Athletics recall Max Muncy with Nick Kurtz hurt

Chicago has left the door open for Steele to return, most likely as a reliever, at some point before the regular season concludes. The 31-year-old southpaw averaged his usual 90.3 mph on his four-seam fastball during the 36-pitch outing. He’s coming off elbow surgery and hasn’t pitched in the majors since the 2025 season. He’ll need a couple additional rehab outings before he’s a realistic option for the Cubs.

Roberts told reporters the possibility of shutting Ohtani down as a pitcher is on the table, but they haven’t reached the point where they have to make that decision. Here’s an oversimplification: Ohtani is so critical to Los Angeles’ lineup heading into the postseason that they can’t jeopardize his availability by pitching. The 32-year-old two-way sensation has been dealing with lingering knee and biceps issues that have kept him from pitching for the Dodgers since July 3.

It’s an important milestone for Crochet as he attempts to make it back to Boston as a reliever in time for a potential postseason run. The 27-year-old fantasy ace seems highly unlikely to pitch before the regular season concludes, but he’s probably going to be in the mix for a postseason roster spot.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters afterwards that they made the decision to get Rafaela off his feet during the late stages of a one-sided affair. The 25-year-old center fielder finished 1-for-3 at the plate before being lifted in the seventh inning. It sounds like it was a precautionary move, but fantasy managers should keep a close eye on Rafaela’s status heading into Thursday’s series opener against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Báez takes a seat against Dodgers workhorse Yoshinobu Yamamoto after blasting a solo homer off lefty Justin Wrobleski during Tuesday’s blowout win in Los Angeles. The 23-year-old top prospect has struck out just over 36 percent of the time, while also homering six times, in 63 plate appearances over 17 games since being called up last month. He’s a bit of an all-or-nothing fantasy contributor at this early stage of his big-league career. He’ll probably be back in there to face lefty ace Tarik Skubal Thursday’s series finale.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week that they’re going to manage Smith’s workload carefully in his return from a neck issue that cost him nearly three months. He’s unlikely to catch back-to-back games to close out the season. He went 1-for-5 with a double and a pair of RBI in his first game back on Tuesday. It’ll be Hunter Fedducia behind the plate in this one.

This seemed inevitable with the Yankees having an off day prior to Friday’s series opener against the Padres. There’s a chance Lombard requires a trip to the injured list if he’s not ready to go in a couple days. The 21-year-old rookie has missed four straight games with right knee discomfort. It’ll be José Caballero filling in at shortstop once again.

Sugano struck out four while recording a quality start against his former team. He was tagged for three runs in the third, including a two-RBI double by Luis Robert Jr., but he otherwise limited the damage. Colorado tied the game in the ninth before going on to win in 11 innings. Sugano will remain off the fantasy radar with a matchup at Yankee Stadium next time out.

Rogers struck out a career-high 11 without walking anyone, rewarding fantasy managers who rolled the dice on him in Coors. He fanned six in a row at one point and has pitched to around a 3.00 ERA since the beginning of June after a challenging first couple of months. He was always going to regress from the 1.81 ERA he registered a season ago, and while he’s at 4.30 for the year, the in-season turnaround has been nice to see. An impending free agent, he’s now up to a career-best 144 1/3 innings. He draws the Guardians at home next time out.

Veen came up with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth, doubling off Andrew Kittredge to send this one to extras. Colorado then walked it off in the eleventh. Veen’s playing time has been sporadic since he was recalled from Triple-A on August 11, as he has started just 10 of 21 games, including none against lefties. The 24-year-old is striking out over 38% of the time in his brief big-league sample, but he had that mark down to 20% at Triple-A. He’s a deep sleeper to keep in mind this offseason.