Why this World Baseball Classic is historic — and complicated — for Cuba
ONE OF THE most captivating players in the early part of this year’s World Baseball Classic has been Randy Arozarena, a man who famously saves his best for the time of year when it matters most. Arozarena, the Tampa Bay Rays‘ fifth-year outfielder, has treated an international tournament in March the way he often does Major League Baseball’s postseason in October, electrifying fans with his all-around skill set, tickling social media with his pro-wrestling-style poses and delighting teammates with his cowboy boots.
Arozarena was born and raised in Cuba, the island that sparked and fostered his love for baseball. But he isn’t representing his home country this week. His star, instead, is shining for Mexico, the nation he settled in briefly during his early 20s.
This year’s World Baseball Classic represents a seismic shift for Cuba, which included current major league players on the roster for the first time ever. It led to the additions of Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert, central figures for the Chicago White Sox. But Arozarena, who has spoken openly in recent years about representing his adopted country, represents a litany of Cuban-born stars who were either not invited or not interested or, in some cases, both, a list that also includes Jose Abreu, Yordan Alvarez, Yasmani Grandal and Aroldis Chapman, among numerous others.
The presence of Moncada and Robert — as well as Yoenis Cespedes, the former star outfielder who hasn’t played in the majors since 2020, and a handful of minor league players — has been characterized by Cuba and its state-run media as a monumental step worth celebrating. Cuba, which dominated on the Olympic stage throughout the 1990s and 2000s, possesses a rich history of baseball excellence. But massive defections have diminished the level of talent on the island and brought with it numerous disappointments on the international stage. The inclusion of major league players was considered a much-needed boost.
But many Cuban players in the United States viewed the development with deep-seated cynicism, well-earned from those who were stripped of basic freedoms by a country they were ultimately forced to flee. Notable, sure, but also awkward. Encouraging yet controversial. As with most things related to Cuba, it is, well, complicated.
“Unfortunately in Cuba everything is mixed with its politics,” veteran infielder Aledmys Diaz said in Spanish. “The [Cuban Baseball Federation] is part of the direction of the Cuban government. In order for you to represent them, or be part of that, you have to think the way they do. That’s a problem that Cuba has, and it’s what differentiates it from other countries.”
TO BE A Cuban American is to lack a true sense of country, a plight that international events like the World Baseball Classic have a tendency of highlighting. For Cubans, pride in a flag and roots and traditions are often entwined with disdain for an oppressive government that has spent decades denying its people their fundamental human rights, a connection that can become impossible to separate. It’s a duality unique to the Cuban professional baseball player, as Aroldis Chapman explained on a recent spring morning.
“In the Dominican, all of the Dominican players leave, finish their seasons here, and then most of them go back to their country and spend most of their offseasons in the Dominican,” Chapman, a member of the Kansas City Royals, said. “A lot of us Cubans, first of all, we had to leave illegally. The Cuban government doesn’t give us permission to go anywhere. It’s not just athletes; it’s everybody. Before, you couldn’t leave Cuba to go anywhere. We left, we left illegally, and then the very Cuban government began to call us traitors … saying a bunch of things against us.
“And so on top of that, calling us all those things, they don’t televise any of our games in Cuba. They don’t televise big league games over there, supposedly because they don’t want to show the Cuban baseball players who are playing over here. Also, a lot of us have gone eight, 10, 15 years without being able to return to Cuba. At this point, [with the World Baseball Classic taking place] a lot of people talk about the island, the country. Yeah, but that same country has called you a traitor … because you made the decision to come to this country. There’s just a lot there.”
The U.S., more than 60 years into a strict trade embargo, granted Cuba special permission to include major and minor league players on its WBC roster in December — but the list of those allowed to join shrank quickly.
