Baseball Wiretap

The Marlins designated infielder Christopher Morel for assignment before their game against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

Expected to provide a power bat when he signed a $2 million, one-year contract in the offseason, Morel struggled with injuries and production in his short Miami stint. He was batting .162 and didn't have a home run in 22 games. Although on the active roster, Morel had not played since June 10.

"Chris is a real pro. He handled himself well through the difficult tenure here and wish him the best," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said.

Justin Verlander will be sidelined for weeks with a left hamstring strain just days before the 43-year-old was set to return for the Detroit Tigers from a separate injury.

Verlander had been on the injured list since April with left hip inflammation and was scheduled to start Sunday before sustaining the hamstring injury during a bullpen session Wednesday.

"This is not a matter of days," said AJ Hinch. "It's a matter of weeks. We're going to need a full rehab process to get him back to throwing again. Obviously, frustrating news for him and for us, given the excitement that was building around his start on Sunday."

Verlander described the injury as sudden, cutting short a bullpen outing that had otherwise gone well.

"My hip actually feels fairly good," said Verlander, according to MLB.com. "All of a sudden, my hamstring was bugging me and I had to cut my bullpen short. Anytime I'm not able to get my work in, it means something's definitely off, so we decided to get it looked at, and there's a strain. Just really unfortunate, man. It just sucks. I don't know how else to say it."

The three-time Cy Young winner and 2011 American League MVP is the oldest active player in MLB. In his lone start this season, Verlander allowed five runs and six hits over 3⅔ innings in a loss at Arizona.

Detroit also placed outfielder Wenceel Perez on the injured list with facial fractures after he was struck by an exercise band that came unhooked during a postgame workout in Houston.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether Major League Baseball discriminated against three San Francisco Giants players on religious grounds after the league issued warnings over Bible verses written on their caps during a Pride Night game.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon detailed the inquiry in a letter sent to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday, noting the matter has been referred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for further review.

"The three players expressed their opposition to MLB's pro-Pride orthodoxy," wrote Dhillon, in the letter posted on X. "The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the League's vehicle for pro-Pride messages."

Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote variations of a Genesis verse on their caps for the Giants' Pride Night game on June 12. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, opted not to wear the rainbow-logo cap at all, choosing the standard black-and-orange version instead. None of the three players faced fines or formal discipline, though the league issued each a verbal warning.

MLB pointed back to a Tuesday statement explaining its position.

"To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message," the league said. "We respect players' right to free expression... We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as 'Dad,' 'Happy Mother's Day, I Love Mom,' and names of family members."

Dhillon's letter cited MLB's past allowance of "Black Lives Matter" patches as evidence of what she called a double standard. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) raised similar concerns in a Tuesday letter to Manfred, alleging a "pattern of discrimination" against Christian players.

Roupp explained his choice to reporters after the game, pointing to the Genesis passage's description of a rainbow as a covenant between God and "every living creature." "It's just about God's covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy," said Roupp. "That's just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and I'm thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want... and express what we want."

The Giants issued a statement following backlash, reaffirming support for Pride Night while acknowledging the players' choices caused pain within the LGBTQ+ community. The league's uniform policy bars players from writing on caps or modifying uniforms under the current collective bargaining agreement.

Shohei Ohtani will miss at least Friday's game for the Los Angeles Dodgers as he goes on paternity leave for the birth of his second child.

The four-time MVP was present at Dodger Stadium earlier Friday but was left out of the lineup against the Baltimore Orioles. The Dodgers have not formally placed Ohtani on the paternity list and, according to a league source, will wait until Saturday to decide whether to call up a replacement for his roster spot.

The club said it expects Ohtani to return "at some point this weekend." Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko, welcomed their first child last April.

Ohtani's absence is not expected to affect his next scheduled pitching start, which would come Wednesday in Minnesota against the Twins if the rotation holds. He last pitched Wednesday in the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The unplanned day off comes as the Dodgers monitor Ohtani's workload during his first full two-way season since 2023. He has dealt with minor ailments recently, including a swollen knee that required an MRI last week and a blister that began bleeding Wednesday, though his production has remained elite. His 1.47 ERA ranks second among major league pitchers with at least 70 innings, and his .963 OPS ranks second among qualified National League hitters.

Kyle Tucker moved into Ohtani's usual leadoff spot Friday, with Ryan Ward taking over designated hitter duties.

The defending back-to-back World Series champions own baseball's best record despite a series of injuries. Catcher Will Smith remains out with an inflamed disc in his neck and will receive an injection to aid his recovery, while closer Edwin Diaz threw 15 fastballs off a bullpen mound Friday in his continued rehab from triceps surgery.

Baltimore Orioles legend and part-owner Cal Ripken Jr. is taking a more hands-on role in the team's player development.

It marks the first time Ripken, who retired as a player in 2001, has been this directly involved within the organization. His expanded role follows last November's hiring of former big-league manager Mike Shildt as the Orioles' coordinator of instruction in the minor leagues, a newly created position focused on fundamentals.

Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias has increasingly leaned on Ripken's baseball knowledge, according to those briefed on the matter. Ripken and Shildt share a relationship dating back to 1980 and both emphasize cutoffs, relays and bunt plays as fundamentals the organization wants to rebuild.

The push for sharper fundamentals extends to the major-league roster under first-year manager Craig Albernaz, who recently sat rookie catcher Samuel Basallo for three straight games to stress the importance of playing through minor ailments.

