標籤: Pitcher

Taj Bradley has been the real hero for the Minnesota Twins this season. His upside has been one of the best parts of the Twins’ 2026 campaign, posting a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings. This year his fastball run value has increased from the 20th percentile (2025) to the 94th.

This is what makes the news of Bradley being sent to the injured list more worrying. The Twins have been troubled by injuries to their rotation recently. Bradley was one of the few remaining steady presences on the roster for Minnesota. This is now a matter of confusion, as Bradley’s right pec is swollen.

Bradley’s breakout has been amazing to watch, although it does seem a bit on the lucky side. His xERA (3.88) is a whole lot higher than his actual ERA. This suggests he may be getting some help from the baseball gods, although Bradley’s xERA is also better than any mark he put up in his previous MLB season.

impact of injury

Bradley reported pain to the Twins staff shortly after his most recent start against the Washington Nationals. He was flown back to Minnesota and had an MRI. Manager Derek Shelton has said that the injury does not affect his pitching, but it does affect other activities. This appears to be more of a cautious move that will greatly impact Bradley’s entire season.

This is great news for the twins. They lost Pablo Lopez before the season started due to Tommy John surgery. Along with Lopez, Mick Abel was ruled out with an elbow injury. Those complications have created serious concerns in the Minnesota rotation. Thankfully, Bradley should be back soon to help address those concerns.

In the same move, Bradley’s spot on the roster was replaced by righty Travis Adams. Adams has not scored a run in his last two matches, but before that he was tagged for six runs. He could potentially be used as a bulk relief or swingman role for the club.

The Baltimore Orioles have moved on from one of their young starting pitchers after Opening Day. The Orioles and starting pitcher Shane Baz are finalizing a five-year, $68 million contract extension, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The Falcons were acquired by Baltimore in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays during the MLB offseason.

The 26-year-old starting pitcher is getting a contract extension before taking the field for the Orioles in a regular season game. In 2025, Baz posted a 4.87 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 31 games for the Rays. The extension comes with risk, as Baz has a history of serious right elbow injuries in Tampa.

Baz underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery to remove the loose body in March 2022. The former Tampa Bay pitcher later entered the injured list with an elbow sprain in July 2022 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. Baz missed the entire 2023 MLB season, but returned to action in 2024, splitting time between the minors and MLB.

The 2025 MLB season was his first season at full health; However, the Rays’ temporary home at Steinbrenner Field affected their pitching. The Falcons had a 5.90 ERA at home compared to a 3.86 ERA on the road. This is an unbalanced value which is not indicative of their actual performance in 2025.

Baltimore was encouraged to offer an extension after trading four prospects and the No. 33 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft to the Falcons during the winter. The new contract will cover three arbitration seasons and buy out two free agent years. The Orioles are confident in his ability to be a frontline starter for the next five years.

Baltimore will now have the Falcons and their electric pitching arsenal at Camden Yards during the 2030 MLB season.

READ MORE: MLB Insider reveals the Baltimore Orioles will extend Gunnar Henderson

Austin Konensky is a sports writer at SportsNut, covering the NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA and college football. His work…More about Austin Konensky

Team USA lost an influential member of its pitching staff before a big game in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic, as the New York Mets demanded he be sent back to spring training.

Team USA is feeling a lot of pressure ahead of the start of the elimination rounds at this year’s World Baseball Classic. After a surprise loss to Italy earlier this week, the United States needed the Italians to beat Mexico on Wednesday night to avoid going home early from the tournament.

Nevertheless, they are expected to defeat Canada in their quarterfinal game and move one step closer to winning their first WBC title in nearly a decade. However, it looks like they won’t have two-time All-Star Clay Holmes for the matchup with Canada and any other games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

NY Mets demand Clay Holmes withdrawal from World Baseball Classic

“Clay Holmes will return to the Mets from the World Baseball Classic and take part in tomorrow’s Grapefruit League game,” MLB Network’s Anthony DiComo reports. “The Mets wanted him back because Team USA could not guarantee him the workload he needed for the season.”

Despite Team USA having four games under their belt during pool play, Holmes has only taken the mound once. This happened during their win over Great Britain last week when he pitched three scoreless innings and struck out six.

With Holmes set to be a part of the NY Mets’ starting rotation again in 2026, it’s understandable if the organization feels he isn’t being prepared adequately for the start of the season in a few weeks.

This is a significant reduction in the WBC for American fans, as MLB teams are prioritizing their goals over Team USA. So now the US club will have no meaningful respite for some big matches in the next few days.

After earning a journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos worked as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sacca… More about Jason Burgos