The Cuban Baseball Federation, which banned participation in professional sports more than 60 years ago, declared from the onset that no one who left Cuba’s national team during international competition in order to eventually reach the U.S., and in its view broke a contract, would be invited. And in April, the president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Juan Reynaldo Perez Pardo, introduced another condition, saying on a daily news show in Cuba that the players selected would be those who “have maintained a positive attitude towards our baseball and our country.” In other words: players who are not publicly critical of the government.
For some, it meant taking part would require forgetting the reasons they left in the first place.
“There is no freedom in Cuba,” said Yale professor Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, author of a book about the history of Cuban baseball.
On the island, those who speak out against the government risk jail time, with minimal due process. Most of the economy is controlled by GAESA, the economic division of Cuba’s military. And leaving the country often requires special permission. Because of the embargo established by the United States, baseball players must establish residency in a different country in order to become eligible for major league free agency — and that path has often proved treacherous.
Many of the stories that have come to light have been harrowing. Jose Fernandez, the late star pitcher for the Miami Marlins, described jumping overboard to save his mother from drowning during their journey. Jose Abreu testified about having to swallow a fake passport. Yasiel Puig was reportedly detained by a Mexican drug cartel. Orlando Hernandez was famously sent to a Bahamian detention center. When they eventually shined in the U.S., their achievements were ignored by a Cuban government that would not allow them back into the country for at least eight years. Worse, their reputations were often tarnished.
“They called us traitors, they said we were a disgrace to our country, and now you want us to play for you — and we don’t even get an apology?” said a Cuban-born major league player who did not want to be publicly identified. “We don’t forget. I’m not going to forget, at least. I have my pride.”
AROLDIS CHAPMAN AND Aledmys Diaz, now with the Oakland Athletics, said they had no interest in playing for Team Cuba, which split its four pool-play games and advanced into the quarterfinals by virtue of a tiebreaker. But they also were not invited, nor was anyone else who left during international competitions — a list that includes Jose Iglesias, Yadiel Hernandez and the Gurriel brothers, Yulieski and Lourdes Jr.
Many of those who were eligible also declined.
Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez and first baseman Jose Abreu were both called, but neither answered, Team Cuba manager Armando Johnson told the local media in January. New York Yankees starter Nestor Cortes, who left Cuba as a child, chose to pitch for Team USA before withdrawing because of a hamstring injury. Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Yandy Diaz expressed to Spanish-speaking media late last year that he was not interested in playing for Cuba, and his Rays teammate, Arozarena, is fulfilling his desire to play for Mexico, the country where he established citizenship after fleeing Cuba.
Oscar Colas of the White Sox and Miguel Vargas of the Los Angeles Dodgers showed varying degrees of interest but declined largely to focus on holding down everyday jobs with their current teams.
Colas, whose spring locker resides between those of Moncada and Robert, hopes to play for Team Cuba if given another opportunity in the near future.
Vargas, whose father, Lazaro, starred for Cuba in the 1990s, is uncertain.
“I think there’s always going to be that struggle because a lot has happened through a lot of time,” Vargas said in Spanish. “They’ve hurt a lot of players, their families, lots of stuff. I think with time, maybe there can be a better relationship. But that’s not the case right now.”
Four minor league players joined Team Cuba, including infielder Andy Ibanez (Texas Rangers organization) and pitchers Ronald Bolanos (Royals), Miguel Romero (A’s) and Roenis Elias (Chicago Cubs). But Robert, Moncada and Cespedes are the clear headliners, representations of what optimists view as a potential shift in Cuba’s relations with those who left the island.
Yoan Moncada received legal permission to leave in June 2014 and flew directly from Cuba to Ecuador. Yoenis Cespedes and Luis Robert left illegally — Cespedes on a speedboat in the summer of 2011; Robert on a flight, through back channels, in the fall of 2016, according to a Francys Romero book that chronicles Cuban migration. But neither left the team during international competition, and each is at least in neutral standing with the Cuban government.