"The issues we're trying to address are the small, stupid little mistakes that younger teams make," said pitcher Chris Bassitt. "We're a team that tends to give away outs. We're a team that tends to give the other team extra outs with errors or mental mistakes. We need to clean up the way we're playing the game."

Baltimore entered Thursday at 35-40, sitting 11.5 games back in the AL East and two games out of a wild-card spot. The Orioles ranked among the worst teams in MLB in defensive efficiency this season, despite the additions of veterans Pete Alonso, Bassitt, Ryan Helsley and Taylor Ward over the offseason.

Elias, Albernaz and Ripken all declined comment for The Athletic's report.

The Braves acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Pittsburgh Pirates for right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton on Thursday night.

Atlanta made room for Bart on the 40-man roster by designating catcher Sandy León for assignment. The Pirates assigned Stratton to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Major League Baseball proposed widespread changes to its amateur-entry system that would cut signing bonuses by more than $150 million annually, make high school players ineligible for the domestic draft and institute an international draft, sources told ESPN.

The proposal, made at a collective bargaining meeting with the MLB Players Association on Thursday, called for the domestic draft to be shortened from 20 to 12 hard-slotted rounds and the amateur signing bonus pool to be nearly halved to $200 million, according to sources.

The international draft, which would cover all amateur players outside of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, would also be 12 rounds with a $200 million bonus pool, sources told ESPN.

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal warned that the club must improve its play or risk being broken up at the trade deadline, as the team continues to slide further out of playoff contention.

Skubal, the two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, made the comments to The Detroit News in a story published Thursday. The left-hander is scheduled for free agency after this season and could command a record-setting contract.

"The reality is we need to play better baseball or else, come the deadline, you give the front office an option to reassess where this team is," said Skubal. "And if they don't think what we have is a World Series- or playoff-caliber team, then the whole team is going to look different. That's just the nature of the beast."

The Tigers entered Friday at 30-44, sitting 9½ games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and 6½ games out of the final wild-card spot. Detroit opens a three-game series against Chicago this weekend, with MLB's trade deadline set for Aug. 3.

Skubal is set to make his second start Friday since undergoing a procedure on May 6 to remove bone fragments from his elbow.

"The future for a lot of people in this room, not just myself, the outlook could look very much different in two months and it all comes to an abrupt end," said Skubal. "We still control our destiny a little bit. We still do.

"We play the team this weekend that's winning our division. It's another big series. You don't want to be playing playoff baseball in June, but it feels like we're playing playoff baseball. We don't have very much room for error, and everyone understands that. Everyone understands there has to be a sense of urgency. There has to be. Not panic. But there has to be a sense of urgency to try to win every game we play."

Detroit's other pending free agents this offseason include Kenley Jansen, Casey Mize, Gleyber Torres and Jack Flaherty.

The Los Angeles Angels placed center fielder Mike Trout on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a right hamstring strain, ending a stretch in which the veteran had appeared in 74 of the team's 75 games this season.

Trout said he hurt the hamstring running to first base during Wednesday's win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, a game in which he hit a home run and drove in three runs.

The 34-year-old told reporters he has no set return timeline but expressed optimism about a brief absence.

"From last night to today, it's a night and day difference, so that's positive for me," Trout told reporters, per MLB.com. "I was a little worried last night, but had a plane ride and just sitting down after playing, so that kind of came into effect. But feels way better today, so. I'm not overly concerned about it, but I'm going to do everything I can, in that training room and the weight room to get back."

Trout is batting .234 with 17 home runs, 36 RBIs and an American League-best 54 runs scored this season. His 66 walks rank second in the majors. The three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star has not appeared in more than 130 games in a single season since 2019.

In All-Star fan voting through Sunday, Trout ranked second among AL outfielders with 926,601 votes, trailing only New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is also currently on the injured list.

Jose Siri is expected to handle center field duties during Trout's absence. In a related move, the Angels recalled infielder Christian Moore from Triple-A Salt Lake. Moore is hitting .333 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs at the minor league level this season.

Major League Baseball will eliminate the clock from its Home Run Derby next month, reverting to a swing-based format for the first time since 2014, people briefed on the decision told The Athletic Wednesday.

The event is scheduled for July 13 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, beginning at 8 p.m. ET, and marks Netflix's debut as the derby's television home after ESPN held the rights since the 1990s.

Under the new rules, hitters will receive 20 swings in the first round and 15 in each of the final two rounds. If a batter homers on his final swing of any round, he earns an additional attempt and may keep hitting until he fails to go deep.

Ties in the first round will be settled by longest home run. In the second and third rounds, tied competitors will receive three additional swings each.

Eight hitters will compete in the opening round, with the top four advancing. The second round shifts to a head-to-head format, with the top first-round finisher matched against the lowest qualifier and the second and third seeds squaring off.

Player feedback drove the format change. Under the previous clock-based system, hitters rushed through swings to maximize attempts in the closing seconds, leading to fatigue. The swing-based structure allows competitors to pause and build tension between attempts.

Netflix, which became an MLB broadcast partner this season on a three-year deal worth approximately $50 million annually, sought input from the league and players on ways to improve the viewing experience.

The previous format allotted three minutes or 40 pitches in the first round and two minutes or 27 pitches in subsequent rounds, with bonus periods for outs and long home runs.