MLB Player News

Max Kepler had a go-ahead sac fly in the top of the ninth. Taylor’s homer, his 21st of the year, was crushed, getting projected at 468 feet. He’s hitting just .222 with a .276 OBP, but the power and defense have made him a useful regular anyway. A free agent at season’s end, he seems likely to secure a starting job somewhere next year.

Ryan had very good velocity and got 14 missed swings in 91 pitches, so the outing wasn’t a total loss. He remains lined up to serve as the Twins’ No. 3 starter in the postseason, though he’ll likely face quick hooks if he doesn’t get off to great starts. He ends the regular season 11-10 with a 4.51 ERA and a 197/34 K/BB ratio in 161 2/3 innings.

It’s his 32nd career save. Pagan has been really good lately, amassing a 1.97 ERA in 32 innings during the second half. Twins fans might not be overly comfortable with the idea, but he’ll be one of the team’s key relievers next month.

Blach makes the most of his talent, but the stuff just isn’t there for him to succeed as a major league starter, and he ends the year with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts and seven relief appearances. The Rockies can keep him in arbitration for a salary in the $1.2 million-$1.4 million range, but they’d likely be better off non-tendering him and trying to re-sign him to a minor league deal.

Witt will almost surely get his 50th steal one of the next two days, making him part of a pretty exclusive club. His approach at the plate still leaves something to be desired, but he’s made enough improvement in all areas this year to project as a superstar going forward. Maybe the Royals will have something built around him by 2025, but that’s probably overly optimistic.

Lyles was able to hold on after the Royals busted out with nine runs in the bottom of the first. It’s his third win in September, matching his total from the first five months. He ends the year 6-17 with a 6.85 ERA in 31 starts. The Royals signed him to a two-year, $17 million deal last winter, so for better or worse, he’ll remain a part of the team’s rotation in 2024.

The homer off Jordan Lyles was Wells’ third in four games. Homering off Lyles isn’t really any better than homering off a Triple-A pitcher, but since it counts in the major league stats, Wells finished the night with the fourth highest OPS (.668) of the nine Yankees starters.

It’ll be Heaney’s first start since Sept. 4. Considering that he threw 17 pitches in relief on Thursday, one imagines he’ll be limited to two or three innings versus the Mariners.

Rojas was hit by a pitch in Friday’s game, and the Dodgers hope to have him back Sunday. “I’m pretty positive that everything’s going to be all right, and I’ll be good to go for the rest of the season,” Rojas said.

After spending most of the year as a setup man, Martinez got another shot as a starter two weeks ago and performed as well as anyone could have hoped. He finishes the season 6-4 with a 3.43 ERA and a 106/40 K/BB in 110 1/3 innings. The Padres could keep Martinez at $32 million for the next two years, but one assumes they’ll decline to do that. Martinez could then choose to stay for $16 million over two years. That seems fair, though Martinez likely could get a similar deal elsewhere if he’d prefer.