Mining the News (7/21/26)

Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Note: Any noted rostership rates come from the NFBC RotoWire Online Championship, the same rates we use on the FanGraphs Player Rater. For reference, these leagues are 12-team Roto leagues with 30-man rosters (2 C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT, 9 P) and weekly add/drops. This rate can be compared to other rostership rates found in this article.

American League

Angels

• Adam Frazier started his rehab assignment.

INF Adam Frazier
Injury: Right elbow inflammation
IL date: June 8 (10-day IL, retroactive to June 6)
Expected return: July
Status: Started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake on July 19. Went 0-for-3 while playing second base.

Frazier is irrelevant once he returns. The problem is that the Angels can’t help themselves from playing Frazier, so I could see him cut into the playing time of Vaughn Grissom and/or Denzer Guzman.

Astros

• Hayden Wesneski should join the rotation within the week.

RHP Hayden Wesneski
Injury: Torn ulnar collateral ligament in right elbow
IL date: March 25 (transferred to 60-day on March 30)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Could return to the Astros’ rotation July 24 at the White Sox or make one more rehab start at Triple-A Sugar Land.

Athletics

• Jacob Lopez made some adjustments to throw more strikes.

There are always some mechanical adjustments and tweaks a pitcher works on back down in the Minors. For Lopez, though, his key to getting back on track was simple.

“Just pounding the strike zone,” Lopez said. “Today, I walked two guys in the first inning, but I think I did a decent job of getting back to throwing strikes.”

In his return to the majors, he posted a 38.1% Ball% (equivalent to a 3.6 BB/9) after having a 40.1% Ball% (equivalent to a 4.3 BB/9) before getting demoted.

Blue Jays

• Jesús Sánchez could start rehab games soon.

OF Jesús Sánchez
Injury: Right ankle sprain
IL date: June 27 (10-day IL)
Expected return: Potentially late July
Status: Has started running the bases and could be in rehab games by the end of this week.

Sanchez is only rostered in 19% of leagues and should provide some power once he returns. He’ll likely be on the strong side of a platoon once off the IL. When Sanchez was on the IL, Nathan Lukes (.742 OPS, 10% rostered) went from starting every game to being platooned with Myles Straw. When Sanchez returns, Lukes might see his value increase with Straw moving back to a platoon with Sanchez.

Guardians

• Steven Kwan has given up on hitting home runs and will go for batting average.

Beyond how he’s been pitched, Kwan noted some cues he previously leaned on haven’t worked the way they did several years ago. His swing hasn’t been where he wants it. There have been mechanical things he’s worked on. Kwan is past the right wrist issue that plagued him last summer, but it created some bad habits.

He’s had to get back to square one.

“There was probably a little fragment of ego in there too,” Kwan said, “where it’s like, ‘I can still pull the ball. I can still hit homers.’ I probably had that as my identity for a little too long, and it might still be in there.

“But for right now, where I am, I had to devolve back to, ‘OK let’s just keep the angles down low, walk, see pitches,’ and just kind of go from there.”

At least he’s picking a lane he can be good at: hitting line drives to the opposite field.

Mariners

• Rob Refsnyder started his rehab assignment.

DH/OF Rob Refsnyder
Injury: Right knee inflammation
IL date: June 29 (10-day IL, retroactive to June 27)
Expected return: End of July or early August
Status: Began rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma on July 18. Recently made mechanical changes with hopes that it would address discomfort he’s been dealing with in both knees as far back as April.

Refsnyder is fantasy irrelevant since he only occupies the short side of a platoon. The deal is that since he’s been on the IL, Dominic Canzone started against more lefties, and that advantage may disappear. While Canzone has struggled against lefties in the past (career .676 vs LHP), he does have a .910 OPS against them this season in 35 PA.

Rays

• Steven Matz is only making one-inning appearances in his rehab.

LHP Steven Matz
Injury: Left ankle sprain
IL date: June 25 (15-day IL, retroactive to June 24)
Expected return: Possibly late July
Status: Began a rehab stint with Triple-A Durham on July 9. Last pitched two innings out of the bullpen for Triple-A Durham on July 17, striking out two while throwing 36 pitches. Expected to make a few one-inning appearances before rejoining Rays.

Sounds like Matz is headed to the bullpen and therefore irrelevant.

Red Sox

• Trevor Story is over a month away from joining the major league team.

SS Trevor Story
Injury: Sports hernia
IL date: May 16 (transferred to 60-day IL on June 4)
Expected return: August or September
Status: Story hopes to start a Minor League rehab assignment “sometime in August,” leaving hope alive he can contribute to Boston’s stretch run.

Tigers

• Javier Báez is starting his rehab assignment.

INF/OF Javier Báez
Injury: Right ankle sprain
IL date: April 29 (transferred to 60-day IL on June 11)
Expected return: TBD
Status: Will begin rehab assignment for Single-A Lakeland on July 21.

Before going on the IL, he was a short-side platoon outfielder, and he’ll likely return to a similar role.

Twins

• Kaelen Culpepper is about to come off the IL.

IF Kaelen Culpepper (Twins’ No. 2 prospect)
Injury: Left glute injury
IL date: July 7 (7-day IL)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Expected to be in games by the end of the week. Unclear whether that will be in a rehab assignment or if he will go straight to Triple-A.

I suspect he’ll get promoted at some point this year. The promotion will happen after the trade deadline so he retains rookie eligibility for next season.

• Connor Prielipp is close to returning from the IL.

