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Bobby Cox said yesterday that Kenshin Kawakami will be used as a reliever when he returns from his stint at Triple-A, which is no surprise given how impressive rookie Mike Minor has been in three starts since stepping into the rotation. Minor, who was the seventh overall pick in last year’s draft out of Vanderbilt,…

Juan Rivera made his first career start at first base Monday and manager Mike Scioscia said yesterday that he’ll split time there with Mike Napoli for the rest of the season. Scioscia has used seven different players at first base since Kendry Morales went down for the season in May and Rivera is available for…

Last month Rocco Baldelli made the transition from coach to player, and since moving up to Triple-A two weeks ago he’s 10-for-30 (.333) with two homers and three doubles. Baldelli has been limited to designated hitter duties and is swinging at everything, striking out seven times compared to zero walks, but Bill Chastain of MLB.com…

After holding the Nationals to one run over 7.1 innings last night for his best start of the season Carlos Zambrano left the Cubs and flew home to Venezuela to be with his sick 11-year-old nephew. Zambrano told Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that his nephew has been hospitalized with a bacterial infection and…

Armando Galarraga might have a chance for another (near) perfect game this afternoon, as the Royals feature the following lineup: 1. Gregor Blanco 2. Mike Aviles 3. Willie Bloomquist 4. Billy Butler 5. Kila Ka’aihue 6. Brayan Pena 7. Mitch Maier 8. Jai Miller 9. Chris Getz There are a couple amazing things at play…

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times reports that manager Joe Torre was “approached recently” by an ownership group interested in buying the Dodgers and having him “run it a la Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers.” Torre told Simers that he gets “people who make all kinds of suggestions all the time” and “some…

Last week the Reds demoted Mike Leake to the bullpen in an effort to keep the rookie’s innings count in check, but after back-to-back ugly relief outings they’re now thinking about shutting him down altogether. Leake gave up six runs while recording one out last night and afterward manager Dusty Baker said: We’re addressing that…

Claimed off waivers by the Dodgers earlier this week, Rod Barajas went 3-for-4 with a homer and two doubles last night to become the first player to smack three extra-base hits in his debut since the team moved to Los Angeles. Prior to being put on waivers Barajas had a grand total of three extra-base…

Ron Mahay will likely miss the remainder of the season after tearing the rotator cuff in his non-throwing shoulder while trying to make a fielding play Saturday. At age 37, his career is in jeopardy. Dating back to last season Mahay has quietly done some nice work for the Twins with a 3.14 ERA, .244…

A couple weeks ago Matthew suggested that Dan Uggla and the Marlins might be able to find some common ground on a contract extension worth around $30 million over three years, but Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that Uggla is seeking a deal worth $55-60 million for five years. Uggla is making $7.8 million this…

Believe it or not, Omar Infante may determine whether Albert Pujols or Joey Votto can win the Triple Crown. Pujols leads the NL in homers and RBIs while ranking third in batting average. Votto leads the league in batting average while ranking second in RBIs and third in homers. There’s still a lot of baseball…

Troy Glaus’ prolonged slump and knee problems convinced the Braves to replace him at first base with Derrek Lee, so now Glaus is somewhat surprisingly seeing action at third base while rehabbing in the minors. At the time of the Lee trade several Braves beat writers made it very clear that they didn’t think there…

Even after shifting rookie Mike Leake to the bullpen last week the Reds still have more capable starters than their rotation can hold, so it sounds like they’ll end up using Aaron Harang as a reliever once he returns from the disabled list. Harang has been the Opening Day starter for the Reds in each…

Carlos Guillen is eligible to return from the disabled list on August 31, but said yesterday that he’s still experiencing “sharp pain” in his bruised left knee. “Right now, it’s not good,” Guillen told Jason Beck of MLB.com. Guillen guessed that he’s at least two weeks from potentially rejoining Detroit’s lineup and because he’s still…

Jim Riggleman said this afternoon that Stephen Strasburg is all but certain to be placed on the disabled list and a short time later general manager Mike Rizzo revealed that an MRI exam has confirmed the initial diagnosis of a strained flexor tendon in his right forearm. Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports that…

At the risk of being blocked from following him like he did to Craig, this recent Johnny Damon note from SI.com’s Jon Heyman qualifies as the most Heyman tweet of all time. Seriously, instead of simply writing “Damon isn’t sure if he’ll accept the move” we get non-news positioned as an update on a story…

According to Jason Beck of MLB.com the Tigers have informed Johnny Damon that the Red Sox are indeed the team that placed a waiver claim on him and the veteran outfielder is now deciding whether or not he’d accept the move. Damon has the Red Sox on the list of teams he can’t be traded…

Manny Parra’s raw stuff has always exceeded his actual performance and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com writes that the Brewers may finally have given up waiting for that to change. Parra fell to 3-10 with a 5.65 ERA by allowing seven runs in six innings against the Padres yesterday and has yet to record an out…

In news that probably would have excited Nationals fans a whole lot more before Stephen Strasburg’s injury, the team announced that this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Bryce Harper, will meet the Washington media for the first time Thursday. Harper and the Nationals agreed to a five-year, $9.9 million major-league contract just moments before last…