White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami exited May 29 vs. Detroit with right hamstring tightness while beating out a grounder, and the diagnosis came back as a Grade 2 strain. Chicago placed him on the 10-day IL May 30, received a PRP injection on June 1, and the working return window is now 4-6 weeks — early-to-mid July at the earliest. The 26-year-old rookie was tied for the AL home run lead with 20 at the time of the injury.
Jared Jones returned to the mound May 29 for the first time since 2024 after missing all of last season with UCL internal brace surgery. His first six pitches hit triple digits, averaging 99 mph on the four-seamer — up from 97 mph in 2024. He struck out six and generated 15 whiffs (34% CSW) but allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings as command wavered in the second time through the order. His five rehab starts were immaculate: 2.89 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 24:6 K:BB across 18.2 innings.
Detroit activated Gleyber Torres from the 10-day IL (left oblique strain, placed May 4) on June 2 and slotted him back into the starting lineup against Tampa Bay. Torres completed a two-game rehab stint at Triple-A Toledo before the activation. Before going down he was slashing .259/.389/.328 with 2 HR and 11 RBI across 32 games.
Ronald Acuña Jr. has been the best player in baseball over the past four days, going deep five times and helping Atlanta reach 10 consecutive wins and the first 40-win mark in the majors. He returned from a hamstring IL stint on May 18 and slowly found his footing before this eruption. He is just the third player since at least 1900 with four-plus homers and four-plus steals in a three-game span, joining Shohei Ohtani (2024) and Max Carey (1922).
Who's Hot This Week
The White Sox called him up May 30 to replace Munetaka Murakami (hamstring, 4-6 weeks), and he immediately stepped into an everyday starting role. Gonzalez posted an .308/.414/.646 slash with 18 HR across 54 Triple-A games — the second-best OPS among all minor leaguers with 200+ plate appearances this season. He's 22, plays a premium defensive position (SS), and won't need to fight for at-bats. With Murakami's injury now confirmed as a Grade 2 strain with a PRP injection, there's no rush to bring him back. Add Gonzalez everywhere, including 10-team leagues.
Worth Reading
RotoBaller's full Week 10 deep dive names three young pitching prospects and three outfielders with soaring fantasy value as the week's priority adds, including JJ Bleday and Troy Melton. Includes specific ownership thresholds and streaming windows to target before wire processing tonight.
NBC Sports recaps the week's biggest callup and role-change stories — Eldridge locking down the Giants 1B job, Gonzalez arriving in Chicago, and Emerson completing his first two weeks in Seattle. Also covers David Sandlin's brilliant debut versus the Twins and whether his rough second outing is a blip or a signal.
Just Baseball's June 1 update frames the waiver landscape at the one-third mark: which callups are stashes versus streamers, how Gonzalez compares to other IL-replacement callups this season, and a few two-start arms worth streaming in Week 10.
Grade 2 right hamstring strain suffered May 29 while running to first base. Placed on 10-day IL May 30; received a PRP injection June 1 in Chicago. PRP treatment typically pushes the recovery toward the conservative end of the timeline — earliest realistic return is early July, with mid-July more likely. Was tied for the AL HR lead with 20 at the time of injury.
Placed on the bereavement/family medical emergency list June 2. Not injury-related; minimum three days, maximum seven. Expected back by Monday at the latest — likely misses the weekend series against Boston at Progressive Field. Stuart Fairchild called up from Triple-A Columbus to fill in.
Grade 2 left hamstring strain, currently 4-to-8 weeks out. No clear frontrunner has emerged from Cincinnati's closer committee — Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan, Pierce Johnson, and Brock Burke have all seen save opportunities. Managers holding Pagan for saves need to stream the position in the interim rather than waiting for his return.
Jared Jones made his first MLB appearance since 2024 on Friday, returning from the UCL internal brace surgery that wiped out his entire 2025 season. The preamble was strong: five rehab starts across three levels with a 2.89 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 24:6 K:BB ratio in 18.2 innings — not cautious work from a pitcher finding himself, but a guy who looked ready to go. The standout: his four-seamer jumped from 97 mph to 99 mph, a velocity spike that pushed an already elite pitch into another tier for induced whiff rate.
The final line against the Twins was messy — 4.1 innings, five earned runs, seven hits, two home runs, two walks, six strikeouts — but the underlying numbers told a different story. Jones generated 15 swinging strikes on 77 pitches (34% CSW, firmly elite), and the whiff distribution was spread across his full arsenal. The Pitcher List breakdown identified a slight reduction in vertical ride on the four-seamer: the increased velocity gives the ball less time to achieve its characteristic rise, and two hanging four-seamers got driven for home runs. That's a mechanical timing issue, not a structural one, and worth watching over his next two starts as his arm slot settles in.
For fantasy purposes, the workload ceiling is the honest constraint. Pittsburgh has no incentive to stretch Jones past 85-90 innings in his first season back from UCL surgery — that's approximately 12-15 starts the rest of the way. In 12-team leagues or deeper, the combination of 99 mph velocity, four secondary offerings, and top-32 SP status makes him worth an immediate roster spot. In shallow leagues, treat him as a high-ceiling streamer on favorable matchup weeks rather than a full-season asset.
Tuesday's Ledger led with Lucas Erceg's third consecutive blown save — a walk-off 4-3 Royals loss to Cincinnati — raising his ERA to 6.33 and his blown-save total to five on the season. Kansas City says they're sticking with him, but Daniel Lynch (1.84 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 12 K in 9 IP) is posting the numbers to take over and represents the clear buy-low target in KC leagues. Meanwhile, the Reds' committee situation deepens with Emilio Pagan 4-8 weeks away, and Minnesota has handed saves to four different pitchers over the past week.
Read the full Ledger →| Closer | Team | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Erceg | KC | 🟡 Watch | Three straight blown saves, ERA 6.33, five blown saves total on the season. Kansas City is publicly backing him, but Daniel Lynch (1.84 ERA, 0.61 WHIP) is the logical replacement and the best buy-low target in any two-closer format. Sell Erceg's saves value now while his job title is still 'closer.' |
| Graham Ashcraft | CIN | 🔴 Committee | No true closer in Cincinnati with Emilio Pagan (Grade 2 hamstring) out 4-8 weeks. Ashcraft has received the most save chances from Terry Francona and has the best underlying stuff, but has blown at least one opportunity. Santillan, Johnson, and Burke are all in the mix. Stream save opps here rather than committing a roster spot to any one pitcher. |
| Yoendrys Gomez | MIN | 🔴 Committee | Minnesota is a full wheel-of-fortune situation: four pitchers have earned saves over the past week, with Gomez leading the team with three. There is no reliable closer here — avoid in standard formats, but if you're chasing holds-plus-saves in a deep league, at least one Twins reliever will be useful most nights. |
Full game highlights from the Atlanta Braves at Toronto Blue Jays (June 2). Ronald Acuña Jr. extended his home run streak to four consecutive games, part of a tear that has seen him go deep five times in four days as the Braves rolled to their 10th straight win.
Full game highlights from the San Francisco Giants vs. Milwaukee Brewers (June 2), featuring Bryce Eldridge starting at first base for San Francisco in what is now his locked-in everyday role.
Full game highlights from the New York Mets vs. Seattle Mariners (June 2), featuring Colt Emerson continuing his stint as the Mariners' everyday shortstop in just his second MLB week.
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