LHP Connor Prielipp
Injury: Blister on left middle finger
IL date: July 9 (15-day IL)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Pitched three shutout innings with three strikeouts in rehab start for Triple-A St. Paul on July 19.

White Sox

• Austin Hays restarted his rehab assignment.

OF Austin Hays
Injury: Left calf strain
IL date: May 4, retroactive to May 2 (10-day IL)
Expected return: Late July
Status: After being pulled from a rehab assignment on June 1, Hays began a new rehab stint on July 17 with Triple-A Charlotte.

I’m not sure where Hays is going to play. I bet he becomes a short-side platoon bat or gets traded to another team.

• Now that Hagen Smith is healthy, the team expects him to contribute at the major league level.

The injury came as Smith entered the picture for a potential recall to the White Sox to help out the Major League rotation, but a rainout ended up keeping the fifth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft in Charlotte.

“He is one of our guys,” White Sox manager Will Venable said on June 16. “We are really excited for him to contribute at the big league level. He is continuing to work on things. Obviously, now, he has health challenges as well. But he, among all of our guys down there, wants to be healthy, performing well and come help us at the big league level.”

While Smith is a top-100 overall prospect, he has struggled with walks over the years (6.6 BB/9 in AAA).

National League

Brewers

• David Hamilton is close to returning from the IL.

3B David Hamilton
Injury: Left hamstring strain
IL date: July 7 (10-day IL)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Scheduled to travel to Triple-A Nashville on July 20 to begin a rehab assignment with back-to-back games on July 21-22, according to manager Pat Murphy.

Hamilton was a strong-side platoon third baseman before going on the IL, so I suspect he’ll return to a similar role and Joey Ortiz will go back to only facing lefties.

Cubs

• Shota Imanaga changed his pitch mix.

Looking under the hood, Imanaga has also adjusted his pitch use in this recent run.

Against the Twins, Imanaga featured his signature splitter 36% of the time. That is in his typical range, but this is only the second time this year that he led with that pitch in consecutive starts. Dating back to June 10, his four-seam usage has plummeted nearly each turn. It skyrocketed to 61.1% on that date and has steadily dropped to under 30% (23.5% on July 10 and 28% on Sunday). There was also a three-start stretch in which Imanaga abandoned his sinker before reintroducing it at a noticeably reduced rate a few outings ago.

Dodgers

• Will Smith’s return timeline is up in the air.

The Dodgers’ understanding of the injury is that Smith has an inflamed disc in his neck. He received an injection a couple weeks after sustaining the injury, but it did not provide sufficient relief. The team believes that with rest, Smith’s neck will be able to improve enough that his condition won’t regress once he restarts baseball activities.

Smith is expected back before the end of the season, but there are few specifics known about his timeline at this point. Until he’s in a place where he can make concrete progress, it’s difficult to map out a rehab progression.

• Blake Snell should return around the trade deadline.

Snell (elbow surgery) made his first rehab start Saturday with Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he recorded four outs on 32 pitches. His next start will come Friday, with a target of three innings. Once Snell is stretched out to five innings or 75 pitches, the Dodgers will activate him off the IL and insert him back into the starting rotation. Provided he does not experience any setbacks, that puts his targeted return right around the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

• Enrique Hernández started his rehab assignment.

INF/OF Kiké Hernández
Injury: Left oblique strain
IL date: May 27 (10-day IL)
Expected return: July 28 at earliest
Status: Began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on July 17 and is expected to remain with the Comets until the Dodgers’ next homestand begins on July 28.

I have no idea how much he’ll play once off the IL. He only started two major league games this season. He might form a platoon with Max Muncy since he’s started both games in AAA at third base.

Mets

• Clay Holmes should be activated later this month.

RHP Clay Holmes
Injury: Fractured right fibula
IL date: May 16 (60-day IL)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Scheduled to begin a Minor League rehab assignment July 18, but rain prevented that from happening. Threw a roughly 45-pitch bullpen session instead; tentatively slated to pitch in the Minors around July 23. Candidate for activation beginning five days after that.

Nationals

• Trevor Williams is on a rehab assignment.

RHP Trevor Williams
Injury: Right elbow sprain
IL date: Feb. 10 (60-day IL)
Expected return: 2026
Status: Threw 3 1/3 innings with High-A Wilmington on July 19; allowed six hits, three runs, two walks and had three strikeouts.

The 34-year-old has had some good seasons (’22, ’24), so I would be interested if his fastball wasn’t sitting at a career-low 88 mph.

Pirates

• Spencer Horwitz and Endy Rodriguez will begin rehab assignments next week.

1B Spencer Horwitz
Injury: Left hamstring strain
IL date: June 25 (10-day IL)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Removed from game June 24 with hamstring discomfort after running the bases on a double-play ball in the third inning. Diagnosed with strain after ultrasound and MRI. Expected to begin rehab assignment week of July 27.
…
C Endy Rodríguez
Injury: Left glute strain
IL date: July 8 (10-day IL, retroactive July 6)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Placed on IL after injury continued to act up after initially popping up Fourth of July weekend. Began hitting in Pirate City on July 17 and is expected to begin rehab assignment week of July 27.

• Oneil Cruz will not start a rehab assignment until August.

OF Oneil Cruz
Injury: Left hand fourth and fifth metacarpal non-displaced fractures
IL date: June 10 (60-day IL, retroactive to June 8)
Expected return: End of July
Status: Cleared to begin gripping activities June 22. No longer wearing cast on left hand. Expected to start rehab assignment at start of August.

With Cruz out, Jake Mangum (.301 AVG, 18 SB) will continue to start in center field.