Royals place righty John Schreiber on waivers

After four weeks of being stuck on 14 homers, Valdez has collected two in his last four games. He’s racking a lot more strikeouts than hits of late, but at least he has drawn some walks to keep his OBP up; he’s batted .197/.337/.325 with 40 strikeouts in 95 plate appearances this month. He’ll probably remain in the lineup most of the time until Ryan O’Hearn returns, something that’s at least a couple of weeks away from happening.

Ashcraft was yanked after 71 pitches today, which could be a sign that the Pirates are beginning to monitor his workload. He’s at 160 1/3 innings for the season, which is 42 more than his previous career high from last year. Because of that, he probably won’t be allowed to put in a full September. He’s due to make his next start Saturday against the Angels.

He was perfect, but his streak of 29 appearances with a strikeout concluded, as he induced two groundouts and an infield fly today. He’d fanned 55 of 106 batters in 27 2/3 innings since his previous K-less appearance on June 13. Montgomery is up to seven saves and is very clearly the preferred choice to close in Pittsburgh right now.

Liberatore struck out nine today for the second time in three starts. He’s now done that five times this year after never doing so in 53 career starts coming into 2026. Unfortunately, though, the extra strikeouts just haven’t brought Liberatore much success. Two more homers today took his season total to 25 in 134 2/3 innings, which is a big reason why he’s 5-13 with a 5.41 ERA. He’ll pitch in Colorado next weekend.

Gorman nearly got one today; his 360-foot flyout to right in the sixth would have been a homer in 21 ballparks, according to Statcast. With the Cardinals losing a third infielder to the IL on Sunday, Gorman figures to be looking at steady playing time against righties for a while. How he fares in September likely will determine whether he’s included in the Cardinals’ plans for 2027.

Soto doubled with a run scored in his return Saturday, and the 27-year-old star picked up his first homer since July 9 with his solo shot. The Mets have been a borderline disaster in 2026, but Soto has done his part — when on the field, anyway — with a .941 OPS with 21 homers in his 85 games.

Peña took Zac Thornton deep in the first inning for his 17th homer of the campaign. He added a single while helping build their lead in the American League West. The 28-year-old has struggled to hit for average in August with a .191 average coming into Sunday, but this was his fifth homer of the month.

Ferguson was designated for assignment by the Cardinals after allowing eight runs over 8 1/3 innings following his deadline deal. The 30-year-old is now free to find a new landing spot, but may find the options to be limited.

Hader didn’t strike anyone out and did allow a hit, but it’s another effective outing for the 32-year-old. He’s now up to 21 saves on the year, and the scoreless outing lowers his ERA to a shiny 0.74. Hader remains one of the best relievers in the sport, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.