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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias is reportedly getting another chance at the major league level after a disappointing debut.

Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times wrote Tuesday, “Urias is coming back to the major leagues. Alex Wood is going on the disabled list with elbow soreness.”

The 19-year-old Urias started against the New York Mets on Friday and did not make it through the third inning before manager Dave Roberts pulled him. The Dodgers sent him back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after his debut, per Doug Padilla of ESPN.com.

Los Angeles lost Urias’ start, 6-5, as he allowed five hits and three earned runs in 2.2 innings. He also struggled with his command with four walks.

Padilla noted the teenager was the first pitcher to start in the majors before turning 20 since the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez in 2005.

That the Dodgers called Urias back so quickly is notable because Padilla wrote they “made no secret of their desire to keep Urias’ innings to a minimum this season and have even suggested using him out of the bullpen as the season progresses.”

Wood goes to the disabled list after he pitched Monday’s game in Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. He allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings of work and has a 3.99 ERA in 10 starts in 2016. McCullough pointed out Wood “reported some triceps soreness today.”

With Wood out, Rotoworld noted Urias will take the vacated spot in the rotation and make his next start against the Atlanta Braves.

The young southpaw couldn’t ask for a better matchup considering the Braves were tied with the Minnesota Twins entering play Tuesday with the worst record in the major leagues at 15-35. Atlanta has also struggled at the dish and is dead last in baseball with 161 runs scored, which is a symptom of its overall offensive issues:

Urias is surrounded by enormous expectations. MLB.com ranked him as the No. 2 prospect in the league entering the 2016 season and pointed to his “plus or better stuff across the board.”

He is consistently in the mid-90s with his fastball and can touch 97. He also has a “big-breaking curveball and fading changeup” to work with, per MLB.com. However, Urias has never appeared in more than 87.2 innings in a single season and missed two months in 2015 to have a benign tumor taken out of his left eye.

It is easy to envision Urias and Clayton Kershaw as a dominant one-two punch for the Dodgers down the line, but he first needs to make strides and gather experience during his second chance in the big leagues.

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The Toronto Blue Jays announced Tuesday they acquired right-handed reliever Jason Grilli in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, who received right-handed pitching prospect Sean Ratcliffe in return. 

Toronto also received cash considerations in the deal that shipped its 18th-round pick in 2013 to Atlanta.

The 39-year-old Grilli appeared in 21 games for the Braves this season in his second year with the organization, and Toronto will be his ninth team in his 14-year career. The veteran recorded a career-high 33 saves in 2013 in an All-Star campaign. 

Grilli has been a proficient reliever since his second season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012, when his strikeout-to-walk ratio jumped from 2.47 in 2011 to 4.09, per FanGraphs. The following season, he struck out 74 batters while walking only 13.

Grilli has struggled so far this year, striking out 23 batters and walking 13 while playing on a 15-win ballclub in Atlanta. Now he’ll get the chance to play for the reigning American League East champions.

The Blue Jays are five games back of the Boston Red Sox in the division coming into Tuesday, and Grilli should provide some immediate bullpen help. Toronto has a bullpen ERA of 3.89, which is 16th-best in the major leagues.

Toronto could use Grilli as a setup man for Roberto Osuna, who has 11 saves and an ERA of only 1.17 up to this point. Bob Mackowycz of TSN Radio doesn’t think the Blue Jays aren’t getting the Grilli of years past, however:

There’s enough time for the Blue Jays to make a charge at the Red Sox. But as powerful and talented as their offense is, they need pitching help. Grilli may be getting older, but he’ll provide plenty of experience for a young pitching staff.

Stats from Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.   

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Major League Baseball on Tuesday provided the first voting update for the 2016 All-Star Game on July 12 with a look at the American League leaders. Results for the National League were released Wednesday.

Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles and longtime Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz—in his final season before retirement—headline the current AL starters, according to MLB:

MLB Communications passed along a complete look at the early returns for the AL:

Wednesday, the NL returns were made available:

The Royals’ voting dominance is nothing new. Last season, their fanbase helped secure spots in the starting lineup for Alex Gordon (who missed the game because of injury), Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Salvador Perez. They are on pace for a similar result in 2016.

Shortstop is the most competitive position, with less than 6,000 votes separating Escobar from front-runner Xander Bogaerts of Boston. The outfield spots behind Trout are also up for grabs, with about 107,000 votes separating second (Cain) from sixth place (Gordon).

