The offseason and spring training are behind us, but there’s plenty of MLB news left to cover. Here are the noteworthy transactions, injuries and more from the 2026 season. July 26
The Chicago White Sox are trading for Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Jose Urquidy, per Robert Murray. The details of the deal are not yet known, but the White Sox are set to add another arm to the bullpen as they look to make a push at winning the American League Central. Urquidy has had a tough start since recently pitching for the Pirates.
He’s thrown only 6.1 innings, where he’s recorded an 8.53 ERA and 2.68 WHIP in five appearances for the Pirates this season. Toronto veteran right-hander Max Scherzer will celebrate his 42nd birthday with a start, coming off the injured list and starting Monday’s series opener at Washington, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
“Max is going to pitch (Monday),” he said following their 6-1 series finale loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday. “I think just talking to him and understanding where he was physically and how he has recovered from the rehab outing in (Triple-A) Buffalo,” Schneider said. “Maybe a little bit limited in pitch count, but I think he kind of checked all the boxes.”
Scherzer (1-4 with a 10.23 ERA) was placed on the injured list in mid-June with back spasms, but has had various setbacks, including three cortisone shots in his thumb. He threw 56 pitches in five innings, striking out seven in a rehab start on Wednesday. He’s made only six starts this season for the Blue Jays, who have dropped seven of 10 since the All-Star break.
Last season, after being left off the ALDS roster because of late-season struggles, Scherzer was included on the ALCS and World Series roster for the Blue Jays. Toronto lost the series in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 222-121 with a 3.27 ERA in 489 games over 19 seasons and seven different teams.
He has two World Series rings, one coming with the Nationals, where he’ll start on Monday, in 2019. The other with Texas in 2023. The Athletics’ plans for the MLB Trade Deadline took a major hit Sunday after All-Star catcher Shea Langeliers suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee, per ESPN.
The injury could sideline him for the remainder of the season and complicate the club’s Trade Deadline plans. The injury effectively removes Langeliers from the trade market, where he was expected to be one of the most sought-after players available ahead of the deadline. While it was never a given that the Athletics would trade Langeliers, the injury takes the decision out of their hands.
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Before the injury, Langeliers was putting together the best season of his career, batting .263 with 23 home runs, 51 RBIs and an .829 OPS in 93 games.
The Athletics, who sit fourth in the AL West at 44-60, are widely expected to be sellers ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline. With Langeliers off the trade market, the front office will have no choice but to reevaluate which players they’re realistically willing to move.
July 23
New York Mets slugger Juan Soto was placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday because of a left calf strain. Soto walked twice against Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rōki Sasaki in Friday’s 4-2 loss before being replaced by Jorge Polanco in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1-all. He appeared to experience discomfort while running to second base on Bo Bichette’s double-play grounder in the second inning. Soto is hitting .293 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs in 84 games this season. He missed 15 games with the same injury from April 3–21, and the Mets went 3-12 without him. Soto sat out Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at the Milwaukee Brewers, but he was back in the lineup Friday after the Mets had a day off. The lone All-Star for the Mets this year, Soto exited the team’s first game after the break in the eighth inning on July 16 at the Philadelphia Phillies.
New York was off the following day, and he returned to the lineup as the designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday against the Phillies. He played left field Monday in Milwaukee and was the DH on Tuesday. To replace Soto, the Mets called up infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman from Triple-A Syracuse. Wagaman is hitting .162 with two homers and four RBIs in 21 games this season. Boston Red Sox All-Star left-hander Ranger Suárez is expected to come off the injured list and start Sunday’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, interim Boston manager Chad Tracy said Saturday. The 30-year-old Suárez was placed on the injured list on July 9 with a strained left groin.
He missed the All-Star game. “Ranger should be good to go for [Sunday],” Tracy said before the Red Sox faced the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Saturday.
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“We have him scheduled to start the game.”
Suárez was throwing on the field about 2 1/2 hours before Saturday’s game. Tracy said the club will push lefty Payton Tolle from Sunday to start Monday’s series opener in Sacramento against the Athletics.
Suárez is 4-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 17 starts in his first season after signing a $130 million, five-year contract with the Red Sox in free agency. Earlier this week, the team was planning for Suárez to come off the IL and start Tuesday, but they pushed him back to possibly starting Wednesday’s second game of a split doubleheader after that game got rained out. Then, he was under the weather and still sore, so they used lefty Eduardo Rivera in the nightcap that snapped their club record-tying 15-game winning streak.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani threw a bullpen session prior to Wednesday’s game at Philadelphia. Ohtani had been scheduled to start against the Phillies in the finale of the three-game series. But left knee irritation that kept him out of last week’s All-Star Game scrapped those plans. The four-time MVP last pitched on July 3.
He received a lubricant injection in his balky knee, which does not bother him while batting. Previously, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained that there was a difference in injury concern batting compared to pitching. “As he said, as we feel, it’s the pitching and the torque on landing on that leg.
That kind of gets it upset. So I think that hitting doesn’t do that. So I think that for us, we’re trying to give it as much time as possible.”
Ohtani was in the lineup Wednesday batting leadoff as the designated hitter. The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers are scheduled to visit the White House on Thursday, an off day. They begin a three-game series at the New York Mets on Friday. Ohtani threw about 30 pitches in the bullpen. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called that ‘a big sign.’
“The grass, the flat ground, all that stuff is good,” Roberts said before the game.