Approached by ESPN during spring training, Moncada and Robert declined to talk about their decision to join Team Cuba. Cespedes, who left the team to address a personal issue in the U.S. but hopes to rejoin Cuba if it advances into the semifinals, was relayed questions through a public-relations staffer in Taiwan but declined to answer them.
Just before leaving White Sox camp in Glendale, Arizona, Robert, speaking through an interpreter, told the local media that the thought of playing for Cuba had “never crossed my mind” after leaving the island, adding that he felt “proud” to do so now. Moncada said he was “very hopeful that this is a first step for the Cuban players that are in the major leagues to represent their country in future tournaments.”
Chapman and Diaz said they did not speak with Robert or Moncada about their decision to join the team, but they also did not condemn them for it.
“I’m sure they have their reasons,” Chapman said.
“I’m not going to look at Moncada or Robert any differently for making the decision to play for Team Cuba,” Diaz added. “I respect their decision. All I can control is my own actions and the way I think.”
CUBA’S DECISION TO accept players who fled was surprising considering its sensibilities but predictable considering its circumstances.
“It’s a reflection of the crises in which Cuba finds itself, in all aspects of life,” said Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria. “Things have deteriorated, and so has baseball.”
Cuba, an island that cherishes its baseball every bit as much as the Dominican Republic, claimed gold or silver at every Summer Olympics from 1992 to 2008 and 39 other golds over a five-decade stretch in the Baseball World Cup, Intercontinental Cup and Pan-American Games. When the World Baseball Classic was first staged in 2006, Cuba finished as the runner-up to Japan. But it went 1-3 in the Pan-American Games in 2019, failed to qualify for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and went 1-6 in last month’s Caribbean Series, finishing last among the eight teams.
Cuba didn’t advance past the second round in any of the past three World Baseball Classics and isn’t expected to do so this year, even with Moncada, Robert and Cespedes on the roster. Heading into the tournament, outsiders predicted Cuba’s amateurs might have a hard time handling the high velocities displayed by upper-echelon teams in the late stages of this tournament. Upper-90s fastballs have become almost foreign on the island; the average fastball in the Cuban National Series fell to the mid-80s last season, according to Francys Romero, a Cuban journalist who now lives in Miami and works for MLB.com.
In March of 2020, Romero released his Spanish-language book chronicling the migration of Cuban baseball players from 1960 to 2018. He called the tail end of that stretch an “explosion.” According to Romero’s research, 130 players left from 1990 to 2000. From 2000 to 2010, the number jumped to 250. In 2015 alone, it was 202 — a total that represents roughly half the number of players who take part in the 16-team Cuban National Series, the equivalent of its regular season. The period from 2011 to 2018 totaled somewhere in the neighborhood of 650 departures, largely due to the travel restrictions that were eased by Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother, in 2013.
Cuban players commonly departed after they had at least begun to establish themselves within the country’s highest league. But by 2018, the average age of the baseball players who left had fallen to 17 years old, seven years younger than it was just four years earlier, according to Romero.
“It was no longer even that the stars didn’t feel confident continuing their careers in Cuba,” Romero said in Spanish, “but that the fathers of the young prospects also didn’t believe in a future in Cuba.”
MIGUEL VARGAS, a 23-year-old infielder who will become the Dodgers’ everyday second baseman this season, is a soccer fan who watched closely as Argentina secured the World Cup in December.
He thought about what it would mean for Cuba to do something similar in baseball.
“Everybody who’s Cuban should have the opportunity to represent his country,” Vargas said. “I think that would be incredible.”
MLB holds aspirations of eventually turning the WBC into something as storied and as cherished as the World Cup, but one of the obstacles standing in the way of such a lofty pursuit — aside from history, international reach and the dynamics of MLB — is representation. Significant progress was made for this year’s event, particularly with regard to Team USA.
But for Cuba, increasing representation isn’t as easy as rallying superstars.
