The Rangers are placing right-hander Jon Gray on the injured list due to a groin strain, manager Bruce Bochy announced Thursday, via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
The team is terming it a “mild” strain, but it’ll nevertheless be enough to sit Gray down for at least the next 15 days. In a corresponding move, Texas will select the contract of right-hander Jesus Tinoco from Triple-A Round Rock. Left-hander Cody Bradford is being transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to accommodate Tinoco’s addition. Bradford has already missed six weeks with a back strain and stress fracture in his ribs.
Gray joins an an entire rotation’s worth of starters on the injured list in Texas. The Rangers are also without Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Tyler Mahle, Nathan Eovaldi and the aforementioned Bradford at the moment. That’ll leave Texas with a rotation including Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, Michael Lorenzen, Jose Ureña and a yet-to-be-determined fifth option. (Tinoco is a reliever and won’t step onto the starting staff.) The top depth options on the 40-man roster include Jack Leiter and Owen White. While Leiter has thrived pitching in Triple-A, both of those once-vaunted prospects has struggled in the big leagues this season.
Subtracting Gray from the roster would be a notable blow even without that litany of other injuries. The former No. 3 overall draft pick is out to perhaps the best start of his career, pitching to a tiny 2.21 ERA through his first 57 frames of the season. Gray’s 23.7% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 44.4% ground-ball rate are all at or slightly better than the league average. His ERA is being helped out by a microscopic 3.3% homer-to-flyball rate that’s helped him average just 0.32 homers per nine frames this season. But even metrics that normalize home run rate (e.g. his 3.68 SIERA) suggest Gray has still been a decidedly above-average hurler thanks to that strong blend of whiffs, grounders and walks (or lack thereof).
Tinoco, 29, will return for a second stint with the Rangers. He pitched in the Texas organization in 2022, famously giving up Aaron Judge’s record-breaking 62nd home run late in the season. That’s a down note in what was otherwise a strong year. In 20 2/3 frames with the Rangers he logged a 2.18 ERA — albeit with lackluster strikeout and walk rates of 21.4% and 11.9%, respectively.
Tinoco spent the 2023 season with the Seibu Lions in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and handled himself well for the most part, but he returned stateside on a minor league pact with the Rangers over the winter. He’s gotten out to a decent start in Round Rock, pitching to a 3.80 earned run average and fanning just over 30% of his opponents in 21 1/3 innings. Overall, Tinoco has pitched in parts of four MLB seasons and compiled 66 2/3 innings with a 4.05 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 13.9% walk rate and 44% grounder rate. Command has clearly been an issue for him throughout his professional career, and that’s been the case again in 2024, evidenced by an 11.2% walk rate in Round Rock.
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Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper delivered a vintage performance at the plate on Monday night against the Seattle Mariners. His two-homer game carried the Phillies to a 12-7 win over Seattle, giving them back-to-back games with 11 or more runs. Both of Harper's home runs traveled at least 440 feet, making him the first player this season with multiple homers of that distance in the same game. His first homer came in the sixth inning off an 83-mph sweeper from Mariners pitcher Casey Legumina to give Philadelphia a 7-0 lead. Harper topped that with a 448-foot shot in the seventh, hitting an 86-mph changeup for his second homer of the game to extend Philadelphia's lead to 11-4. According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Harper is the first Phillies player with multiple home runs of 440 feet or more in a game under Statcast (since 2015). It is the second time Harper has accomplished the feat, joining Yordan Alvarez, Willson Contreras, Joey Gallo and Jorge Soler as the only five players to do so. It was a complete team effort for the Phillies, who recorded 21 hits, 12 runs and four home runs one day after plating 11 against the Washington Nationals. Starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was equally impressive with a career-high 10 strikeouts across 6.2 innings of two-run ball. While Harper only had four home runs so far this month, Monday was a reminder of how lethal he can still be at the plate with three hits in six at-bats, two home runs, three RBI and two runs. He missed 22 games earlier this season due to inflammation in his right wrist, but seems to be returning to form during the stretch run. The 11 runs against the Nationals, who are in last place in the NL East standings, was not exactly eye-opening, but putting up 12 against a Mariners team that is battling with the Houston Astros for first-place in the AL West is certainly encouraging. Philadelphia (72-53) currently holds a 5.5 game lead on the New York Mets for the NL East lead. With three wins in its last four games, the Phillies are taking care of business on both sides of the plate and giving themselves a shot at another division crown.