Ortiz isn’t yet a lock for the starting lineup, though it would take quite an effort from the Royals faithful to get Kendrys Morales to overcome a deficit of more than 466,000 votes. Even if that happened, however, the Red Sox designated hitter would surely get in as a reserve based on his numbers.

The slugger is off to an outstanding start with a .337 average and 14 homers in 45 games. He announced in November on the Players’ Tribune he will retire after the 2016 season. His MVP-level performance has raised questions about that decision, but Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald believes it is final and recently provided comments from the 40-year-old veteran about the situation.

“As the times go by, it just gets harder and harder and harder, man,” Ortiz said. “This is just something where you get to the point where you feel like you can’t do it any more.”

If Ortiz’s stance remains firm for another month, the All-Star Game will become a celebration of his career—similar to how Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was honored at the NBA All-Star Game in February—providing a chance for rival fans to give him a respectful send-off despite all the damage he’s likely done against their teams over the years.

In the National League, Chicago Cubs fans produced a Royals-like effort that has players from Wrigley Field atop four of the six listed positions on the returns.

Not only are Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell leading the way at first base, second base, third base and shortstop, respectively, but Dexter Fowler is currently sandwiched between reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper and New York Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes as a projected starter in the outfield.

However, the Cubs may not have a monopoly on infield positions for long. Russell is a meager 20,000 votes ahead of Colorado Rockies rookie phenom Trevor Story, and he’s batting just .246 with 49 strikeouts to date. If he continues to struggle at the plate, his starting spot figures to be in jeopardy.

And with voting just heating up, there’s plenty of time for things to change before the festivities get underway at the San Diego Padres’ Petco Park.

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In a wide-ranging interview with Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista discussed not only his altercation with Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor but also his future north of the border. 

Bautista earned a one-game suspension for his role in the brawl with Odor. He argued Odor intended to stir the pot when the Rangers and Blue Jays closed out their three-game series May 15, per SI Wire: “Was [Odor] out to play baseball that day? Maybe partly. Part of me also thinks that he was looking for a fight.”

The six-time All-Star also contended Odor attempted to hit him in the face as he slid into second base.  Whether intentional or not, Odor’s throw to first came dangerously close to Bautista face. A good look at the throw begins at the 5:47 mark of the video below:

Bautista also told Verducci he believes the Rangers infielder has used a similar tactic before. He didn’t mention a specific incident, but Odor narrowly missed Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin to complete a double play in Game 2 of the 2015 ALDS:

Although the two teams aren’t set to meet again this year, the animosity between the Blue Jays and Rangers will likely carry over to whenever they step back on the field together again.

Bautista may not be there to see it, though. The 35-year-old is set to be a free agent at the end of the 2016 season. He told Verducci he enjoys being in Toronto and that “[he’d] be stupid to leave,” but he added he won’t let emotions come into play as he makes a decision about his future, per SI Wire:

I will explore every single option, whether it happens or not with the new regime, to continue to try to stay here. That being said, I think teams utilize [the hometown discount] a lot against players, [seeking] a discount or bargain price, and I think that’s extremely unfair, especially to have your biggest contributors on the field and try to take advantage of the fact that they like it there and negotiate a tougher deal.

As much as Bautista has done for the organization, the Blue Jays will have a tough decision regarding his next contract. He’s no longer in his prime playing years, and the team has to consider the fact Edwin Encarnacion will hit free agency as well at the end of the year. In addition, Josh Donaldson is eligible for arbitration in 2018 and will be in line for a massive extension down the road.

The Blue Jays let David Price walk last offseason, and they could do the same with Bautista should his asking price be too much for their tastes.

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A year ago, Odubel Herrera was just another faceless player on a bad Philadelphia Phillies team, a nice Rule 5 pickup but still a guy known for little but having an unusual first name.

Did you know he’s the only Odubel ever to play major league baseball? There’s been an Odie (Porter), and Odalis (Perez) and an Oddibe (McDowell), but never another Odubel.

Anyway, the Phillies still aren’t all that good, with a run differential (minus-43) and a roster (mostly uninspiring) suggesting their above-.500 record won’t last. But if Odubel Herrera is still a faceless Phillie to you, well, he shouldn’t be.