An effort, at least, was made early last year, when a group of current and former players joined forces with a longtime journalist and a former software engineer to launch the Association of Cuban Professional Baseball Players. The primary goal was to assemble an all-star team for the World Baseball Classic, independent from the communist government that has historically prevented one, and so Cuban baseball fans everywhere went on social media to fantasize about a dream roster.
Luis Robert in center. Jorge Soler and Randy Arozarena in the outfield corners. Yasmani Grandal behind the plate. Yordan Alvarez at DH. Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Jose Iglesias and perhaps even Nolan Arenado making up the infield. Nestor Cortes and Alek Manoah starting games, Aroldis Chapman and Raisel Iglesias finishing them.
A logo, a vertical adaptation of Cuba’s flag, was created. A name, The Cubanos, was announced. T-shirts were printed, uniform concepts were generated. Pitching legend Orlando Hernandez was installed as the general manager, and Brayan Pena, the former catcher who now coaches in the minor leagues, was named field manager. Some of Cuba’s biggest stars — Chapman, Soler and Alvarez among them — voiced their support.
The group spoke with Tony Clark, head of the MLB Players Association, in May, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in June, and felt as if the meetings were well-received. But the goal of competing in this year’s World Baseball Classic hardly stood a chance. The World Baseball Softball Confederation, which sanctions the WBC, does not permit the participation of a team that is not affiliated with a national governing body, and running the WBC without sanctions was hardly an option. Cubans were once again left longing.
“I feel like we accomplished a lot in a short amount of time,” Diaz said. “We know there are a lot of rules that were going to prevent us from fielding a team for this year’s Classic, but I think we took steps forward. And my understanding is that the inclusion of Moncada and Luis Robert was at least partly because of the pressure we were able to create. I don’t think the Cuban government would’ve allowed MLB players to take part in this year’s World Baseball Classic [if not for us]. And so from my point of view, I think the pressure we put on them was important.”
Diaz, echoing a sentiment shared by several others, doesn’t want to play for a Cuban team until everyone is allowed. That won’t happen, he believes, until “baseball stops becoming politicized” and the team deploys a manager who is not associated with the Cuban government.
It’s not that simple.
“In Cuba everything is basically politicized,” Chapman said. “A lot of people want to separate what is the sport of baseball, culture, from politics. They want to separate them. But in Cuba, everything is political — sports, culture, everything. So if you’re representing Cuba, you’re not just representing the flag, you’re representing the government.”
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Alden Gonzalez
Max Muncy returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ lineup on Monday, Aaron Judge was back in the New York Yankees‘ batting order on Tuesday, and with that, the two teams that met in last year’s World Series — and had been underperforming to varying degrees in recent weeks — received valuable reinforcements for the stretch run.
They’re far from alone.
Now that the trade deadline has passed and less than two months remain in the regular season, contending teams throughout the sport are counting on key players returning from injury in the days and weeks ahead, hoping they might make the difference between missing out on October and winning it all. And given the landscape, which many consider as wide-open as ever, they just might.
Below is a look at some of the most impactful players on their way back.
Expected return date: The injury to Álvarez’s right hand has featured plenty of drama and required a lot of patience. The Astros initially diagnosed it as a muscle strain in early May and began the process of ramping him up by late June. Then came lingering pain, prompting a visit to a specialist and the revelation that the outfielder was dealing with a fractured bone. Perhaps, though, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Álvarez resumed hitting off a tee and taking soft toss a couple weeks ago and hit on the field at the team’s spring training facility on Tuesday. The Astros are going to be really careful this time around, but there is hope he can help them down the stretch.
What he means to the team: The Astros lost Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker over the offseason and have received just 121 plate appearances from Álvarez — and a paltry slash line of .210/.306/.340 — yet they’re on pace for their eighth American League West title in nine years. You would be hard-pressed to find a more impressive development this season. When healthy, Álvarez is on par with Judge and Shohei Ohtani among the game’s most imposing hitters. Given how well the Astros have pitched, plugging Álvarez back into the middle of their lineup — with an ascending Jeremy Peña, a better-of-late Jose Altuve and what they hope is a rejuvenated Carlos Correa — could put them in the conversation for the best team in the AL, if not all baseball.
