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MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff appears on the verge of returning from the shoulder injury that has prevented the two-time All-Star from pitching in the majors since early April.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Thursday that “everything tracks” toward Woodruff starting Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Woodruff made just two starts this season before going on the injured list April 11.

Woodruff worked 4 2/3 innings for Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday, marking his third start in a rehabilitation assignment. That would clear the way for Woodruff to pitch Sunday when the Brewers close a four-game series with the Pirates.

“I feel like with our starting pitching, looking that far forward hasn’t done us any good,” Counsell said, referring to the staff’s injury issues. “But everything that Woody has done in the last three weeks has been good news every day.”

The 30-year-old Woodruff was 1-0 with an 0.79 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings before going on the injured list. He went 13-4 with a 3.05 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 153 1/3 innings last season.

“We haven’t had him essentially all season, so it’s definitely a big add,” Counsell said.

The Brewers activated third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson (back) from the injured list on Thursday and optioned right-handed pitcher Trevor Megill and infielder Abraham Toro to Nashville. They added left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin to the active roster, two days after acquiring him from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Anderson has batted .229 with a .317 on-base percentage, nine homers and 38 RBI in 85 games while splitting time between third base and right field this season.

Most of his playing time now should come in the infield because the Brewers promoted outfielder Sal Frelick and have acquired former New York Mets outfielder Mark Canha while Anderson was on the injured list. He will be competing for playing time at third with Andruw Monasterio, who is hitting .288 with a .373 on-base percentage as a rookie.

“The thing with getting Brian back is Andruw’s going to play quite a bit here still because he’s played really well and has swung the bat really, really well,” Counsell said. “We need that. But I think we’re getting a player back that’s very good defensively. If we need versatility from him, we’ve got it.”

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Sources: Yankees get 3B in Rockies’ McMahon

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Sources: Yankees get 3B in Rockies' McMahon

NEW YORK — The Yankees are acquiring third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Rockies in exchange for minor league pitchers Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

The Yankees will assume the remainder of 30-year-old McMahon’s contract, which includes approximately $4.5 million for the remainder of 2025 and $32 million over the next two seasons.

An All-Star last season, McMahon was batting .217 with 16 home runs and a .717 OPS in 100 games for Colorado in 2025. He hit home runs in the first two games after the All-Star break and another on Tuesday and is on pace to keep his four-year 20-homer streak alive.

While the production has resulted in a 92 OPS+, which suggests McMahon has been 8% worse than the average major league hitter this season, he still represents a significant offensive upgrade at third base for New York.

The Yankees have had Oswald Peraza, one of the worst hitters in the majors, manning third base nearly every day since the club decided to release DJ LeMahieu, another former Rockies player, earlier this month and move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base. Peraza, while a strong defender, is slashing .147/.208/.237 in 69 games this season. His 24 wRC+ ranks last among the 310 hitters with at least 160 plate appearances this season.

Defensively, McMahon is a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman whose four Outs Above Average is third in the majors this season. He joins a Yankees club that has been marred by sloppy defense, most recently on Wednesday when it committed four errors in a defensive meltdown against the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.

Herring, 22, has recorded a 1.71 ERA in 89⅓ innings across 16 starts between Low- and High-A this season. He was a sixth-round pick out of LSU in the 2024 draft.

Grosz, an 11th-round pick in 2023, had a 4.14 ERA in 87 innings over 16 games (15 starts) for High-A Hudson Valley this season.

With third base addressed, the Yankees will continue to seek to acquire pitchers to bolster both their rotation and bullpen.

MLB.com first reported on the Yankees trading for McMahon.

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Mets trade for reliever in Orioles left-hander Soto

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Mets trade for reliever in Orioles left-hander Soto

The Mets acquired left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from the Orioles on Friday in exchange for two minor leaguers in what could be the first of multiple moves by New York to bolster its bullpen before the trade deadline Thursday.

The trade, which sent Class A right-hander Wellington Aracena and Double-A right-hander Cameron Foster to Baltimore, gives the Mets a hard-throwing left-hander to complement the club’s only lefty on the roster, Brooks Raley, who returned from Tommy John surgery last week.

Soto, who is 30 and was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers in 2021 and 2022, has posted a 3.96 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate in 45 appearances this season. The Mets will be his fourth team since the 2022 season.

On Monday, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns plainly signaled that upgrading the bullpen for the stretch run is his top priority.

The need is clear. Injuries and overuse have depleted a relief corps that led the majors in bullpen ERA through May 31. Since June 1, the group has posted 4.52 ERA, good for 23rd in the majors.

Aracena, 20, is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 17 games for St. Lucie. The Orioles said he is one of two pitchers in the minors this season to have thrown at least 60 innings without surrendering a home run.

Foster, 26, is 5-2 with two saves and a 2.97 ERA while pitching at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

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Fenway concession workers strike for Sox series

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Fenway concession workers strike for Sox series

BOSTON — Hundreds of Aramark workers at Fenway Park are on strike and planning to stay out for all of a homestand between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers starting Friday night.

Concession workers had set a deadline of noon Friday for Aramark and Fenway Park to reach an agreement with the Local 26 chapter of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island hotel, casino, airport and food services workers union.

The union went on strike at noon asking for “living wages, guardrails on technology and R-E-S-P-E-C-T!”

With the Red Sox and Dodgers scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. EDT, union officials had a request for fans attending this homestand with food and beer workers on strike.

“We’re asking you to NOT buy concessions inside the ballpark,” Local 26 wrote on social media. “Tailgate before the games!”

Union workers walked the picket line wearing green T-shirts declaring “FENWAY WORKERS ON STRIKE.” They carried signs in the shape of a baseball proclaiming Local 26.

The Red Sox go out of town Monday with a game that night at Minnesota.

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