On a team that was supposed to be about Maikel Franco and waiting for J.P. Crawford, the 24-year-old kid named Odubel has emerged as the best and most exciting player. He’s gone from nice pickup to a part of the future, a guy Phillies manager Pete Mackanin described to CSNPhilly.com’s Corey Seidman as “a perennial .300” hitter.

What’s most impressive is how he did it.

In an era when plate discipline is valued more than ever, Herrera didn’t have it. He didn’t have it last year, which might be excused because it was his first year in the majors, but he didn’t have it in the minor leagues, either.

And now he does. By May 15, he had already walked more times (29) than he did in 537 plate appearances in 2015. His strikeout-to-walk ratio has dropped from 4.61 last year to 1.18 through Sunday.

“It’s been like night and day,” Phillies third base coach Juan Samuel said Monday.

Scouts who have watched the Phillies agree, and say it’s amazing Herrera made the change so quickly and seemingly without giving up any aggressiveness at the plate.

“He’s willing to work a count and take a walk,” one American League scout said. “But he’s still pretty aggressive.”

That shows in the numbers, too. Herrera isn’t going to be a power hitter, but he already has five home runs, compared to eight all of last year. He’s not giving up power just to put the ball in play.

He’s kept his batting average high (.320), so his on-base percentage (.427) ranked third in the major leagues entering play Monday, behind only Ben Zobrist (.454) and Dexter Fowler (.433) of the Chicago Cubs.

The Phillies like what they see but believe there’s even more to come.

“He hasn’t tried it much, but he’s a good bunter, too,” Samuel said.

He’s even made himself into a decent center fielder, one scouts say has good range but still needs work on his reads and routes. That’s hardly surprising, given that Herrera played mostly at second base before the Texas Rangers left him unprotected and the Phillies grabbed him as a Rule 5 draft pick in December 2014.

With Samuel’s help, they made him a full-time center fielder (a position he played for just two Class A games with the Rangers). This year, they’ve made him a leadoff hitter after he made himself into a player who fits that spot.

In various interviews, Herrera has credited his father, Odubel Sr., who told him last winter that 129 strikeouts weren’t acceptable.

“I feel like when I’m having my at-bat, it’s my dad, actually, having my at-bat, because I always have him in my head,” Herrera told Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “One thing that he told me, and he was very specific about it, was that I needed to drop down my strikeouts. I struck out too many times last year.”

It’s easy to say that; not usually so easy to do it. So far this year, Herrera has done it.

The season hasn’t been completely smooth for him. Just last week, Mackanin pulled him from a game in Detroit for not running out a ground ball. But in that same series, Herrera had a home run and a bat flip that made its way around the Internet.

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com enjoyed it so much he put it on Twitter:

The Phillies have enjoyed watching Herrera, from the bat flips (sometimes after walks) to the horns sign (his nickname is El Torito).

“He’s an energy source on this team,” first baseman Ryan Howard told Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He goes, we go.”

Many of the current Phillies, including Howard, will be going as the rebuilding process continues. Herrera, who never made any of the top prospect lists, could easily have been one of those who went.

Not now. Now he’s not just a guy with an unusual name. He’s a guy with a name you should get to know.

He’s Odubel Herrera.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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Is James Shields a member of the Chicago White Sox yet?

Talk of the veteran hurler joining the American League Central contenders might be the juiciest rumor out there, but it’s far from the only one. A major injury in Kansas City has created some buzz, while a rebuilding club may have learned from past mistakes and be ready to part with an All-Star infielder.

We may only be two months into baseball’s regular season, but general managers have clearly been trying to earn their paychecks, working the phones to find upgrades, add depth and, in some cases, gauge interest in potential trade chips.

Keep in mind that these proposed deals are only ideas and pure speculation. Unless otherwise noted, there’s no indication any of them have actually been discussed.

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Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper left Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies after getting hit in the right knee by a Jeremy Hellickson pitch in the seventh inning. It is currently unclear when he’ll return to the field. 

Continue for updates.

Harper Out vs. Phillies

Wednesday, June 1

Mark Zuckerman of MASN reported Harper will not be in the lineup Wednesday against Philadelphia.

Harper Comments on Injury

Tuesday, May 31

“It hurts,” Harper said, via Zuckerman. “Whenever you get squared up like that, [it was] definitely something that didn’t feel good. I think we’ll evaluate tomorrow and see how it feels.”