Expected return date: Right-hander Assad, out all year with a left oblique injury he reaggravated around late April, made his third rehab start on Wednesday, looking sharp while pitching into the fifth inning. His next step could be joining the rotation. Taillon is right behind him. The 33-year-old right-hander has been dealing with a right calf strain for a little more than a month but pitched three innings in a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday. He gave up seven runs, but he also came out of it feeling healthy. That’s all that matters at this point. Cubs starters not named Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga have combined for a 4.63 ERA this season. And at this point, there is no outside help coming.
What they mean to the team: The Cubs did not land the controllable front-line starter they desired before the trade deadline. The starter they did acquire, Michael Soroka, pitched two innings in his debut on Monday, then landed on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort. Now, the Cubs need to make up for what they lack in their rotation internally. Assad fashioned a 3.73 ERA in 29 starts last year and was effective both out of the rotation and in the bullpen in 2023. Taillon, a proven innings eater who consistently pounds the strike zone, is probably as good a complement to Boyd and Imanaga as the Cubs can get.
Expected return date: Bieber, who had Tommy John surgery, has not taken the mound in a major league game since April 2, 2024, but the former Cy Young Award winner’s return is approaching. The right-hander made his fifth rehab start — and first since being acquired by the Blue Jays — on Sunday, striking out six batters across five innings. He’ll make another start on Saturday, then perhaps one more after that. Then the Blue Jays will see if they can get the front-line starter they envisioned when they unloaded promising pitching prospect Khal Stephen to pry Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians last week.
What he means to the team: The Blue Jays are counting on several offensive contributors returning in the not-too-distant future, including George Springer, Andrés Giménez and, they hope, Anthony Santander. But Bieber is the wild card. If he’s close to what he was even after winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2020 — a guy who put up a 3.13 ERA and struck out 459 batters in 436⅔ innings from 2021 to 2024 — he can join Kevin Gausman and José Berríos to form a really solid rotation trio in October. But the initial returns from Tommy John surgery can be tricky. Just ask Sandy Alcántara.
Expected return date: Bohm took a sinker to his left side on July 12 and later learned he had suffered a fractured rib, but the 29-year-old third baseman has been hitting ground balls and taking batting practice and will now venture out on a rehab assignment. He could return to the Phillies’ lineup this month. Nola went on the injured list for the first time in eight years because of a sprained right ankle in mid-May, then was diagnosed with a stress reaction in one of his ribs a month later. Now, Nola is finally on his way back. He went 3⅔ innings in his second rehab start on Wednesday and will make one or two more before rejoining the rotation.
What they mean to the team: Bohm and Nola have served as catalysts while these Phillies have ascended to near the top of the sport in recent years, and it’s hard not to see them having a massive say — good or bad — in October. The Phillies need them to be healthy, but they also need them to be better. Bohm was slugging just .391 before going down. Nola, meanwhile, carried a 6.16 ERA through his first nine starts — one year after receiving Cy Young votes. The Phillies’ rotation has been one of the game’s best this season, and it can handle an ineffective Nola if it absolutely has to. But the offense needs Bohm’s production.
Expected return date: Burger is navigating his second stint on the IL this season, this time because of a left quad strain, but he has played in a couple of rehab games and could return before the end of the Rangers’ current homestand. Carter, an outfielder, was shut down with back spasms on Saturday, and though there’s currently no reason to believe it’s a serious injury, it’s worrisome when you consider how back issues plagued him in 2024.
