Willi Castro delivers three-run double in loss

He’ll get a rare rest against Braves LHP Martin Pérez. Aranda has played 141 of Tampa’s 145 games this year and has been hot of late; it’s certainly possible he pinch-hits. He’s hitting .277/.360/.427 in a disappointing year for his power but has been a reasonable 1B option in deep or OBP-leaning leagues.

Rodríguez is now hitting .321/.412/.565 with 25 home runs, 85 RBI, and 10 steals in 112 games split between High-A and Double-A. He’s hit 21 home runs since moving to Double-A and is just the fourth teenager since 2019 to hit 25 home runs in a season. The 19-year-old is the top catching prospect in baseball and arguably one of the top 10 prospects in all of baseball. He should start 2027 in Triple-A with a real shot to push for MLB at-bats by mid-season.

Hopkins moved to a bullpen role in the middle of the season after posting a 5.96 ERA and 1.89 WHIP in 19 starts. Since then, he has a 2.25 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 12 relief appearances and even hit 102 mph on the radar gun on Wednesday. There is no indication yet that this is a permanent move for Hopkins, and the Rays have done this with plenty of starting pitching prospects, like Ian Seymour. That being said, Hopkins is thriving as a reliever right now.

Proat was called up on Monday to serve as a reliever. However, he walked four batters in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, and Brewers manager Pat Murphy did not mince words when discussing the performance: “It’s unacceptable. You’ve got to throw the ball over the plate, or you can’t be a major league pitcher...You can’t let it snowball like that.” Sproat will continue to work on his command and approach in the minors, but there’s a good chance that we don’t see him up with the Brewers again this season.

Gray has been working back from Tommy John surgery and then a subsequent flexor strain. He has not pitched in an MLB game since throwing just 8 1/3 innings in 2024. The right-hander threw 80 percent strikes with a 20 percent swinging strike rate in his one inning, but it was just 10 pitches. He sat 90.2 mph on his four-seamer and only threw one of them, so that will be something to monitor as he lengthens out his appearances.

Ryan has been on the minor league injured list since late June with a hamstring strain. He was subsequently traded to the Tigers as part of the Tarik Skubal trade, so this was his debut as a member of the Tigers organization. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter while throwing 74 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 17 percent swinging strike rate. His four-seamer averaged 97 mph with an elite 17 inches of vertical movement. He looked like a potential difference-maker in this one, but he also threw just 23 pitches across two innings, so he will need a few more starts to ramp back up and might not return in time to pitch for the Tigers this season. He could be stashed in keeper leagues though.

The Cubs have said that they intend to bring Cabrera back in a relief role, so it was interesting to see that the right-hander ramped up his velocity to 99.3 mph on his four-seamer and touched 100 a few times. He threw 71 percent of his pitches for strikes and posted a 19 percent swinging strike rate while striking out one and not walking a single batter. He threw 21 pitches in this one and might only need one more rehab appearance (if at all) if the Cubs are truly planning to use him as a reliever. Given the state of their bullpen, there’s even a chance he could push for save opportunities.

Stepping up to the plate with this game knotted at two runs apiece in the fifth inning, Witt launched a three-run home run on a first-pitch sinker from Michael Soroka that was practically on a tee. It was just his 18th home run of the season and brought him to only 54 RBI in what’s been a disappointing year in terms of counting stats, but he’s approaching 40 stolen bases and has accumulated the second-most fWAR in baseball – only behind Pete Crow-Armstrong – despite missing almost 20 games with back and knee injuries.

Pearson made this save as stressful as possible by letting up a single and a walk to begin the ninth with a three run lead. Then, he got tough by striking out Gabriel Moreno with a 98 mph fastball in the zone and forcing Ketel Marte to ground into a double play to end the game. This was Pearson’s first save in nearly three weeks as he continues to split the closer role with Steven Cruz, albeit with a slight edge.

Lynch was just good enough here against a Diamondbacks’ lineup that has truly forgotten how to hit. They had plenty of chances, but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in their seventh consecutive nine-inning game scoring three runs or fewer. As for Lynch, he kept his sinker down which forced just enough ground balls to get through five innings despite struggling to command any of his secondary stuff. He’s scheduled to face the Astros on the road next time out.