MLB Player News

Hull made one appearance in three days, throwing a scoreless inning Tuesday.

Doing this but sticking with Chris Paddack is a choice. Ramírez, though, isn’t doing enough offensively to justify putting up with his defense, even if he has shown some improvement there this year. Mack is a weaker bet than Ramírez on offense, but he’s an excellent defensive catcher who takes walks and hits the occasional homer. He’s batting .244/.388/.378 in Triple-A. Liam Hicks and Mack figure to split time behind the plate, with Hicks also serving as a DH. Mack won’t get Ramírez’s DH at-bats, so that could open some playing time for Christopher Morel.

The Astros nearly botched a golden opportunity after loading the bases with none out in the 10th, with Jose Altuve hitting into an unusual 6-2-5 double play. Smith, however, then plated two with a two-out liner off the Green Monster. It gave him his second three-hit game of the year. He’s hitting .229/.316/.381 through 137 plate appearances.

AJ Blubaugh followed him and pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing one run. That might open the door for him to start next time through the rotation. Or Bolton could get the call again. The Astros have Thursday off, so depending on how they want to play it, they won’t need a fifth starter again until May 12.

Duran also homered Friday, so he finishes the series against Houston having driven in four of the Red Sox’s seven runs. He had just one homer in 26 games entering the weekend.

Abreu entered the day with a 12.54 ERA, and his velocity in this one was about as bad as it’s been this season; he averaged 93.5 mph with this fastball, 1.6 mph off his season average and 3.8 mph less than his 2025 average. Still, he was more than a match for the punchless Red Sox. The one hit he gave up was an infield single that was originally ruled a double-error on Abreu; he failed to pick up Willson Contreras’s dribbler on the first try and then threw the ball past the first baseman to allow Contreras to take second. No matter, though, since Roman Anthony had a horrendous at-bat afterwards. The Astros still shouldn’t have much faith at all in Abreu. He only pitched in the tight situation today because everyone else was tired.

Busch had a big day at the plate on Sunday, starting with a double and a run scored in the second inning. After drawing a walk in the third, he drove in three runs with a bases-loaded triple in the fifth. Busch would drive in a fourth run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh. The 28-year-old first baseman is hitting .218/.317/.339 with two homers, 15 runs scored, and 17 RBI across 145 plate appearances.

Ballesteros had gone hitless over his last four games since moving into the second spot in the lineup. He broke that with a single in the first inning, then took Merrill Kelly deep for a two-run blast in the third. He later drew a walk and scored a run in the fifth. The 22-year-old slugger is hitting .317/.380/.598 with six homers and 18 RBI across 92 plate appearances.

After going hitless in his first game off the injured list on Friday, Moreno got on the board with his first home run of the season on Sunday. He took Matthew Boyd deep in the second inning for a two-run blast to put the D-Backs on the board. The 26-year-old backstop is hitting .245/.296/.408 with seven RBI across 54 plate appearances.

Boyd bounced back after his five-run outing against the Padres his last time out. He surrendered a two-run homer to Gabriel Moreno in the second inning, then settled in for four more scoreless frames on his way to a win. He struck out five. The 35-year-old left-hander will take a 6.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and a 31/6 K/BB ratio across 24 innings into a start against the Rangers in Texas on Friday.

Kelly gave up a run on two hits in the second inning, then served up a two-run homer to Moisés Ballesteros in the third. He got into more trouble in the fifth, loading the bases before Michael Busch cleared them all with a triple. That would end the day for Kelly. He struck out five. The 37-year-old right-hander will take a 9.95 ERA, 2.32 WHIP, and a 14/15 K/BB ratio across 19 innings into a start against the Mets in Arizona on Saturday.