What they mean to the team: The 2025 Rangers do everything well except the one thing they felt they could do best: hit. And while the offense has been a lot better lately, the Rangers could use more production from Burger and Carter in hopes of grabbing a playoff spot in a wide-open AL. Burger has slashed just .228/.259/.401 in his first year in Texas, but could at the very least platoon with fellow first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who has been a godsend since signing a minor league deal in early July. Carter, a rookie sensation during the stretch run of the team’s championship season in 2023, was slashing just .238/.323/.381.
Expected return date: Gasser, the 26-year-old left-hander who excelled in his first five major league starts last year, is in the late stages of his recovery from Tommy John surgery. His fourth rehab start came Sunday, during which he threw 16 pitches in the game and 19 in the bullpen. The Brewers are building him back up as a starter, so he still needs to increase his pitch count. But he’s on track to join a loaded Brewers pitching staff before the end of August. So is rookie All-Star Jacob Misiorowski, who suffered a bruised left shin last week but isn’t expected to miss much more than the minimum amount of time. Outfielder Jackson Chourio, who landed on the IL with a hamstring strain last week, could be back by the end of the month, too.
What he means to the team: The Brewers acquired Gasser as part of the package that sent former closer Josh Hader to San Diego in summer 2022 and watched him shine as a rookie in 2024, putting up a 2.57 ERA with one walk in 28 innings. But then his ulnar collateral ligament gave out, triggering a long rehab that is finally reaching its conclusion. The Brewers see him as a starter long term, but there might not be room for him in the 2025 rotation. If that’s the case, he can be an impact lefty out of the bullpen. The Brewers acquired only one traditional reliever in Shelby Miller before the trade deadline, largely because they believe starters like Gasser, Chad Patrick and Tobias Myers can help them out of the bullpen when it matters most.
Expected return date: It has been a long, slow climb back for Greene and the right groin strain he suffered, for a second time, on June 3. The right-hander seemed to be approaching a return in July, but he experienced lingering pain and had to shut it down once more. Now, though, his return seems imminent. Greene navigated a third rehab start on Sunday, during which he struck out seven batters in 3⅓ innings, and is scheduled to ramp up to 80 pitches on Friday. After that, he could rejoin the rotation. With Nick Lodolo shut down with a blister that materialized on his left index finger in his Monday start, the Reds need Greene now more than ever.
What he means to the team: Here’s what Greene has done since the start of last July: 1.92 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 133 strikeouts, 30 walks, 112⅔ innings. Those are the numbers of not just a traditional front-line starter, but of one of the best pitchers in the game. The Reds have hung around all year, getting better starting pitching than they probably anticipated, but less offense than they hoped. They’ve underperformed their projections, but they still sit just three games back of a playoff spot. Greene — and Lodolo, who might require only a minimum stint on the injured list — could make the difference.
Expected return date: For the better part of two months, questions swirled around the state of King’s health and whether he would pitch at all this season. The 30-year-old right-hander was dealing with a thoracic nerve issue in his right shoulder, an exceedingly rare injury for a pitcher. He simply had to wait for the pain to subside, with no idea when it would. Now, though, he is on the doorstep of returning to the major leagues. King threw 61 pitches in 3⅓ innings in a rehab start on Sunday, allowing six runs but also striking out five batters. His next start is expected to come this weekend against the Boston Red Sox.
What he means to the team: Padres general manager A.J. Preller put together an epic trade deadline, upgrading at catcher, adding two competent bats to the lineup and, most notably, landing another impact arm for the bullpen. His starting-pitching additions, though, were depth players; JP Sears and Nestor Cortes are not expected to make playoff starts. What the Padres need is for King — their Game 1 starter in last year’s postseason, their Opening Day starter this year and owner of a 2.59 ERA in his first 10 starts — to join Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta in the rotation to truly make this one of the most well-rounded teams in the sport. It seems that will happen.
