The New York Yankees will make a decision on that Aroldis Chapmanthe timeline to return to action after a throw session on Tuesday, for ESPN’s Marly Rivera. Chapman has yet to make an appearance this season. He tested positive for COVID-19 back on July 11 after showing mild symptoms. Chapman has worked his full back job and hopes to return to the back end of the Yanks ballpoint pen soon. Last season, Chapman put on another top-notch campaign along with 37 saves in 60 games and a 2.21 ERA / 2.28 FIP, while hitting 13.4 fielders per nine innings.
- Charlie Morton of the Tampa Bay Rays left his start today with inflammation of right shoulder, by Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The Rays appear to be not too worried about Morton in the long run. The 36-year-old has not started well with a 5.52 ERA over three starts, although it is obviously a small piece, and a 4.06 FIP is not so pessimistic about his performance.
- The Washington Nationals have not come close to agreeing on terms of an expansion, whether for manager Dave Martinez or GM Mike Rizzo, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). Both are in the final year of their current deals. The citizens have proven a fairly conservative organization and an organization that will not run because of public perception. For their part, both Martinez and Rizzo seem to have a great deal of confidence in the organization. Given that the Nats are coming out of a World Series championship, it is hard to imagine one of the men going through. Rizzo is the longtime architect of these Nats – one of the most enduring contingents of the last decades – while Martinez is the culture of the club in its current iteration. He has both the respect and the admiration of his players, by all accounts. This is pure assumption, but ownership of Nats may take a principled stand by waiting for these additions. They have let star players play the last seasons of their deals regularly, and it shows some organizational continuity to do the same with Rizzo and Martinez.
