The Aug. 3 trade deadline is around the corner, but there is plenty to cover from around Major League Baseball.
Here are the noteworthy transactions, injuries and more from the 2026 MLB season.
July 28
Giants left-fielder, Casey Schmitt, has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a torn meniscus.
On Monday night against the Brewers, he hit a successful pop-up hit to right field, rounding first base but hurting his knee in the process. He was seen to be limping after placing his feet on the bag.
This was not his first injury, as he missed a large portion of last season due to three separate issues. He missed 27 games with a strained left oblique, 11 games with a left hand injury and then missed two games due to an elbow injury.
Before the injury, Schmitt was enjoying the best season of his career, batting .271 with 21 home runs and 55 RBI. He has already surpassed many of last year’s numbers while playing nearly the same number of games, making this his most productive season to date.
The Boston Red Sox’s new third baseman, Curtis Mead, has been placed on the 10-day injured list per multiple reports.
Two days after a fresh trade to the Red Sox, he was not only hurt in his debut game, but also in his debut at-bat, by a 95 mph fastball to the wrist. The final injury consensus is a broken-left wrist.
Prior to this incident, Curtis Mead was hitting .253, accumulating 48 RBIs and 17 home runs in 285 at-bats for the Washington Nationals.
July 27
Athletics All-Star catcher Shea Langeliers and right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. will have season-ending surgeries on Tuesday.
The A’s injury report on Monday indicated Langeliers will have surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee and Leiter will have surgery to repair a right hip impingement.
Langeliers was hitting .263 with 23 homers and 51 RBIs in 93 games before his injury. The 28-year-old became the first A’s catcher to start an All-Star Game since Terry Steinbach in 1989.
Langeliers had been the subject of trade rumors as the A’s struggle through another disappointing season.
Leiter went on the injured list with a hip impingement for the second time this season last week. The 35-year-old has not allowed a run in 17 of his last 18 games, compiling a 0.50 ERA during that stretch. He is 0-1 with a 4.28 ERA and four saves in 36 relief appearances overall this year.
The Chicago Cubs have officially moved on from pitcher Jameson Taillon. The team announced on Monday afternoon that Taillon was designated for assignment, creating a roster spot to call up Andrew Wantz.
Taillon spent four seasons with the Cubs after signing a four-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He’s struggled this season, posting a 2-5 record with a 5.92 ERA in 76 innings pitched this season.
The Atlanta Braves activated outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. from the injured list on Monday after the 2023 National League MVP missed almost seven weeks with a left hamstring strain. Acuña is expected to be available for Monday night’s opener of a three-game series at the New York Mets.
The five-time All-Star is hitting .251 with seven home runs, 22 RBIs and 15 steals. His season has been shortened by two hamstring injuries. He missed 15 games in May with the same injury.
When Acuña was placed on the injured list on June 9, the Braves topped the majors with a 45-23 record and led the NL East by eight games over Philadelphia. Atlanta struggled in June without Acuña but has rebounded following the All-Star break and at 62-43 leads the second-place Phillies by 5.5 games.
Acuña also has suffered two serious knee injuries in his career. He sustained a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in May 2024 and tore his right ACL midway through the 2021 season.
Though Acuña split time in his rehabilitation stint at designated hitter and in the outfield, Braves manager Walt Weiss recently said he expects Acuña will play primarily in right field, his normal position.
The Braves optioned outfielder Brewer Hicklen to Triple-A Gwinnett to make room on the big-league roster for Acuña.
The Cincinnati Reds have placed infielder/outfielder Spencer Steer on the 10-day injured list with right wrist pain. Steer exited Sunday’s game vs. the St. Louis Cardinals with apparent wrist pain after fouling a pitch off his bat. Now, the Reds have called up Ivan Johnson from Triple-A Louisville.
Steer’s been one of Cincinnati’s most dynamic hitters, batting .238 with 40 RBIs and 16 home runs in 98 games. Steer has also appeared at every outfield position, as well as first, second and third base.
The Reds are currently coming off a road series win at the Cardinals, and face the Cleveland Guardians on Monday for their first of three consecutive home series.
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.
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]”, disse Tracy antes do Red Sox enfrentar o Blue Jays no Fenway Park no sábado. “Temos ele escalado para começar o jogo.”
Suárez estava jogando em campo cerca de 2 horas e meia antes do jogo de sábado. Tracy disse que o clube empurrará o canhoto Payton Tolle a partir de domingo para iniciar a estreia da série na segunda-feira em Sacramento contra o Atletismo.
Suárez está 4-3 com um ERA de 3,15 em 17 partidas em sua primeira temporada, depois de assinar um contrato de cinco anos de US$ 130 milhões com o Red Sox em regime livre.
No início desta semana, a equipe estava planejando que Suárez saísse do IL e começasse na terça-feira, mas eles o empurraram de volta para possivelmente começar o segundo jogo de quarta-feira de uma partida dupla dividida depois que o jogo foi interrompido pela chuva. Então, ele estava indisposto e ainda dolorido, então eles usaram o canhoto Eduardo Rivera na bebida noturna que quebrou o recorde do clube em 15 vitórias consecutivas.
A estrela do Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani, fez uma sessão de bullpen antes do jogo de quarta-feira na Filadélfia. Ohtani estava programado para começar contra os Phillies na final da série de três jogos. Mas a irritação no joelho esquerdo que o manteve fora do All-Star Game da semana passada descartou esses planos.
O quatro vezes MVP arremessou pela última vez em 3 de julho. Ele recebeu uma injeção de lubrificante no joelho hesitante, o que não o incomoda durante as rebatidas.
Anteriormente, o técnico dos Dodgers, Dave Roberts, explicou que havia uma diferença na preocupação com lesões nas rebatidas em comparação com o arremesso. “Como ele disse, como sentimos, é o arremesso e o torque ao pousar naquela perna. Isso meio que incomoda. Então, acho que rebater não faz isso. Então, acho que, para nós, estamos tentando dar o máximo de tempo possível. “
Ohtani estava na escalação de quarta-feira, rebatendo a liderança como rebatedor designado. Os Dodgers, duas vezes campeões da World Series, devem visitar a Casa Branca na quinta-feira, um dia de folga. Eles começam uma série de três jogos no New York Mets na sexta-feira.
Ohtani lançou cerca de 30 arremessos no bullpen. O técnico dos Dodgers, Dave Roberts, chamou isso de “um grande sinal”.
“A grama, o terreno plano, tudo isso é bom”, disse Roberts antes do jogo. “O braço está bem. É apenas descer a encosta, passando pela frente. Esse é o grande teste.”
Roberts disse que os Dodgers ainda não têm um cronograma para o retorno de Ohtani ao monte.
A Associated Press contribuiu para este relatório.