Expected return date: Kopech, nursing a right knee injury, has been throwing bullpen sessions and is expected to be activated once he’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list in late August. Left-hander Scott, dealing with elbow inflammation, has also been throwing off a mound and doesn’t seem far off, either. Yates’ situation, though, is a little hazier. The 38-year-old right-hander had been dealing with lower back pain for a couple weeks before landing on the IL at the start of August. There is no timetable for his return, though it seems possible that he, too, can be back before the end of the month.
What they mean to the team: The Dodgers have once again absorbed a slew of injuries throughout their staff, having already deployed 38 pitchers — one year after setting a franchise record by using 40. Their bullpen has led the majors in innings for most of this season. At the deadline, though, the front office acted conservatively, adding just one bullpen arm, right-hander Brock Stewart, along with reserve outfielder Alex Call. The approach showed confidence in the arms the Dodgers have coming back, especially in the bullpen. But Scott and Yates, their two big offseason signings, have combined for a 4.21 ERA this season. Right-hander Kopech, meanwhile, has appeared in just eight games. They’ll have a lot to prove.
Expected return date: Optimism around Meadows emerged on Monday, with some light running in the outfield — a subtle sign he is progressing once again toward a rehab assignment. Meadows, 25, missed the first two months of the season with inflammation in his upper right arm that he later learned was a product of issues with his musculocutaneous nerve. He spent most of June and July in the lineup, then landed on the injured list once more, this time because of a right quad strain. The hope is that he can be back playing center field before the end of August.
What he means to the team: Meadows accumulated 11 outs above average in center field from 2023 to 2024 despite playing in only 119 games. In that stretch, he also stole 17 bases, provided a .729 OPS — with fairly even splits against lefties and righties — and accumulated 3.1 FanGraphs wins above replacement. As the Tigers march toward their first division title in 11 years and vie for a first-round bye, they find themselves longing for Meadows in several ways. The hope is that he’ll be a much better hitter than he showed earlier this season, when he slashed .200/.270/.296 in 137 plate appearances.
Expected return date: Megill has been absent from the Mets’ rotation since the middle of June because of a right elbow sprain but threw 20 pitches in a simulated game at Citi Field on Sunday. He is expected to extend to two innings in another session on Thursday. A rehab assignment will follow shortly thereafter, putting Megill on track to potentially rejoin the Mets’ rotation later this month. Megill was solid before going down, posting a 3.95 ERA in 14 starts, and the Mets’ rotation could really use some of that right now.
What he means to the team: When Megill got hurt on June 14, the Mets’ rotation easily led the majors with a 2.82 ERA. Since then, the group has posted a 5.12 ERA, ranked 26th. Lately, it has only gotten worse. The Mets have lost eight of their past nine games, and in that stretch, the starters have allowed 34 runs (32 earned) in 43⅔ innings. Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga have all had their struggles, to varying degrees, of late. And though Megill certainly can’t fix that alone, another capable starter would certainly be welcomed.
Expected return date: Miller, limited to just 10 starts this season, cruised through his first rehab start on Friday, tossing four scoreless innings, and is scheduled to stretch to five innings on Thursday. Given that he has gone on the IL because of right elbow inflammation twice this year, requiring a cortisone shot and a platelet-rich plasma injection, the Mariners will play it safe — Miller will make two more rehab starts before being activated. Robles dislocated his left shoulder while making an incredible catch in San Francisco on April 6 and is way ahead of schedule. He’s expected to begin a rehab assignment next week and could return before the end of August.
What they mean to the team: Robles is the Mariners’ leadoff hitter and spark plug. Over a 77-game stretch after Seattle signed him as a free agent last summer, he slashed .328/.393/.467. And if he can produce something close to that, a Mariners offense that added Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez before the trade deadline and has received a dominant season from Cal Raleigh will be as deep as it has been since Jerry Dipoto took over baseball operations 10 years ago. The Mariners haven’t received as much from their rotation as they would have expected this year, but a staff of Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Miller — 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA while healthy last year — still rivals the best in the game.
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