Nathan Eovaldi bests Tigers to pick up ninth win

Eisert threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday, but the Pirates have no off days until August 10th, so they can’t afford to be down a bullpen arm for the next few days. Eisert will be back up again soon.

Murdock was added to the 40-man roster at the beginning of the month and will now get a chance to make his MLB debut. The 27-year-old has a 2.89 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 26/7 K/BB ratio in 18 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season.

The Pirates don’t have a day off until August 10th, so they will likely either need length out of the bullpen or a spot starter. Barco could fill either role. The 25-year-old has not had his best season, posting a 4.89 ERA in 46 innings at Triple-A this season with a 50/24 K/BB ratio.

Garcia will be right in the lineup, batting eighth and playing center field on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. Garcia worked his way onto some top 100 prospects lists last year after a strong season in Boston’s organization, but he has struggled against right-handed pitching in the upper minors and also in his limited MLB sample, slashing .200/.259/.240 with a 30 percent strikeout rate in 27 plate appearances. The Pirates are facing Eduardo Rodriguez today and Andrew Abbott over the weekend, but this feels like a small-side platoon for “The Password.”

That means Cruz will begin hitting in addition to the running he’s been doing. We’ll see how his fractured left hand responds to hitting high velocity, but assuming all goes well, we could see him begin a rehab assignment as soon as next week.

He’ll serve as the 27th man and start Game 1 in Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Mets. By using him as the 27th man, the Braves won’t need to wait 15 days to recall him from the minors. That likely means that he will head back to Triple-A after this start so that the Braves can keep another reliever. We would then fully expect Smith-Shawver to come back up and join the rotation full time for his next start.

Schwarber continues to deal with a gastrointestinal issue that has now kept him out of the lineup for two games. The Phillies could really use his bat in the lineup right now. Trea Turner will DH on Wednesday with Edmundo Sosa playing shortstop and batting ninth.

It’s great to see the power from Caissie, but we know he possesses that in spades. Seeing him come back from his injury and command the strike zone the way he did is really nice to see. He was used as the DH in this game, so we’ll likely need to see him play the outfield at least once before he could be an option to be activated from the injured list.

Bassitt struck out three and walked one while throwing 28 of his 46 pitches for strikes. The only hit he allowed was a solo home run to the Red Sox’s top prospect, Franklin Arias. The 37-year-old likely needs at least two more rehab starts, but you have to wonder if the Orioles would also try to move him at the deadline to a team that wants rotation depth.

Rodríguez now has 25 home runs on the season to go along with a .272 average, 63 RBI, and an .876 OPS. He’s an aggressive hitter, but he’s swinging outside of the zone less than he did last year and has reduced his swinging strike rate to a league-average mark. He also continues to make league-average contact while driving the ball over the fence. We should note that his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he makes the most of his contact with his approach, and playing his home games in Great American Ballpark will help. We’d imagine he’s up after the August 14th cutoff to retain his rookie eligibility for 2027.