The Chicago Bears don’t appear satisfied with their running back room with one week left to decide the 53-man roster. The Bears have until Aug. 26 to make their final cuts before preparing for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1. The Bears entered training camp with questions at running back. Veteran D’Andre Swift had a down year in 2024. Roschon Johnson isn’t a long-term solution, and seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai will have a steep learning curve when the regular season begins. The Chicago Bears worked out a former running back Per Aaron Wilson of KPRC, the Bears worked out running backs Royce Freeman, undrafted rookie Kylin James and former Carolina Panthers practice-squad player Dillon Johnson. Royce Freeman played with the Bears in 2024 Of the three, Freeman is the only running back with stats at the NFL level. Freeman, a third-round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2018, has appeared in 79 games and started nine games. He’s rushed 471 times for 1,472 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Bears signed Freeman to the practice squad in December. He was then signed to the Los Angeles Rams practice squad in January. He last played a regular-season game in 2023, when he added 319 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games for the Rams. The Bears are signaling their need for a running back this summer. There are other options available in the trade market, as the Washington Commanders are shopping Brian Robinson Jr. during the preseason. More running backs will be available after other teams trim their rosters to 53 players, but they might not be the type of athletes to make a significant boost for the offense early in the regular season.
A first-ballot Hall of Famer whenever he decides to hang it up, Russell Westbrook has long been revered as one of the NBA's premier point guards, both with his aggressive play and infectious energy. Despite the former MVP's impressive resume, though, he remains unsigned nearly two months after free agency opened on June 30. It's no secret that Westbrook is no longer an All-Star-caliber player, but it's certainly jarring to see his name alongside the summer's other leftovers. Over the last two seasons, Russ has willingly accepted a bench role and shown his ability to contribute even without being the offense's focal point. He finished top-10 in Sixth Man of the Year voting with both the Los Angeles Clippers in 2023-24 and the Denver Nuggets in 2024-25. The Nuggets may have been Westbrook's most seamless fit since the 36-year-old left the Oklahoma City Thunder, which brings us to the key mistake he made this offseason: He decided to bet on himself when his career was trending south. It's understandable why Westbrook decided to decline his player option with Denver. $3.5 million is pocket change relative to today's NBA salaries, so it's possible the nine-time All-Star expected to land a bigger payday on name brand alone. But that's no longer the case with Westbrook. The Nuggets, like several teams before them, took a chance on Westbrook, whose play has been nothing short of a wild card in recent years. Alongside Nikola Jokic, though, he found success operating off-ball by utilizing his natural explosiveness, a sensible calling card for one of basketball history's most athletic playmakers. It seemed like the perfect spot for Westbrook to finish out his career. Instead, he has continued to seek out a more lucrative deal with a team that is looking to give him more offensive freedom. While the Sacramento Kings and New York Knicks are both reportedly interested in adding his services, neither team can offer both a higher salary and an expanded role. It also seems unlikely that Westbrook will find a more seamless fit for himself than what he had in Denver. Whether it's due to his erratic offensive tendencies or his relentless determination to involve himself in every action, it's easy to see why teams have to talk themselves into Westbrook at this point in his career. It appears that Russ will finally be picked up soon, but the damage has already been done. The two-time scoring champion already gave up his best chance at winning a title once he departed from Denver.
The Josh Giddey restricted free agency saga has stretched on for nearly two months now. Giddey has been firm on his asking price of $30 million annually, a price that the Chicago Bulls haven't been willing to reach yet. Giddey believes he's worth the same as Immanuel Quickley and Jalen Suggs, and while he's absolutely a better player than Quickley, that doesn't mean the Bulls should give him a large contract because the Toronto Raptors massively overpaid for someone. Chicago has realized that they don't have to bid against themselves after overpaying Patrick Williams last offseason on a five-year, $90 million deal, and he's not even projected to start next year. Giddey at least played phenomenal basketball post-All-Star Break. KC Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network provided an update on the situation. Could there be a resolution soon? "The Bulls do have a long-term offer on the table, believed to be in the neighborhood of $20 million a year. It's pretty well-documented that Josh Giddey and his representatives are seeking in that $30 million range, so there's still a pretty significant gulf financially," Johnson said. "The difference in this restricted free agency situation from a prior one, that's unlike the Lauri Markkanen situation, the Bulls have given no indications league-wide of being amenable to a sign-and-trade." In regards to Markkanen, he was eventually included in a three-team sign-and-trade that sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where the Bulls received Derrick Jones Jr., a conditional first-round pick that never conveyed, and a second-round pick. A year later, the Cavaliers traded him to the Utah Jazz for Donovan Mitchell. Johnson is confident that this will reach a "positive" resolution, but it's a matter of time. Could Josh Giddey Accept the Qualifying Offer? There are four restricted free agents still awaiting long-term deals: Giddey, Cam Thomas, Quentin Grimes, and Jonathan Kuminga. Of the group, Giddey seems the likeliest to come to terms on a long-term deal. Giddey seems like he'd love to be back in Chicago, which can't be said for Kuminga. Thomas seems the likeliest to accept the qualifying offer. A report surfaced recently that he sees himself as a $40 million per year player, which just isn't going to happen. No one, either this year or next, will want to hand Thomas that kind of contract. Kuminga has talked up like he would be okay with taking the qualifying offer, but they don't seem too far off on negotiations. Grimes is a complete unknown, but the 76ers seem confident in getting a deal done there.
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