If the Rangers weren’t struggling mightily this season, left-hander Derek Holland could have potentially returned to the club already. General manager Jon Daniels said Holland, who underwent left knee surgery in the offseason, is expected to rejoin the rotation by late August.

LaTroy Hawkins, 41, is among the game’s elite relievers this season despite operating in a little house of horrors for pitchers called Coors Field. He is on the verge of becoming just the 15th pitcher ever to appear in 1,000 games, and he has never been better. This only makes sense if you know about Hawkins’ difficult baseball journey.

Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, the Cubs’ top three prospects, all homered Thursday. Bryant moved into first by himself with his 32nd in the Minors this season. He had been tied with Futures Game MVP Joey Gallo, the Rangers’ No. 2 prospect.

Braves catcher Evan Gattis played the first game of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett pain-free on Thursday night. He went 0-for-4 as he works to regain his timing after an absence of nearly three weeks.

When the Seattle Mariners made the 10-year commitment to free agent second baseman Robinson Cano, it was about a lot more than just stats.

For some teams, the future is defined as the next 3 1/2 months. For others, it’s about the big picture. Welcome to the final two weeks before the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline, the time when every club attempts to better position itself for the future.

Was it just a temporary swoon, or the start of a Brewers collapse? The second half of the season will tell.

At least as we enter the second half of the 2014 season, we’re making something vaguely resembling educated guesses.

Left-hander Max Fried, the Padres’ No. 2 prospect, made his first start of the year with a full-season club Wednesday. He threw 3 2/3 innings in Class A Fort Wayne’s 9-2 victory at Quad Cities.

Just a second. What is the big fuss about Madison Bumgarner? So he’s hit three home runs this season, and two of them have been grand slams. Nice, but before we re-involve ourselves in the pennant races, please allow for a repeat of the question and some explanation of why hitting three home runs, two of them slams, in a season doesn’t seem like all that much to folks who monitored the game before last week.

Rockies’ No. 1 prospect Jon Gray threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday in Double-A Tulsa’s 2-0 victory. Gray, ranked No. 13 on MLBPipeline.com’s Top 100 Prospects list, allowed one hit and two walks, striking out seven.

Outfielder Steven Moya, the Tigers’ No. 20 prospect, hit a grand slam and was named MVP of the Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday. His blast helped the Western Division defeat the Eastern Division, 5-2.

Twins farmhand Byron Buxton, baseball’s top prospect, collected three hits Wednesday, helping Class A Advanced Fort Myers defeat Daytona, 5-1. Outfielder Adam Brett Walker II, the Twins’ No. 12 prospect, leads the Florida State League with 20 homers.

After a week of game action, Andy Dirks’ comeback from back surgery has hit a snag. The Tigers announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled Dirks from his rehab assignment with Class A Lakeland, and will keep him on the disabled list.

From the raw power of Giancarlo Stanton in Monday’s Home Run Derby to the speed-power combination of MVP Mike Trout and the baserunning acumen of Derek Jeter in the All-Star Game, Statcast technology highlights some of what made the festivities so much fun.

Braves catcher Evan Gattis, who has been sidelined by a bulging disc in his back since late June, will ,move his rehab assignment from Class A Rome to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.

Carlos Ruiz, on the DL since June 27 with a concussion, will begin a rehab assignment Thursday and could return to the lineup next week.