MLB Player News

Getting an early start on the playoff roster shenanigans. By calling up Owens now, the White Sox can include him on their playoff roster on Sept. 1 and give themselves some flexibility later on.

Leiter also issued three walks on the day while punching out three. He kept the Athletics off the board completely through the first four innings, but the A’s broke through in the fifth as Jacob Wilson smacked a two-run single and Carlos Cortes drove him in with an RBI knock. Leiter got seven whiffs on 105 pitches on the afternoon, posting a CSW of 25 percent. He’ll bring a 1-1 record, 4.87 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and a 24/9 K/BB ratio (20 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Pirates.

The 24-year-old shortstop smacked a two-run single off of Jack Leiter in the fifth inning that tied the game at 2-2. He then swiped second base and scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single off the bat of Carlos Cortes. For the season, Wilson is now slashing .263/.273/.342 with one homer, nine RBI and one stolen base through his first 77 plate appearances.

Lopez racked up five strikeouts on the day while also issuing four free passes. The Rangers scratched out single runs against him in the third and fifth innings, but Lopez was able to stop the flood gates from opening both times. He got 12 swings and misses on 85 pitches on the day — six of those on his slider — while posting a solid CSW of 31 percent. The 28-year-old southpaw will carry an uninspiring 6.38 ERA, 1.96 WHIP and a 16/17 K/BB ratio (18 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s showdown against the Mariners in Seattle.

Greene singled off of Kris Bubic in the fourth inning, though Dillon Dingler was cut down at the plate attempting to score on the play He then scored on an RBI knock off the bat of Matt Vierling. He also smacked a two-out double in the seventh inning but the Tigers couldn’t cash him in. He got to play the role of hero in the ninth though, lining a two-out, two-strike, two-run double into the right field corner off of Lucas Erceg to tie the game at 9-9. He then raced around to score the game-winning run on Colt Keith’s walk-off single. The 25-year-old outfielder is off to a solid start offensively this season, slashing .257/.350/.386 with one homer, 12 RBI and one stolen base in his first 80 plate appearances.

Dingler greeted right-hander John Schreiber by crushing a 411-foot (107.5 mph EV) two-run blast that increased the Tigers’ lead to 6-1. He’s off to a terrific start at the plate this season, slashing .283/.367/.566 with four homers and 14 RBI in his first 61 plate appearances. At this rate, he could wind up finishing among the top options at the position for fantasy purposes.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out five batters on the day and did not allow a base on balls. He had allowed just two runs through the first six innings, but he returned for the seventh and allowed a single and an RBI double to open the seventh before turning the ball over to the bullpen. That ballooned into a six-run inning for the Royals and cost Montero his shot at a victory. He got eight swings and misses on 83 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll bring an impressive 3.31 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and a 15/2 K/BB ratio (16 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Brewers at Comerica Park.

After falling behind early 6-1, the Royals came all the way back on the heels of a six-run seventh inning, with Perez’s 379-foot (97.9 mph EV) three-run shot off of Tyler Holton giving them an 8-6 advantage. It wouldn’t be enough though. Even with his two-hit effort, the 35-year-old backstop is slashing a miserable .169/.221/.324 with three homers and six RBI through his first 77 plate appearances on the season.

Tasked with protecting a two-run advantage in the ninth inning, Erceg made things exponentially harder on himself by allowing a leadoff single to Gleyber Torres and a walk to Kevin McGonigle. He responded by striking out Kerry Carpenter and getting Dillon Dingler on a line drive to second base. He then got to two strikes on Riley Greene before Greene lined a two-run double into the right field corner to tie the score. Colt Keith followed with an RBI single to walk it off for the Tigers. Erceg has now converted five of his first six save chances on the season while struggling to a 6.14 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across 7 1/3 innings. His role in the ninth inning should still be safe until Carlos Estévez returns.

Bubic also issued three free passes on the day while striking out three. The Tigers scratched out single runs against him in the second and fourth innings, then piled on with three more in the fifth while chasing the 28-year-old southpaw from the ballgame. Bubic generated six swings and misses on 82 pitches in the contest, posting an underwhelming CSW of 23 percent. Even with this rough outing, Bubic still sports a respectable 3.97 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 26/10 K/BB ratio over 22 2/3 innings through his first four starts. He’ll try to put this one behind him and get back on track as he does battle against the Orioles at home on Tuesday.

The Rays rallied to score three times in the top half of the ninth inning, setting the stage for Baker to work the ninth. He allowed a leadoff walk to Andrew Benintendi to bring the tying run to the dish, but rallied to get Tristan Peters on a pop out to first, Sam Antonacci on a ground ball to first and Miguel Vargas on strikes to end it. Baker has now converted four of his first five save chances on the season and has started to establish himself as the go-to option in the ninth inning for Rays’ skipper Kevin Cash. He should be rostered in all mixed leagues at this point.