Harper’s Timeline to Return Revealed 

Monday, May 30

Harper is considered day-to-day with a right-knee contusion, according to Jamal Collier of MLB.com. 

Nationals Can’t Afford to Lose Harper for Extended Period of Time

The slugger was replaced by Chris Heisey when the Nationals took the field in the bottom of the inning. Harper was 0-for-2 before exiting. Heading into Monday’s contest, he was hitting .245 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI while sporting a .416 OBP.

Harper is coming off his first MVP Award and is also a year removed from his healthiest professional season. He played 153 games in 2015 and set career highs with a .330/.460/.649 slash line, 42 home runs and 99 RBI. His individual success did not translate to team wins, though, as Washington finished a disappointing 83-79 despite having one of baseball’s highest payrolls.  

“Last year’s behind us. I mean, all of last year’s behind us,” Harper told reporters. “We were a losing team. I know we were above in the win column and loss column, but we still lost.”

The Nationals are undoubtedly hoping Harper will be back in the lineup soon. He’s their best player, and the only thing that’s affected his superstar trajectory has been injuries.

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Minnesota Twins center fielder Danny Santana will be sidelined for the foreseeable future after suffering a left hamstring injury Monday.

Continue for updates.

Twins Calling Up Buxton in Place of Santana

Monday, May 30

Santana is heading to the disabled list, and the Twins are calling up former No. 2 overall pick Byron Buxton to take his place, per Dustin Morse of the Twins’ communications team.

Santana suffered the injury during Monday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The 25-year-old went 2-for-3 before exiting the contest.

This is the second time this year Santana has landed on the disabled list because of hamstring issues. The team placed him on the 15-day DL on April 10 after he suffered a right hamstring injury.

Santana has improved from his 2015 campaign, during which he batted .215 in 91 games, but he still has plenty of work to do before getting back to his numbers from 2014, when he hit seven home runs while batting .319 in 101 games as a rookie.

The Twins, sitting at 15-35, will miss Santana in the lineup but should hope for the Buxton who has been playing well at Triple-A Rochester. Buxton has batted .333 to go with six homers in 28 games. The talent is there, but it’s up to Buxton to play better at the major league level.

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw posted the best single-month WHIP by any starting pitcher (minimum five starts) since 1913, recording a sterling 0.52 mark over his six starts in May, per MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter.

Well on his way to a fourth Cy Young Award, the 28-year-old lefty went 5-0 with a 0.91 ERA in May, allowing just five runs (all earned) on 24 hits and two walks in 49.2 innings while striking out 65 batters.

Also impressive in April, Kershaw now owns a 7-1 record, 1.56 ERA and 0.65 WHIP for the season, with 105 strikeouts and just five walks in 86.2 innings (11 starts). He’s gone at least seven innings in every outing and has recorded double-digit strikeouts in seven of his last eight.

During his most recent start, against the New York Mets on Sunday, Kershaw became the first pitcher since 1900 to have five or fewer walks at the time he recorded his 100th strikeout in a season, per Elias Sports Bureau (via SportsCenter on Twitter). 

He also set a record for the most strikeouts (65) in a month featuring five or fewer walks and became just the fourth pitcher to record both a sub-1.00 ERA and 65-plus strikeouts in a calendar month, joining Randy Johnson (June 1997), Roger Clemens (August 1998) and Pedro Martinez (September 1999), per Elias (via ESPN.com).

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New York Yankees first baseman Dustin Ackley will miss the season and undergo surgery on a torn labrum suffered on May 29. 

Continue for updates.

Surgery on the Horizon for Ackley

Tuesday, May 31

Manager Joe Girardi said Ackley will have surgery to repair his torn labrum, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Ackley Struggling in First Season With Yankees

Ackley has played 28 games this year and has batted .148 in his first full season in pinstripes.

Ackley played only seven games in April and recorded one hit in that span. His struggles continued into May, as he’s batting .178 and has driven in only four runs.

He suffered the shoulder injury Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays while sliding. New York has called up infielder Rob Refsnyder to take Ackley’s place and put Ackley on the 15-day disabled list for the time being, per George A. King III of the New York Post.

The Yankees (24-25) came into Monday sitting in fourth place in the American League East, and their offense has been a collective disappointment. New York has scored 190 runs so far this season, sixth-worst in the major leagues.

Stats from Baseball-Reference.com.

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