“The arm’s fine. It’s kind of just going down the slope, getting over your front side. That’s the big test.”
Roberts said the Dodgers still did not have a timetable for Ohtani’s return to the mound.
Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. could be activated from the injured list and return to the lineup for the team’s three-game series in Baltimore starting Friday, Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said Thursday.
Acuña is scheduled to play Thursday night with Triple-A Gwinnett. “We’re just trying to rack up some at-bats for him so that the timing is there when he shows up,” Weiss said following his team’s 6-5 win over the Padres. “There’s certainly a chance we can see him in Baltimore.”
Acuña was placed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain on June 9, the second time this season it prompted a trip to the IL. Acuña missed 15 games in May with the same injury. “A lot of it depends on how he performs,” Weiss said. “He has to feel right about his timing and all that stuff. So I’m hoping he gets a couple of hits tonight and he feels good about it.”
The 2023 MVP has played seven minor league games during his rehab assignment, three with the Braves rookie league affiliate in Florida and four with Triple-A Gwinnett.
He’s played the outfield twice and on Wednesday was a designated hitter — he was 2 for 5 with two runs scored and a stolen base, aggressively running the bases and appearing to be 100%. “Physically, he’s good to go,” Weiss said.
“This is all about him being ready to be impactful when he gets here.”
Acuña is hitting .251/.373/.793 with 15 stolen bases in 53 games. The Braves are 37-16 with Acuña in the lineup and 23-26 without him this season. July 22
Max Fried will come off the injured list ahead of schedule Wednesday to pitch for the New York Yankees in the second game of their day-night doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The ace left-hander has been sidelined since May 14 because of a left elbow bone bruise and had been lined up to make a second minor league rehab start Wednesday. But after Tuesday’s game was postponed because of a poor weather forecast, the Yankees announced Gerrit Cole to start the opener of Wednesday’s twinbill and slated Fried for Game 2. “That sets us up from a starting standpoint in Philadelphia and beyond,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, looking ahead to his team’s weekend series.
“Max was way on board with it. I think it makes a ton of sense and we can continue to build him this way.”
A three-time All-Star, Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts for New York this season. He tossed three innings last Friday in a rehab outing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Worcester, allowing two runs and five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. He threw 52 pitches, 32 for strikes.
The next day, Boone said Fried would make at least one more rehab start in the minors before rejoining the big league rotation. But the Yankees’ plans changed when Tuesday night’s scheduled game against the Pirates was postponed in the afternoon because of a rainy forecast and set to be made up as part of New York’s second doubleheader in a four-day span. The regularly scheduled game begins at 1:05 p.m.
and the makeup at 7:05 p.m. “He’s ready to go. He’s been ready for a while,” Boone said. “It’s just about getting him built up.
So, obviously, he doesn’t have a full clip yet.”
Will Warren had been slated to start Tuesday night against fellow right-hander Bubba Chandler and the Pirates. The Yankees are off Thursday, and Warren will start Friday night’s series opener at Philadelphia and be followed Saturday by Cam Schlittler. Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez was activated from the injury list on Wednesday after missing five weeks following left hand surgery. The seven-time All-Star has been sidelined since getting hurt against Detroit on June 13 and having an operation to remove the hamate bone in his left hand. The return of Cleveland’s best player gives the club a major boost as it defends its AL Central title. The Guardians managed to stay afloat without Ramírez, going 15-15 and keeping pace with the division leaders.
Cleveland entered Wednesday’s game against Minnesota in a virtual tie for first place with the Chicago White Sox. Ramírez is in the starting lineup, batting second and playing third in Wednesday’s game. Ramírez did not go on a minor league rehab assignment before being activated. The Guardians trusted him throughout his recovery. He had a similar injury to his right hand in 2019, the only other time he’s been on the injured list. To make room for Ramírez, the Guardians optioned outfielder Kahlil Watson to Triple-A Columbus.
The 33-year-old Ramírez, who owns numerous offensive club records, was batting .239 with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in 72 games before getting hurt. The Guardians aren’t the same without him in the lineup, and his mere presence should help a team that has struggled to score. Watson played well in his stint with Guardians, batting .239 with one homer and 11 RBIs in 27 games.
On Tuesday night, he made a game-ending leaping catch down the right-field line before crashing into the padded wall. July 21
The Detroit Tigers placed right-hander Jack Flaherty on the 15-day injured list on Tuesday with right flexor inflammation. Flaherty pitched four innings in Monday night’s 8-6 victory at the Chicago Cubs. He allowed three runs and four hits. The 30-year-old Flaherty is 3-8 with a 4.59 ERA in 19 starts this season. He finalized a $35 million, two-year contract with Detroit in February 2025. “It wasn’t a clear-cut IL when we woke up this morning, and then as the day went on and the more (opinions) we got, the more we realized he wasn’t going to pitch in five or six days,” manager A.J.
Hinch said. Ty Madden was recalled from Triple-A Toledo, putting a fresh arm in Detroit’s weary bullpen.
The right-hander replaced Framber Valdez with two outs in the first and pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball in Tuesday night’s 11-2 loss at Wrigley Field. The Tigers used four relievers to cover 4 2/3 innings in Sunday’s 3-2 loss at the Los Angeles Angels. Then they used five relievers for six innings in their series opener against the Cubs. Infielder Zach McKinstry and catcher Jake Rogers each pitched one inning on Tuesday night. “The two position players helped us get to the finish line,” Hinch said.
“Today was like live to play another day.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
