only three pitches in todays outing before leaving with what the White Sox announced as right shoulder sorene s. More will be known once Soroka undergoes testing, though shoulder inflammation brought an early end to both his 2022 and 2023 seasons, and he had other shoulder i sues in his first two Major League seasons in 2018-19. Beyond these shoulder problems, Soroka mi sed almost the entirety of the 2020-22 seasons due to a pair of torn Achilles tendons, but he returned to the Show to pitch 32 1/3 innings of 6.40 ERA ball with the Braves last year. Atlanta then shipped Soroka and four other players to Chicago in the trade , and Sorokas first season with the Sox has been a struggle, as he has a 5.25 ERA over 72 Raul Ibanez Jersey innings and he lost his rotation job in May. Sorokas 3.49 ERA as a reliever is a big step up from his 6.39 ERA as a starter, though this latest shoulder injury could bring another unwelcome wrinkle to his career. It could also impact Chicagos trade deadline plans, as an impending free agent like Soroka is an obvious trade candidate, and a healthy multi-inning reliever would appeal to several teams. More from around the American League as we head into the All-Star break The Royals started their deadline moves with a bang on Saturday, from the Nationals for third base prospect and Kansas Citys Competitive Balance Round A pick in this years draft. (Washington used the 39th overall pick on Cal catcher .) What we came to realize is if youre going to acquire a quality relief pitcher with years of control, its not going to be a comfortable trade to make. Youre going to have to give up something to get something , Royals general manager J.J. Picollo told and other reporters. K.C. was known to be looking for bullpen help, and Harvey brings great depth to the relief corps, though Picollo said the team was happy with s work as closer. The depth was the focus for us and having more options at the back end of the game , Picollo said. Astros GM Dana Brown provided an update on during a pregame radio appearance today (hat tip to ). McCullers rehab from flexor surgery was halted earlier this week due to some sorene s in his right arm, and Brown said we just have to let time heal and we cant push him . A return by September to work as a reliever is a po sibility, Brown said, which is itself notable since McCullers has started 127 of his 130 career big league games. A variety of injuries have cost McCullers the entirety of both the 2019 and 2023 seasons, and limited him to 265 innings over the 2020-22 campaigns. The exact nature of McCullers latest i sue isnt known, but Brown somewhat ominously said that the righty had gotten his second opinion about the setback. The Blue Jays were known to be pushing to sign last winter, before Pederson landed with the Diamondbacks on a one-year deal worth $12.5MM in guaranteed money. recently spoke with Pederson about his offseason talks with Toronto, and Pederson said he had a FaceTime conversation with GM Ro s Atkins and manager John Schneider that seemed to go well, though negotiations didnt progre s much further. They just I gue s didnt want me as bad as some other teams and werent able to really put together an offer when it was time for me to make a decision.From the conversations we had on the phone and how interested they were in adding a left-handed bat, their actions didnt match their words, I gue s you could say , Pederson said. They said everything went really well and then didnt want to offer what other teams did . The veteran slugger didnt have any displeasure with how things worked out, and even left the door open to potentially play for the Jays in the future. Pederson is having an excellent season as a righty-mashing DH in Arizona, hitting .273/.374/.498 with 13 homers over 277 plate appearances with the DBacks. Michael Massey Jersey