter to make his MLB debut in “July-ish.” Thomson may have provided a bit more clarity recently on when exactly we might see Painter in the big leagues.
While the situation remains fluid, Thomson indicated that the club plans to use the All-Star break — which runs from July 14-17 — to let Painter rest and recharge.
Asked if Painter could make his MLB debut prior to that stretch, Thomson said: “I don’t think so.”
• Taijuan Walker will permanently move to the bullpen.
The club also announced on Sunday that Mick Abel (No. 8 prospect) will rejoin the rotation on Thursday, moving Taijuan Walker to a permanent bullpen role. Abel, who tossed six scoreless innings in his May 18 MLB debut, is 6-2 with a 2.21 ERA in 10 starts with Lehigh Valley this season.
Pirates
• Nick Gonzales will get starts at shortstop. In most formats, he’s only qualified at shortstop.
Gonzales can also bounce around as needed. Third base isn’t in the mix right now, but half of Gonzales’ reps during his rehab assignment were at shortstop. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has provided stability at that spot, but it’s worth keeping in mind as the Pirates find themselves with a bit of a logjam in the infield.
Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
I think it should say Gimenez will play 2B, not SS.
We love to make fun of playing 1B and especially playing that absolutely fantastic clip from Moneyball, but I just watched the Rangers lose a game in large part because Josh Smith (not a 1B) was filling in at 1B and botched a pretty routine play.
Rays’ scored one in the 9th to tie it up and had bases loaded with 2 outs. Taylor Walls was late on a pretty much middle/middle 94.5 mph fastball and hit an 88.5 mph routine grounder to 2B. But Smith (who was off the bag with the bases jammed) decided to try to make a play on it. He was nowhere close to actually getting to it but he had pulled himself so far off the base that there was zero chance of him getting back to 1B for what should have been an easy out. Meanwhile, Robert Garcia was not covering himself in glory by not breaking for 1B and covering. He was nowhere close to getting there in time. Meanwhile #2, Junior Caminero never stopped running from 2B and when Semien double-clutched the throw to 1B (you know, because there was nobody there), Caminero beat the throw to the plate and scored the winning run.
So the Rangers lost on what should have been a very routine grounder to 2B that should have ended the game.
Not the 1st mistake Smith has made at 1B either. He has a habit of planting his foot in the middle of the base to receive throws and a couple weeks ago he had a collision with the Red Sox 1B (I think it was Romy Gonzalez) because of it.
There was also the play a week and a half ago where the A’s 1B (whoever was filling in after Kurtz got hurt) was called for interference on what was a pretty routine line drive to the OF and he was just standing there right in the base path when the runner turned 1B. Got called for interference and the runner was awarded 2B even though he had actually been thrown out.
You do kind of need to know what you’re doing over there at 1B
Sorry, check that – the Rays had scored one in the ninth to get themselves only 1 down with the bases loaded and 2 outs. They obviously hadn’t tied it up or the runner on 2nd wouldn’t have mattered. . . .
In most formats Gonzales is qualified at 2B his primary position last year