Alex Cobb will start against the Blue Jays on Friday night at Tropicana Field, completing the right-hander’s return from Tommy John surgery.

Washington recalled speedster Michael Taylor from Triple-A on Monday, giving them another blazing outfield option to go along with Trea Turner and Ben Revere.

A handful of current and former Major Leaguers who have observed Tebow closely and from afar over the years seem to agree that an athlete of his caliber deserves to at least be taken seriously.

There was a steady stream of hugs and handshakes Monday afternoon in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse at Camden Yards as Toronto welcomed back catcher Dioner Navarro, who was acquired from the White Sox on Saturday. The Blue Jays designated Josh Thole for assignment to make room for Navarro.

The latest victim of the Dodgers’ aggressive roster manipulation is Brock Stewart, who was optioned back to Double-A Tulsa one day after blanking the Cubs for five innings.

The week ahead in Major League Baseball brings us to one of our favorite months and favorite words to utter every year: September. The final month of the regular season means percolating pennant races that we’ve all come to anticipate and absorb, dramatic plays on the field that can define stretch drives, and the type of late season bonding that forge a clubs’ identities heading into the postseason.

Every lineup, every day, as they are made public by the clubs.

Will Ryan Schimpf or Cory Spangenberg be the Padres’ second baseman next year? Beat reporter AJ Cassavell answers this question and more in the latest Inbox.

Oakland reinstated Billy Butler from the 7-day concussion disabled list Monday, the first day he was eligible. Infielder/outfielder Arismendy Alcantara was optioned to Class A Stockton in a corresponding move.

MLBPipeline.com’s Prospect Team of the Week honors the best performances from the previous seven days. Any player currently on an organization Top 30 Prospects list on our Prospect Watch is eligible, including big leaguers.

What Tim Tebow wants — to go from the NFL to the Major Leagues without having played baseball since high school — is almost unprecedented in modern-day sports. But not completely.

The Cardinals placed right-hander Mike Leake on the 15-day disabled list with shingles, retroactive to Aug. 22, on Monday and called up left-hander Dean Kiekhefer from Triple-A Memphis.

Get ready to feel all the feelings.

The notion that the strength of a starting rotation typically dictates where a team will end up by the end of the season is a nice theory and all, but one particular team in the National League is making a strong case that starting pitching is way overrated. How else can you explain the Dodgers, with six starting pitchers on the disabled list, firmly holding their grasp onto the top spot in the NL West? They’re without Clayton Kershaw and a whole mess of others, while piecing together a rotation consisting of (today at least) Rich Hill, Bud Norris, Ross Stripling, Julio Urias, and…well, pick someone.

Mat Latos is staying in the Nationals organization and will be back in the Majors in September. The veteran right-hander, who signed a Minor League deal in June that included an opt-out clause if he was not in the Majors by Monday, will not exercise that and will remain with Washington, according to multiple reports.

Don’t fall into any stands while you’re making that catch, though.

Gary Sanchez’s continued emergence and Clayton Kershaw’s reaction to the A.J. Ellis-Carlos Ruiz trade highlight this week’s installment of The Rotation.