MLB Player News

Triple-A Salt Lake placed Wantz on its 7-day injured list April 19 with a right forearm injury, Taylor Blake Ward of TheSportingTribune.com reports.

Wantz has worked almost exclusively as a reliever at the big-league level with the Angels over the previous three seasons, but he had been working out of the rotation at Salt Lake after being optioned to Triple-A coming out of spring training. The right-hander had gotten off to a solid start in his first four starts with Salt Lake with a 4.15 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 24:8 K:BB across 17.1 innings, but the forearm injury has halted any momentum Wantz might have built toward a possible promotion to the big leagues. It's unclear when Wantz might be ready to head out on a rehab assignment with one of the Angels' lower-level affiliates.

Cueto has agreed to push back the opt-out date of his minor-league contract with the Rangers to June 14, Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 in Houston reports.

The two sides have also agreed to a second opt-out date of July 1. Cueto could have exercised the initial opt-out clause in his minor-league contract June 1, and there probably would have been interest in the 38-year-old after he posted a 2.40 ERA in three starts with Triple-A Round Rock. However, Cueto has ultimately decided to stay put, at least for now.

Teheran agreed to a minor-league contract with the Orioles on Tuesday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

The veteran right-hander opted out of his minor-league deal with the Cubs over the weekend and didn't take long to latch on with a new team. Teheran has just one appearance in the big leagues this season and has struggled to an 8.82 ERA over eight starts at the Triple-A level. The Orioles are in dire need of rotation depth due to Tyler Wells (elbow) and John Means (elbow) both recently being ruled out for the season.

The Twins activated Lewis (quadricep) from the 10-day injured list Tuesday.

Lewis is ready to go following an absence of nearly 10 weeks due to a strained right quad. The 24-year-old went 4-for-23 with an 8:1 K:BB over 24 plate appearances during a six-game rehab stint with Triple-A St. Paul. Per Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the Twins have instructed Lewis to run at less than full speed in hopes that it will give him a better chance of staying healthy. While that could put a bit of a damper on his stolen-base outlook, it's not a big part of Lewis' game, anyway, as he's totaled just six steals in 71 career games. Lewis will regain his role as the Twins' everyday third baseman, with Jose Miranda likely to now see reps in the designated hitter spot and/or first base.

Richards will serve as the Blue Jays' opening pitcher Tuesday against the Orioles, Mike Wilner of The Toronto Star reports.

Richards has gone more than one inning in seven of his 25 relief appearances this season, including a 3.1-inning appearance last Wednesday against the White Sox. However, he hasn't thrown more than 38 pitches in any outing and will be pitching on just one day of rest after making an one-inning appearance Sunday versus Pittsburgh. The expectation is that Bowden Francis (forearm) will be activated from the 15-day injured list to work in bulk relief behind Richards.

Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that Kelly has received a one-year suspension for violating the league's gambling policy, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reports.

MLB's investigation determined that Kelly bet a total of $99.22 on MLB games during a time he was with the Astros' Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land during the 2021 season. Currently, Kelly is on the Oakland roster and has posted a 2.59 ERA over 28 relief appearances with the big club. He won't appeal the suspension.

The Athletics optioned Basso to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday.

Basso has made two scoreless relief appearances for the Athletics this season. The left-hander has been used as a starter during his time with Las Vegas and will likely get stretched back out in its rotation.

Guerrero went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's loss to the Orioles.

The 25-year-old crushed a Grayson Rodriguez slider in the fourth inning, sending it over the fence in straightaway center field with an exit velocity of 109.2 mph. Guerrero is beginning to flash a little more power -- over his last 11 games, he has three doubles and two of his six homers on the year -- but he's been making plenty of hard contact, slashing .367/.452/.495 since the beginning of May with 16 RBI and 16 runs in 28 contests.

Grossman started at designated hitter and went 0-for-3 in Monday's 2-1 loss to Detroit.

Grossman served as the starting DH for a third straight game, all against lefties, and is 3-for-10 with a double and three RBI during that stretch. His elevation to the starting lineup coincides with Ezequiel Duran replacing the lefty-hitting Nathaniel Lowe at first base in those three contests, which suggests a strategic change against left-handers. The Rangers have been middle-of-the-pack against lefties this season (.242 average, 16th).

Duran started at first base and went 1-for-4 with a double in Monday's 2-1 loss to the Tigers.

Duran was in the starting lineup at first base for a third straight game -- all against lefties -- as it appears primary starter Nathaniel Lowe is losing work against southpaws. Duran is batting .235/.304/.275 against lefties this season -- which is lower than Lowe's line of .250/.327/.292 --suggesting the platoon may not be a long-term solution.